Under the Flag of France: A Tale of Bertrand du Guesclin

Under the Flag of France: A Tale of Bertrand du Guesclin

I must plead guilty to having, for the purposes of the story, placed my heros castle (which unhappily no longer exists) much nearer to Rennes than it actually was; but the chief events of his life are given here very much as I found them in the old French chronicles. What place is there for me on the earth? I would I were dead! Startling words, in truth, to hear from any ones lips; and doubly so from those of a boy of fourteen, with his whole life before him. It was a clear, bright evening in the spring of 1334, and the setting sun was pouring a flood of golden glory over the wooded ridges, and dark moors, and wide green meadows, and quaint little villages of Bretagne, or Brittany, then a semi-independent principality ruled by its own duke, and little foreseeing that, barely two centuries later, it was to be united to France once for all. Over earth and sky brooded a deep, dreamy stillness of perfect repose, broken only by the lowing of cattle from the distant pastures, and the soft, sweet chime of the vesper-bell from the unseen church tower, hidden by the still uncleared wood, through one solitary gap in which were seen the massive grey battlements of Motte-Brun Castle, the residence of the local seigneur, or lord of the manor. A rabbit sat upright in its burrow to clean its furry face. A squirrel, halfway up the pillar-like stem of a tall tree, paused a moment to look down with its small, bright, restless eye; and a tiny bird, perched on a bough above, broke forth in a blithe carol. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 46855
Author: Ker, David
Release Date: Sep 14, 2014
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Illustrator: Wood, Stanley L., 1866-1928