Charles of Alencon
was then unable to resist the advice given him to retreat, and thus save
the few Frenchmen who had escaped the arms of the Imperialists. With
four hundred lances he abandoned the camp, crossed the Ticino, and
reaching France by way of Piedmont, proceeded to Lyons, where he found
Louise of Savoy and Margaret.
It has been alleged that they received him with harsh reproaches, and
that, unable to bear the shame he felt for his conduct, he died only a
few days after the battle. (1)
1 See Garnier's _Histoire de France_, vol. xxiv.; Gaillard's
_Histoire de France, &c_. Odolant Desnos, usually well
informed, falls into the same error, and asserts that when
the Duke, upon his arrival, asked Margaret to kiss him, she
replied, "Fly, coward! you have feared death. You might find
it in my arms, as I do not answer for myself."--_Memoires
historiques_, vol. ii. p. 253.
There are several errors in these assertions, which a contemporary
document enables us to rectify.
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