magnificence. Although gorgeous in the extreme, the -wealing festivities were of very short continuance, as the following letter shows :— " Worshipful Maister, I recomand me to you. And as touchyng tydynga the Kyng owre sovereyn loord was weddid with greet solcmpnitoe in the cathédrale chirche of ïreys abowte m yd day on Trinitie Sunday ; And on the Tuysday suying he removed towards the toune of Sens XVI leges, thennis havying wyth hym thedir owre quene and the Frensh estatzy ; and on Wednysday thanne next Buying was sege leyd to that toune, a greet toune and a notable towards liourgoyneward holden strong with greet nombre of Ermynakes ; The which toune is worthily beseged, for ther lay at that sege two Kyngs, two quennes, IV ducks [dukes), with my loord of Bedford, whanne he cometh hider the whiche the XII day of the monyth of Juyn shall logge besyde Parys hiderward ; And at this sege also lyn many worthy ladys and gentelwomen, both Frensh and English, of the whiche many of hem begonne tho faits of armes long time agoon, but of lyging at seges now they begynne first, " JOHAW Ο FORT." Thus, two days after her marriage, Katherine the Fair was hurried to the revolting scenes of warfare ; and, if history is to be believed, her affection for Henry made her quite forget the woes of her country. The fall of Franco was to her a source of joy—her bridal music its dying groans. But a fortnight after, her espousal, Henry took the bravelydefended town of Montereau, and tarnished his fame by inhumanly butchering the garrison, under pretence of avenging the murder of the Duke of Burgundy. Nor did Katherine once intercede on behalf of these unfortunate Frenchmen, whose only crime was that of bravely defending their country from the arms of a cruel invader. After the fall of Montereau, Katherine accompanied her royal lord to the siege of Melun. Whilst _ the siege was going on, she resided with many dames and damsels in a house Henry had had built for the occasion, about a mile from the town. Here, too, her imbecile father, King Charles, abode, that the voice of the cannon might not startle bim; and as his malady was soothed by music, the King of England's military band, which consisted principally of clarions, nightly serenaded him for about an hour. On tbe surrender of Mclun, in November, tbe two courts proceeded to Paris. Not knowing how the Parisians would receive the English, Henry and his suite, accompanied by King CJharles, entered the cityfirst in grand procession. " He was welcomed," says the chronicler, "with great shows, merry noises, sweet carols, and jocund dances and the chief citizens paid their conqueror the flattering compliment of wearing the English royal livery of red, instead of their accustomed blue. The two queens entered Paris on the following day, and their arrival was marked with a display of magnificence and enthusiasm too great to be described; the houses were decorated with banners and hangings ; processions paraded the streets, and, indeed, every one was so joyed at the ratification of the "perpetual peace," that the shops were closed, all serious business stopped, and nothing but feasting and pleasure indulged in. On the conclusion of the Christmas festivals, Henry, accompanied by Katherine, set out from Paris, with an escort of six thousand men, under the command of the Duke of Bedford. In their journey through France, the royal pair were greeted with enthusiastic demonstrations of loyalty, and when they embarked at Calais, the shore was thronged with the inhabitants, all eager to catch a last glimpse of their fair young queen. After a prosperous voyage, they landed at Dover in safety, and were conducted in triumph to London, where the queen was crowned, in Westminster Abbey, on the twenty-third of February, 1421, by Archbishop Chichely. Monstrelet asserts that the coronation of Katherine of France was solemnized with a magnificence hitherto unparalleled in the English annals ; and Fabyan details the pomp and splendour of the feast that followed, with no little enthusiasm. The queen sat at dinner