Lady de Courcy, dismissed her from her office, ordered her out of the country, and filled her place by his niece Eleanora, widow of the Earl of March. Kichard, accompanied by several noblemen, proceeded from Windsor to Bristol, and thence, despite the reports of plots and conspiracies which reached him, hastened to Milford IJaven, where he joined his army, and on the twentyninth of May, 1399, embarked with a fleet of two hundred sail, on that expedition into Ireland which consummated his ruin. When tho Duke of Lancaster'landed at Kavenspur, the Queen, by the Regent's order, was taken from Windsor, and placed for greater security in Wallingford Castle, where she remained during the eventful period that Lancaster won from her husband the crown of England. On returning to England, Richard saw himself in the midst of an enraged people, whilst those who in the sunshine of power had contributed to fan his follies, forsook him to swell the ranks of the triumphing Lancaster. Of the twenty thousand men he brought with him from Ireland, two-thirds deserted on landing, and being unable, with the faithful remnant of his force, to make stand against the swelling numbers of his antagonist, he stole away in disguise, and sought safety in Conway Castle ; but here the accommodations were so wretched, and the danger of falling into the hands of his foe so imminent, that, with the Earl of Salisbury, he examined the castles of Beaumaris and Caernarvon ; hut finding them without garrisons or provisions, the unfortunate wanderers returned with heavy hearts to their former quarters, where Richard, in the following strains of bitter grief, bewailed his absence from his beloved Queen. L l Oh ! my mistress and my consort, accursed be the man who thus separateth us ! I am dying of grief because of it. My fair sister, my lady, and my sole desire, since I am robbed of the pleasure of beholding thee, such pain and affliction oppresseth my whole heart, that I am oft-times near despair. Alas ! Isabella, rightful daughter of Erance, you were wont to be my joy, my hope, my consolation ! And I now plainly see, that through the violence of fortune, which hath slain many a man, I must be deprived of you, whereat I often endure so severe a pang, that day and night I am in danger of bitter death. And it is no marvel, when I from such a height have fallen so low, and lost my joy, my solace, and my consort!"* At Conwav, the King's distress was so severe, that he sent his brothers, the Dukes of Surrey and Exeter, to visit Lancaster at Chester, and sound his intentions. Lancaster received them with courtesy, detained them, so that the King, instead of making his escape, might await their return, and sent the Earl of Northumberland ostensibly to confer with Richard, but with the real purpose of making him a prisoner. Northumberland proceeded on his delicate mission at the head of four hundred menat-arms, and one thousand archers. After, in his journey, taking possession of the castles of Flint and Rhuddland, and a few miles beyond the latter placing his men in ambush under a rock, Northumberland proceeded forward with only five attendants. On reaching Conway, and obtaining an audience with the King, he demanded, in the name of Lancaster, that a parliament might be immediately summoned to remove his sentence of banishment, and restore him to the possession of his estates, and that the Dukes of Exeter and Surrey, the Earl of Salisbury, the Bishop of Carlisle, and Mandchu, the King's ehaplain, should be tried for having advised the assassination of Gloucester, and that on the concession of these terms Lancaster should meet the King at Flint, ask his pardon, and accompany or follow him to London. Richard approved of the articles, but previously consulted his friends in private, and assured them that ho would on no account abandon them in their trial, and that on the first opportunity he would be bitterly revenged on his and their enemies; "for," said he, "there * Translated by tbe Rev. J. Webb from α MS. in tbe British Muséum, and published in tbe 20lh vol. of the Archeologia.