He hoped soon to drive those red-crossed foreigners out of his kingdom.

Should he fail, they would end by expelling the Duke of Mayenne and all the rest who had called them in, and Paris would become the theatre of the bloodiest tragedy ever yet enacted.

The king then ordered Sir Roger Williams to see that a collation was prepared for the deputies, and the veteran Welshman took occasion to indulge in much blunt conversation with the guests.

He informed them that he, Mr.Sackville, and many other strangers were serving the king from the hatred they bore the Spaniards and Mother League, and that his royal mistress had always 8000 Englishmen ready to maintain the cause.
While the conferences were going on, the officers and soldiers of the besieging army thronged to the gate, and had much talk with the townsmen.
Among others, time-honoured La None with the iron arm stood near the gate and harangued the Parisians.

"We are here," said he, "five thousand gentlemen; we desire your good, not your ruin.