few years older. Unjust as was the detention, it had been far from
severe; the boys had as much liberty as their age and recreation
required, and received the choicest training both in the arts of war and
peace. They were bred up in close intercourse with the King's own four
sons, and were united with them by the warmest sympathy.

In fact, since usurpation had filled Henry of Lancaster's mind with
distrust and jealousy, his eldest son had been in no such enviable
position as to be beyond the capacity of fellow-feeling for the royal
prisoner.

Of a peculiarly frank, open, and affectionate nature, young Henry had so
warmly loved the gentle and fascinating Richard II., that his trust in
the father, of whom he had seen little in his boyhood, had received a
severe shock through Richard's fate. Under the influence of a new,
suspicious, and avaricious wife, the King kept his son as much at a
distance as possible, chiefly on the Welsh marches, learning the art of
war under Hotspur and Oldcastle; and when the father and son were brought
together again, the bold, free bearing and extraordinary ability of the
Prince filled the suspicious mind of the King with alarm and jealousy. To
keep him down, give him no money, and let him gain no influence, was the
narrow policy of the King; and Henry, chafing, dreaming, feeling the
injustice, and pining for occupation, shared his complaints within James,
and in many a day-dream restored him freely to his throne, and together
redressed the wrongs of the world. Meantime, James studied deep in
preparation, and recreated himself with poetry, inspired by the charms of
Joan Beaufort, the lovely daughter of the King's legitimatized brother,
the Earl of Somerset; while Henry persisted in a boy's passionate love to
King Richard's maiden widow, Isabel of France. Entirely unrequited as
his affection was, it had a beneficial effect. Next after his deep sense