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The King's Esquires, by George Manville Fenn
The Project Gutenberg EBook of The King's Esquires, by George Manville Fenn This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The King's Esquires The Jewel of France
Author: George Manville Fenn
Illustrator: Ogle
Release Date: October 20, 2007 [EBook #23128]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KING'S ESQUIRES ***
Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
The King's Esquires
or, The Jewel of France
CHAPTER ONE.
HOW YOUNG DENIS KEPT GUARD.
His Most Christian Majesty King Francis the First had a great preference for his Palace of Fontainebleau among the many places of residence from which he could choose, and it is interesting to glance into that magnificent palace on a certain afternoon in the year 151--. In a special apartment, from which direct access could be obtained to the guard chamber, where a detachment of the favourite musketeers of the King of France was on duty, and which also communicated with the monarch's private apartments, a youth, nearly a man but not quite was impatiently striding up and down. He stopped every now and then to glance out of the low window, from which a view could be obtained over the great Forest of Fontainebleau, where Philip Augustus in the old days, centuries befo