enamored of the great Provence dower, and offered his hand to his fair guest. Unabashed by the lady's prompt refusal, the venerable suitor determined to detain her a prisoner in his fortress till she should comply with his prop-osition ; but Peyrol accidentally learning the design, dis-guised his mistress and her sister in his own apparel, con-ducted thein through the postern by night, and procuring a fisherman's boat, escaped with them down the Loire. Here a new danger awaited them. Geoffrey of Anjou, the young brother of Henry Plantagenet, captivated by the charms of the princess, stationed himself with a strong guard, at the Pont de Tas, with the intention of carrying her off. Before the fugitives reached the spot they per-ceived the ambush, and the royal ladies, each seizfcg an oar, concealed their faces by bendin* to their tasks, while Peyrol ingeniously 'evaded the questions of the sentinel, by displaying the fishing-tackle and turning the boat into a lit-tle creek, as if preparing to commence the morning's sport. Hidden by the willows that shaded the stream, the party pursued their way with the utmost rapidity, and before the count had discovered their escape, they were beyond the reach of capture. The enthusiastic greetings with which the Provencals hailed the return of their beloved duchess, had scarcely subsided into the quiet demonstrations of affectionate obe-dience, when the young Henry Plantagenet followed her to Bordeaux, and in that wealthy city, with all the pomp that the luxurious Provençal could command, they were married the first of May, A.D. 1152. Thus the sweet prov-inces of the south became the appanage of the English crown, and a foundation was laid for those desolating wara that for centuries drained the best blood of both France and England. • ELEANOR. 147-