[Illustration: MEETING OF THE QUEEN AND HER MOTHER.]
Parti-coloured dresses were much worn then. The Queen’s second son, Louis, was born March, 1371. Bertrand du Guesclin was his godfather, and put a sword into his hand, praying God and Our Lady to make him a good knight. In July, 1373, was born her daughter Isabelle. The little Dauphin was her godfather and held her at the font; her grandmother, the Duchess Isabelle, was her godmother.
Louis de Bourbon had married in 1371 Anne, daughter of the Comte de Clermont et d’Auvergne. He was a good soldier, just, generous, and religious; his court was as magnificent as those of the Dukes of Burgundy and Orléans. When he returned from being a hostage in England he instituted an order of chivalry called the Ecu d’or. During the fête, after the ceremony, his Procureur-Général, Chavreau, presented to him a register of depredations committed on his lands during his captivity by divers lords, his vassals, most of whom were present, and were seized with consternation; but the Duke replied, “Chavreau, have you also the register of the services they have rendered me?” and without looking at it, threw it into the fire. It is said that when, after the capture of his mother, Anne, Duchesse de Bretagne, fell into his hands and exclaimed, “_Ah, beau cousin!_ am I a prisoner?” he replied, “No, madame, we do not make war on ladies.” His subjects adored him, and when, many years afterwards, he died and his body was brought to Moulins to be buried, clergy and people thronged to accompany it wherever the funeral passed, with tears and lamentations.
Illness of the Queen--Her recovery--Floods in Paris--Death of several princesses of the Royal Family--Bertrand du Guesclin--The Court of Charles V. and Jeanne de Bourbon--The peers of France--The King’s will--Betrothal of his daughters--Visit of the Emperor Charles IV.--The Emperor and the Duchess-dowager de Bourbon--Birth of the Princess Catherine--Death of the Queen--Of the Princess Isabelle--Grief of the King--His death.
The beds used at this time were enormous. If only six feet square they were considered very small and called _couchettes_, but when they were from eight feet and a half by seven and a half to twelve feet by eleven, they were supposed to be of a sufficient size and called _couches_. These beds were mounted on very wide steps covered with rich carpets, and were hung with exquisite and costly stuffs; alcoves, supposed to be so much later an invention, were then in use. The chronicler of the quatre premiers Valois relates that in 1373 the Queen was seized with a dangerous illness. She seems to have been delirious, as he goes on to say that she lost her _bonne mémoire_, that the King, _qui moult l’aimoit_, made many pilgrimages about it, and that by the mercy of God and Our Lady she recovered her good health and good senses. In spite of his delicate health Charles often made these pilgrimages to holy places, walking barefoot with the monks.