land's help. This French lord, himself,
was soon defeated by the French King's son, and shut up in a tower in
Paris; but his wife, a courageous and beautiful woman, who is said to
have had the courage of a man, and the heart of a lion, assembled the
people of Brittany, where she then was; and, showing them her infant son,
made many pathetic entreaties to them not to desert her and their young
Lord. They took fire at this appeal, and rallied round her in the strong
castle of Hennebon. Here she was not only besieged without by the French
under Charles de Blois, but was endangered within by a dreary old bishop,
who was always representing to the people what horrors they must undergo
if they were faithful--first from famine, and afterwards from fire and
sword. But this noble lady, whose heart never failed her, encouraged her
soldiers by her own example; went from post to post like a great general;
even mounted on horseback fully armed, and, issuing from the castle by a
by-path, fell upon the French camp, set fire to the tents, and threw the
whole force into disorder. This done, she got safely back to Hennebon
again, and was received with loud shouts of joy by the defenders of the
castle, who had given her up for lost. As they were now very short of
provisions, however, and as they could not dine off enthusiasm, and as
the old bishop was always saying, 'I told you what it would come to!'
they began to lose heart, and to talk of yielding the castle up. The
brave Countess retiring to an upper room and looking with great grief out
to sea, where she expected relief from England, saw, at this very time,
the English ships in the distance, and was relieved and rescued! Sir
Walter Manning, the English commander, so admired her courage, that,
being come into the castle with the English knights, and having made a
feast there, he assaulted the French by way of dessert, and beat them off
triumphantly. Then he and the knights came back to the castle with great
joy; and the Countess who had watched them from a high tower, thanked
them with all her heart, and kissed them every one.

This noble lady distinguished herself afterwards in a sea-fight with the
French off Guernsey, when she was on her way to England to ask for more
troops. Her great spirit roused another lady, the wife of another French
lord (whom the French King very barbarously murdered), to distinguish
herself scarcely less. The time was fast coming, however, when Edw