He himself
was excommunicated. The League were masters of almost the whole
of France, and were well supplied with funds by the pope and the
Catholic powers while Henry was entirely dependent for money upon
what he could borrow from Queen Elizabeth and the States of Holland.
But no one who listened to the merry laugh of the king as he chatted
with the little group of English gentlemen would have thought that
he was engaged in a desperate and well nigh hopeless struggle, and
that the following day was to be a decisive one as to his future
fortunes.
"Well, gentlemen," he said as he turned his horse to ride away,
"I must ask you to lie down as soon as possible. As long as the
officers are awake and talking the men cannot sleep; and I want
all to have a good night's rest. The enemy's camp is close at hand
and the battle is sure to take place at early dawn."
As the same orders were given everywhere, the camp was quiet early,
and before daylight the troops were called under arms and ranged
in the order appointed for them to fight in.
The army of the League was astir in equally good time. In its
centre was the battalia composed of six hundred splendid cavalry,
all noblemen of France, supported by a column of three hundred Swiss
and two thousand French infantry. On the left were six hundred French
cuirassiers and the eighteen hundred troops of Parma, commanded by
Count Egmont.
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