€ Ah/ faid the duke,c he is too yonng/—c That • is nothing, my lord : do not you fee the count . de Blois has married his fon, who is of the famé N age, with your ^daughter Mary ?' —c That is true/ anfwered the duke : ' w^ll, name then a lady for him/—' We name the daughter of the duke of Lancafter/ The duke mufed a while, and was fome time before he made any reply, when, addreflingx himfelf to them, he faid,-— € You propofe marrying my fon Johù with my eoufin, the daughter of the duke of Lancafter : by St. Denis, you have made me imagine that % ihe will be an excellent match for myfelf, fend 1 will fhortly write to the duke on the fubject. He refides, as I hear, at Bayonne; and I wiH igoify to him that fome of my council fhall yery fpeedily wait on him to treat of this mar-riage with me, I fay : not for my fon John, whom I will marry elfewhere/ Thofe to whom he had fpoken, on hearing the at)ove, burft out into laughter. c ' What do yon laugh at ?' faid the duke: ' We laugh, my lord, becaufe it feems that you prefer to have a good thing yourfelf, rather than give it your fon/— * By my faith, I am in the right ; for my fair eoufin of Lancafter will not fo readily give his daughter to my fon as he will to me/ Letters were inftantly written, and font to the duke of Lancafter. The meffengers, on their arrival at Bayonne, prefented the letters to the - duke, who, having opened them and perufed their contehts, was higUy delighted, and made thofe who had brought them good cheer, giving them , 159