Then for a moment they looked at each other in silence. The memories of bygone days, of their own youth, of the forms and faces of the dead came back to them and they both burst into tears, so that, as the chronicler says, “it was a piteous thing to see.”[83] Finding it impossible to carry on any conversation then, they deferred it till after dinner. After the Emperor had rested in the apartment of the Dauphin, which had been prepared for him, the Kings of France and of the Romans dined, wine and dessert were served, and the banquet was in the great Salle de Sens. Then Charles V. retired to his own rooms; his brothers with the King of the Romans, who wanted to see the lions, went to find Louis, Comte de Valois, who probably wished to go with them, and the Duchesse de Bourbon came to the apartment of the Emperor, her brother-in-law. For a long time they sat together, talking of old times, as people will who were companions in childhood after being separated for half a lifetime. Later on they were joined by the Queen and her two little sons, and they all stayed with the Emperor till the hour of vespers.
They brought him two beautiful dogs with the golden _fleur-de-lis_ on their silken collars, and he gave the Queen a gold reliquary.
Towards evening the King came to fetch the Emperor as they were going down to Vincennes and Beauté, whence the latter was to take his departure.[84]
It was the last fête of the court of Jeanne de Bourbon. For less than a month afterwards, on the 4th of February, at the hôtel St. Paul, she gave birth to a daughter, “_dont moult fut grevée de travail_.” To allay the violence of the fever with which she was seized the Queen insisted on being put into a cold bath, after which she became alarmingly ill. The child was hastily baptized by the Bishop of Paris and called after her mother’s favourite Saint Catherine. All her life Jeanne had desired to die before her husband, and said she hoped she would never live to be regent. She had her wish,[85] for she died in the King’s arms February 6, 1378, about two hours before midnight.
The little Princess Isabelle died a few days after her mother, and was buried by her side at St. Denis.
Jeanne de Bourbon was one of the most charming and spotless characters in history. From her childish marriage to her death she does not seem to have had an enemy or a word of blame ever attached to her. She was always spoken of as “la belle duchesse” or “la bonne reine.” Charles was inconsolable. He never had the frank, open nature nor the graceful charm of manner that made some of the princes of his house adored by their friends and subjects. Quiet and reserved, he was a man of few but deep and lasting friendships and affections, and he was capable of a deathless love. The loss of Jeanne broke his heart. From that day his life was over. He never regained either health or spirits, but died rather more than two years after at his château of Beauté at the edge of his beloved forest.