The King went on very well until about the middle of the summer of 1395, by which time he had grown very tired of the restraints imposed on him by Dr. Fréron, the trouble of attending to serious affairs, and the comparative dulness of his court. Also it is probable that the symptoms of the terrible malady so long kept at bay by the skill of the great doctor were making themselves felt and deprived him of the little self-control and sense he had ever had. At any rate he dismissed Dr. Fréron, who retired with his property to Cambrai,[157] and when he had gone the frenzy returned and Charles was again mad.
It had been a bad summer, with violent winds, doing much damage. Misfortunes and troubles seemed to be gathering again over France. The deepest disappointment was felt by high and low at the relapse of the King, confusion and misgovernment began again, the air was full of evil rumours and terrors as it had been in the years before the battles of Crécy and Poitiers. It was reported that in Languedoc had been seen a great star, followed by five little ones which seemed to attack it for about the space of half an hour, while voices and dreadful cries were heard in the heavens; and there appeared the gigantic form of a man who shone like copper, transfixed the great star with a spear and vanished.
In Guyenne unearthly voices were heard in the air, accompanied by the clang of armour and the tramp of combatants.[158]
The court was rent by the quarrels of the Queen and Duchesse d’Orléans with the Duchess of Burgundy, whom neither of them could bear, and whose interference Isabeau was now roused up to resist. In fact, the arrogance and encroachments of the Burgundian party had become alike intolerable and alarming. The state of the King from this time grew gradually worse. He was not always mad, but his attacks grew more frequent, lasted longer, and took different forms on different occasions. Sometimes even in the middle of them he would have lucid intervals in which his commands were absolutely obeyed. After a period of sanity and health, he could tell by the symptoms when the attack was coming on again, and would desire that all arms, knives, &c., should be taken out of his reach, and sometimes that he should be forcibly restrained lest he should hurt any one. He begged every one he knew, if they had bewitched him, as some said, to have pity upon him and reverse the spell. The whole state of things was heartbreaking, and when he was mad he did not know the Queen, it was not safe for her to go near him, he struck at her and ran after her so that she fled in terror. Sometimes he knew every one except the Queen and her children, but one person he always knew, and that was the Duchesse d’Orléans.