ift by the
king, subject only to liege homage and an annual tribute of one ounce
of gold. The prince took with him to his new possessions many of the
knights and nobles who had served with him, and offered to Walter a high
post in the government of the province if he would accompany him. This
Walter begged to be excused from doing. Two girls had now been added
to his family, and he was unwilling to leave his happy home unless the
needs of war called him to the prince's side. He therefore remained
quietly at home.

When King John returned to France, four of the French princes of the
blood-royal had been given as hostages for the fulfilment of the treaty
of Bretigny. They were permitted to reside at Calais, and were at
liberty to move about as they would, and even to absent themselves from
the town for three days at a time whensoever they might choose. The Duke
of Anjou, the king's second son, basely took advantage of this liberty
to escape, in direct violation of his oath. The other hostages followed
his example.

King John, himself the soul of honour, was intensely mortified at this
breach of faith on the part of his sons, and after calling together the
states-general at Amiens to obtain the subsidies necessary for paying
the remaining portion of his ransom, he himself, with a train of two
hundred officers and their followers, crossed to England to make excuses
to Edward for the treachery of the princes. Some historians represent
the visit as a voluntary returning into captivity; but this was not
so. The English king had accepted the hostages in his place, and was
responsible for their safe-keeping, and had no claim upon the French
monarch because they had taken advantage of the excess of confidence
with which they had been treated. That the coming of the French king was
not in any way regarded as a return into captivity is shown by the
fact that he was before starting furnished by Edward with letters of
safe-conduct, by which his secure and unobstructed return to his own
country was expressly stipulated, and he was received by Edward as an
honoured guest and friend, and his coming was regarded as an honour and
an occasion for festivity by all England.

At the same time that John was in London the King of Cyprus, the King
of Denmark, and the King of Scotland were also there, and the meeting
of four monarchs in London was the occasion of extraordinary festivities
and rejoicing, the king and his royal guests being seve