“Indeed, I see that, Sir Ralph,” Edgar
said. “At first we were greatly in favour
of Ghent, seeing that they were in a desperate strait
and that all reasonable terms were refused them, but
of late we have not been so warm in their cause.
Van Artevelde himself is assuredly honest and desirous
of doing what is right, but methinks he does wrong
in keeping up the state of a king and bearing himself
towards all those of the other cities of Flanders
as if Ghent were their conqueror, and laying heavy
taxes upon them, while he himself is swayed by the
councils of the most violent of the demagogues of
Ghent.”
“But now tell me—how goes on the
siege?”
“It goes not on at all. Oudenarde is a
strong place; it is defended by many broad ditches,
and has a garrison of knights and men-at-arms of the
earl, who, as we know, take upon themselves all the
defence, knowing that there are men in the town who
would fain surrender, and fearing that these would
throw open the gates to us, or give us such aid as
they could, were there a chance. Still more,
the siege goes on but slowly, or rather we may say
goes on not at all, for want of a leader. Van
Artevelde himself knows nothing whatever of the business
of war, nor do any of those about him.
“The men of the towns will all fight bravely
in a pitched field, as they have often shown, but
as to laying a siege, they know naught of it, and it
seems to us that the matter might go on for a year
and yet be no nearer its end. They are far more
occupied in making ordinances and collecting contributions,
and in doing all they can for the honour and glory
of Ghent, than in thinking of taking Oudenarde, which,
indeed, when captured, would be of no great consequence
to them.”
Sir Ralph nodded. “Methinks you are right,
Edgar. I arrived here just as you went out this
morning, and hearing from your men that you were not
like to return till midday, I have ridden round to
see what was being done, and to my surprise saw that,
in the three months since this great host sat down
before Oudenarde, naught of any use whatever has been
accomplished. With such an army, if Flanders wishes
to maintain her freedom, she should have summoned
Burgundy to abstain from giving aid to the earl, and
on his refusal should have marched with her whole force
against him, captured some of his great towns, and
met his host in a fair field. Methinks you two
are doing no good to yourselves here, and that it
will be just as well for you both to go back to England
for a time, until you see how matters shape themselves.”
A CRUSHING DEFEAT
