I then learned that Clotaire II had given the town of Gisors to his cousin, the holy Bishop Romain of Rouen; that Gisors had ceased to be the capital of the Vexin region after the treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte; that the town occupies the most strategically important position for this particular part of France and that accordingly it had been taken and re-taken times without number. Under orders from Guillaume the Red, the famous military engineer Robert de Bellesme had built a strong fortress there which was later attacked by Louis the Fat, then by various Norman barons; it had been defended by Robert de Candos and finally ceded to Louis the Fat by Geoffroy Plantagenet; then it was taken by the English as a result of a Templar betrayal; it was disputed by Philippe-Auguste and Richard Coeur de Lion, burned by Edward III of England who failed to take the castle; it was taken again by the English in 1419 and later bequeathed to Charles VII by Richard Marbury; taken once more by the Duke of Cabria, occupied by the Ligue, lived in by Henri IV, etc., etc., etc.

Marambot was now well into his stride.

‘The bloody English, I tell you! What a bunch of drunks they are, my friend. They’re all Rose Kings over there, the hypocrites!’

Then after a moment’s silence he stretched out an arm in the direction of the narrow river gleaming in the pastureland below.

‘Did you know, by the way, that Henry Monnier13 was one of the keenest anglers ever to fish from the banks of the Epte?’

‘I didn’t, actually.’

‘And Bouffé, my dear chap, Bouffé, the stained-glass artist.14 He did some work here, too.’

‘You don’t say!’

‘He certainly did. I’m really amazed at how little you know about the world!’

ENCOUNTER

It happened by chance, quite by chance. Since all the Princess’s apartments had been thrown open for this gala evening, the Baron d’Etrailles, tired of standing, walked away from the brightly lit salons and into the relative darkness of a deserted bedroom.