Discussions and negotiations were handled so well between them that a truce was declared to last three years between the
Scots and the
English, and between each of their two kingdoms.
When these truces were concluded, the lords made visits to honour one another and there the
earl of Douglas said to the
duke of Lancaster,
"My lord, we are aware of the revolts led by the common people of
England and of the threat posed to the kingdom of
England by such an event. We consequently hold you to be most valiant and wise, given that you have continued so resolutely with your negotiations without the slightest mention of this. Therefore we put forward and offer that if you should find use for five or six hundred lance from our side, you shall find them ready and at your disposal at once."
"By my faith," replied the
duke, "my deepest thanks, fine lords. I do not refuse, yet I do not doubt but that my lord will receive such good counsel that things will yet turn out well. Even so, I would like from you a guarantee of safe-conduct for myself and my men to return and take up residence in your land if needs be, until the situation has settled down."
The
earl of Douglas and the
earl of Moray, who were empowered by the
king, granted him this freely. And so they departed, taking their leave of one another; the
Scots returned to
Edinburgh, while the
duke and his men returned to
Berwick where the
duke expected to enter the city, for on passing it they had left their provisions there.
However, the captain of the town,
Sir Matthew Redman, denied him entry and closed the gate before him and his men, saying that he had been banned by the
earl of Northumberland, at that time regent and sovereign of the entire march, borderlands and the land of
Northumberland. When the
duke heard these reports they displeased him intensely. He responded,
"How,
Matthew Redman, is there any sovereign in
Northumberland greater than I, appointed since I passed by and left my provisions with you? How has this new situation arisen?"
"By my faith my lord," replied the
knight, "the king is behind it, and what I am doing is against my will, yet I am duty-bound to do it. I pray to God that you can forgive me. For my orders, upon my honour and my life, are that neither you nor your men may enter."
You can be certain that the
duke was stunned and infuriated by these words; not by the
knight in particular, but by those who had issued such orders, for he had toiled for the good of
England and they were suspicious of him to the extent that they had closed to him the first town in
England near
Scotland. He could only assume that he had been found at great fault, yet he did not reveal his intentions or what he was thinking, and did not press the
knight any further. He could clearly see that there was no point, for the
knight would never have acted the way he had or said what he said without very firm orders. He therefore changed the subject for another and asked
Sir Matthew,
"News of
England, do you have any?"
pb 78 v