:he would birnfclf aflkffiaate the conftable, or have it done uqder his own eyes, and not attend to any thing until the deed were performed, when he would afterward* treat for his pardon. He was no way afraid of what John of Blois or the vif-count de Rohan, who had married the conftable's two daughters, could do againft him: he held them very cheap, for, with the affiftance of the duke and his family-conne&ions, he could with- • ftand them both. The houfe of Blois was much .weakened, and the count Guy de Blois had juft fold the reverfion of that county to the duke of Tou-raine, which by fucceffion ought to have defcended to John of Brittany, who had in this fale been very unkindly treated by the count de Blois. Now, if the conftable were flain, by degrees he would foon get the better of the favourites of the king . and the duke of Touraine, fuch as the lord de la Riviere, fir John le Mercier, Montagu, le bègue de Villaines, fir John de Bueil, and others in the king's confidence who were friends of the con* ftable, and whom the dukes of Berry and Burgundy detefted, notwithftanding the outward marks of friendship they (hewed them. Sir Peter de Craon perfevëred in his abominable defigns, urged on by that enemy who never deeps, and who delights in the heart of the wicked man • that is inclined towards him. He regularly formed his whole plan, in the manner I (hall mention ; but, had he forefeen the great evils and mifchieft that enfued from them, it is to be hoped rcafon and temperance would have ruled in his heart tr preve 361