ell of a small occasional expenditure in
consequence of the breakdown of a chariot, or the fall of a valet from
his horse, or the upsetting into a river of a cart conveying the
Countess's wardrobe. But such misadventures were not taken very
seriously by these folk, seasoned to discomfort. Valet or chariot was
mended, or the floating garments were recovered, and on went the
easy-going company, singing by the way, and with horns blowing as they
neared some castle or village where a halt was to be made for the
night. The absence of any mention of the removal of furniture from
castle to castle during these periodical wanderings, save a small bed
for Mahaut's own use, leads us to infer that greater luxury then
prevailed than in the days of her great-uncle, Louis the Ninth, when
even Royalty itself thought it no hardship to have beds and other
necessary pieces of furniture carried by beasts of burden from place
to place according to the movements of the Court. This frugal and
homely custom on one occasion very nearly ended in a tragedy. The
devout Isabelle, Louis's sister, was praying in the early morning, as
was her wont, within her curtained bed, and either lost in prayer or
overcome with fatigue by the length of her orisons, did not notice the
arrival of the packers, who rolled up the bed without drawing the
curtains, and the praying Princess within must have been smothered had
not her lady-in-waiting, Agnes de Harcourt, heard her stifled cries,
and hastened to her rescue. This quaint episode so amused Louis, that
he ever after recounted it when telling of the piety of his sister.

Let us now go in imagination to the Castle of Hesdin, and see
something of its treasures and of the daily life of the Countess
Mahaut.

Soon after her accession to Artois, her two daughters married sons of
King Philip le Bel, and her little son, Robert, then became her
principal care. A little boy of noble family had been chosen as his
companion to share in his education and to join with him in play. It
would seem that the two were treated on an absolute equality, even to
having their doublets cut from the same piece of cloth, and their
tunics and cloaks trimmed with the same fur. Beyond their ordinary
lessons, they were early taught the games of tables and chess, both of
which were considered essential to a knight's education. They also
rode to the chase and attended tournaments, and at the age of fourteen
themselves held the lance as part of