Sir Robert turned away with a whistle. "'Fore God!" said he, "it
is in my mind that I carry some hard men with me to Brittany."
XIX. HOW A SQUIRE OF ENGLAND MET A SQUIRE OF FRANCE
Sir Robert Knolles with his little fleet had sighted the Breton
coast near Cancale; they had rounded the Point du Grouin, and
finally had sailed past the port of St. Malo and down the long
narrow estuary of the Rance until they were close to the old
walled city of Dinan, which was held by that Montfort faction
whose cause the English had espoused. Here the horses had been
disembarked, the stores were unloaded, and the whole force
encamped outside the city, whilst the leaders waited for news as
to the present state of affairs, and where there was most hope of
honor and profit.
The whole of France was feeling the effects of that war with
England which had already lasted some ten years, but no Province
was in so dreadful a condition as this unhappy land of Brittany.
In Normandy or Picardy the inroads of the English were periodical
with intervals of rest between; but Brittany was torn asunder by
constant civil war apart from the grapple of the two great
combatants, so that there was no surcease of her sufferings. The
struggle had begun in 1341 through the rival claims of Montfort
and of Blois to the vacant dukedom. England had taken the part of
Montfort, France that of Blois.
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