The English noblemen were so solicitous, however, that at last
she was brought before them. The earl marshal immediately knelt before
her, and said, in the old-fashioned language of the time: "Madam, if
it please God, you shall be our lady and queen."
Queen Isabeau stood at a little distance, curious and anxious, no
doubt, to know how her little daughter would answer this formal
address. To her great pleasure, and the great surprise of all present,
Princess Isabella replied:
"Sir, if it please God and my father that I be Queen of England, I
shall be well pleased, for I am told I shall then be a great lady."
Then, giving the marshal her tiny hand to kiss, she bade him rise from
his knees, and leading him to her mother, she presented him to her
with the grace and ease of a mature woman.
According to the fashion of the time, Princess Isabella was
immediately married by proxy, and received the title of Queen of
England. Froissart, a celebrated historian living at that epoch, says:
"It was very pretty to see her, young as she was, practicing how to
act the queen.
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