. 91 into Lombard j ; but the count de Foix, whom it was not eafy to deceive, imagined that was not his intention, and made fecret inquiries as to the progrefs of the bufinefs, and whither the men at arms were to march on quitting their ftrong holds. The common report was, that they ftill continued their courfes, for the men of the country fo related it to him. Upon hearing this, he (hook his head* and faid,—c Such men at arms will not be trifled with. The count d'Armagnac and his brother Bernard are young, and I know they neither love me nor my country: thefe men at arms, therefore, may perchance fall on me, unlefs I fhaJl take proper order to guard againft them. The proverb fays, 4 Long provifion beforehand makçth fure poffefGon/ The count de Foix was not, in truth, wrong m his conjectures, as appearances at one time fhewed, which I fhall relate, if I carry my hif-tory to that length. You have hemfd how that Breton,. Geoffry Têtenoir, had long held the caftie of Ventadonr, on the borders of Auvergne and the Bourbonois, and had refufed to furrender for any money that had been offered him. He confidered this caftie as his own inheritance, and had forced all the fiimronding country to enter into composition with him to avoid being plundered. By this means every one could labour the ground at their pleafure, and he was enabled to keep the ftate of a great baron. He was a cruel man, and very ferocious in his anger, minding no more killing a man than a beaft. You mmÉ know, that when the