A Heroine of France

my, nor did Bertrand, I trow, forget the promise, albe

ated the Dauphin with a deadly hatred, for the murder of his father--for which no man can justly blame him. True, his love for the English had cooled manifestly since that affair of Duke Humphrey of Gloucester and Jacquelaine of Brabant, in which as was natural, he took the part of his brother; but although the Duke of Bedford was highly indignant with Duke Humphrey, and gave him no manner of support in his rash expedition, yet the Duke of Burgundy resented upon the English what had been done, and although it

ad not been there; for Robert de Baudricourt, as I remembered him, had ever been a man of merry mood, wit

his time was spent. He would go hunting or hawking by day, or ride hither and thither through the town, looking into matters there, or sit to listen to the affairs of the citizens or soldiers as they were brought before him;

ome in, either of raids by the roving Burgundians, or the advance of the English towards Orleans, then these darker moods would fall upon him; and once when he had sat

ng of the Mai

, yet when he spoke a brief while later, it a

me again the words of that prophecy of Merlin's, spoken long, long ago, of w

rossing over towards the great fire before which his kinsman sat, "'That France s

ver the burning eyes; his words came in

nglish? Did she not repudiate her own son? Did not her hatred burn so fiercely against him that she was ready to tarnish her own good fame and declare him illegitimate, rather than that he should succeed his father as King of France? Did she not give her daughter to t

e. Hath He not said before this that He doth take of the mean and humble to confound the great of the earth? Did not the three hu

he Dauphin of France that he should look for divine deliverance? 'God helps those who help themselves,' so says the proverb; but what of th

nd thoughtfully; "if we did judge of God's mercy by man's worthiness to receive the same, we might well sink i

expressed to see the maid, Jeanne of Domremy; and as the sun upon the morrow shone out bright and clear, after a week of heavy rain storms, we agreed that no better opportunity cou

Heaven--had revealed to her that she must be sent to the Dauphin, to help him to drive out the English from his country, and to place the crown of France upon his head, and that he, Robert de Baudricourt, wa

Mid-Lent the promised succour to France was to arrive

ll come again when the time draws near; but that if it is phantasy, or if she be deluded of the Devil, perchance his backwardness will put a check upon her ardour, and we shall hear no more of it. The Abbe Perigord, his C

her young face, I cannot believe that she has been thus deceived; albeit

One and the finger of God. There were words and signs which any possessed of the Devil must needs fly bef

swollen condition of the brooks, which often forced us to go round by the bridges instead of taking the fords; so that we h

h mine host, that we heard somewhat more of this

at Jeanne d'Arc had gone to him in the springtide of the year, demanding an escort to the Dauphin King

the village made great mock of her! They called her the King's Marshal, the Little Queen, Jeanne the Prophetess, and I know not what beside. Her father was right wro

thing strange for the vision of a villa

, and bid her return to her needle and her household tasks, and think no more of matters too great for her. Moreover, he declared that if ever she were to disg

er, truly!" mur

nd he vowed she should wed an honest man, as she is now of age to do, and so forget her dreams and her visions, a

ed wedded?" asked

eanne, whose courage is high, though she be so quiet and modest in her daily life, did vehemently deny the charge, whereupon the angry father and his friend, the claimant of her hand, did bring it into the court, and the Maid had to defend herself there from the accusation of broken faith. But by St. Michael and all his angels!--how she did confound them all! She asked no help from lawyers, though

oiced to hear the end of the tale; for it did seem as though this maiden had been persecuted

hemselves to her since?" I asked; and B

ness and beauty and helpfulness at home. All the people love her, when not stirred to mockery by such fine pretensions. If she

e had meant, but there would be a moon to light us when the sun sank, and both we and our horses knew the roads well; or we could even sleep, if we were so minded, at the auberge where we had dined. So we were in no haste or hurry. We picked our way

e the light shone so soft and golden, and where the songs of the birds sounded so sweet and melodious, that I felt as though we were stepping through an enchanted world,

ld us spellbound, ay, and more than that, for the wonder and amaze of it fell also upon the horses we bestrode. For scarcely had we drawn rein, before they both began to tremble and to sweat, and stood with their forefeet p

between to hinder our view of her, a peasant maiden, dressed in the white coif, red skirt, and jacket and kerchief of her class, had been bending over some fine embroidery whi

es. At the first moment, although instinctively, we reined back our horses and uncovered our heads, I had no thought but that she was a devout maiden following the office of the Church out here in the wood. But as she turned her upraised face a little towards us, I saw upon it such a look as I have never seen on human countenance before, nor have ever seen (save upon hers)

ord--Thy ser

myself, I saw nothing save the shining face of the Maid--I knew who it was--there was no n

ruddy gold light of approaching sunset bathed all the wood in glory, and the rays fell upon the kneeling figure, forming a halo of glory round it. But she did not heed, she did not see. She was as one in a trance, insensible to outwar

he knelt as one absorbed in an intensity of prayer. Even as this happened, the peculiar glory of the sunlight seemed to change. It shone still, but without such wonderful glow, and our h

. It seemed almost like a species of sacrilege to stand there watching the Maid at her prayers, and yet I vow, that until the bell ceased we had no more power to move than our horses. Why we were holden by this strange spell I know not. I ca

, and was stooping to pick up her fallen work. That done, she stood awhile in deep thought

ace, and some tresses of waving hair had escaped from beneath it, tresses that looked dark till the sun touched them, and then glowed like burnished gold. Her face was pale, with features in no way marke

Maid of Domremy--and to ask her of her mission, and whether she were still believ

had been thus revealed? No!--a thousand times no! If the good God had given her a message, she would know when and where to deliver it. She had spoken before of her voices. Let them instruct her. Let not men seek to interfere. And so we rema

melike comfort. We saw Jeanne bending tenderly over a chair, in which reclined the bent form of a little crippled sister. We even heard the soft, sweet voice of the Maid, as she answered some question asked her from within the open do

and at last, "I have kept my pr

e seen the Maid," and after that