the prince, "hast thou loved me so long, and
now wouldst thou have me dishonored? When I was regent in Normandy,
thou never sawest me keep fortress, even when the dauphin himself,
with all his power, came to besiege me.[D] I always, like a man, came
forth to meet him, instead of remaining within my walls, like a bird
shut up in a cage. Now if I did not then keep myself shut up for fear
of a great, strong prince, do you think I will now, for dread of a
scolding woman, whose weapons are only her tongue and her nails, and
thus give people occasion to say that I turned dastard before a woman,
when no man had ever been able to make me fear? No, I will never
submit to such disgrace. I would rather die in honor than live in
shame; and so the great numbers of our enemies do not deter me in the
least; they rather encourage me; therefore, in the name of God and St.
George, advance my banner, for I am determined that I will go out and
fight them, if I go alone."

[Footnote D: In former years Prince Richard had acted as viceroy of
the English possessions in France, under King Henry, and while there
he had been engaged in wars with the King of France, and with the
dauphin, his son.]

[Illustration: LAST HOURS OF KING RICHARD'S FATHER.]

So Prince Richard came forth from the gates of York at the head of his
columns, and rode on toward the queen's camp. Edmund went with him.
Edmund was under the care of his tutor, Robert Aspell, who was charged
to keep close to his side, and to watch over him in the most vigilant
manner. The army of the queen was at some distance from York, at a
place called Wakefield. Both parties, as is usual in civil wars, were
extremely exasperated against each other, and the battle was
desperately fought. It was very brief, however, and Richard's troops
were defeated. Richard himself was taken prisoner. Edmund endeavored
to escape. His tutor endeavored to hurry him off the field, but he
was stopped on the way by a certain nobleman of the queen's party,
named Lord Clifford. The poor boy begged hard for mercy, but Clifford
killed him on the spot.

The prince's army, when they found that the battle had gone against
them, and that their captain was a prisoner, fled in all directions
over the surrounding country, leaving great numbers dead upon the
field. The prince himself, as soon as he was taken, was disarmed on
the field, and all the leaders of the queen's army, including, as the
most authentic accounts rela