uth--whether for joy or sorrow I cannot
tell--there was not one of them that half filled his belly; and certainly
it could not have been from modesty or bashfulness before the King, for
there was not one among them but had dined with his majesty many times
before.

As soon as the King rose from table he retired, and distributed to some
persons certain lands belonging to the Duke of Burgundy, as though he had
been dead. He despatched the Bastard of Bourbon, Admiral of France, and
myself into those parts, with full power to receive the homage of all
such as were willing to submit and become his subjects. He ordered us to
set out immediately, and gave us commission to open all his letters and
packets which we might meet by the way, that thereby we might ascertain
whether the Duke was dead or alive. We departed with all speed, though it
was the coldest weather I ever felt in my life. We had not ridden above
half a day's journey when we met a courier, and commanding him to deliver
his letters we learned by them that the Duke of Burgundy was slain, and
that his body had been found among the dead, and recognized by an Italian
page that attended him and by one Monsieur Louppe, a Portuguese, who was
his physician, and who assured the Lord of Craon that it was the Duke his
master, and the Lord of Craon notified the same at once to the King.

Upon receiving this news we rode directly to the suburbs of Abbeville,
and were the first that announced the intelligence to the Duke's
adherents in those parts. We found the inhabitants of the town in treaty
with the Lord of Torcy, for whom they had held a great affection for a
long time. The soldiers and officers of the Duke of Burgundy negotiated
with us, by means of a messenger whom he had sent to them beforehand; and
in confidence of success they dismissed four hundred Flemings who
were then quartered in the town. The citizens, laying hold of this
opportunity, opened the gates immediately to the Lord of Torcy, to the
great prejudice and disadvantage of the captains and officers of the
garrison--for there were seven or eight of them to whom, by virtue of the
King's authority, we had promised money, and pensions for life; but they
never enjoyed the benefit of that promise, because the town was not
surrendered by them. Abbeville was one of the towns that Charles VII
delivered up by the treaty of Arras in the year 1435, which towns were to
return to the crown of France upon default of issue