A Heroine of France: The Story of Joan of Arc

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Everett-Green Evelyn. A Heroine of France: The Story of Joan of Arc

CHAPTER I. HOW I FIRST HEARD OF THE MAID

CHAPTER II. HOW I FIRST SAW THE MAID

CHAPTER III. HOW THE MAID CAME TO VAUCOULEURS

CHAPTER IV. HOW THE MAID WAS TRIED AND TESTED

CHAPTER V. HOW THE MAID JOURNEYED TO CHINON

CHAPTER VI. HOW THE MAID CAME TO THE KING

CHAPTER VII. HOW THE MAID WAS HINDERED; YET MADE PREPARATION

CHAPTER VIII. HOW THE MAID MARCHED FOR ORLEANS

CHAPTER IX. HOW THE MAID ASSUMED COMMAND AT ORLEANS

CHAPTER X. HOW THE MAID LED US INTO BATTLE

CHAPTER XI. HOW THE MAID BORE TRIUMPH AND TROUBLE

CHAPTER XII. HOW THE MAID RAISED THE SIEGE

CHAPTER XIII. HOW THE MAID WON A NEW NAME

CHAPTER XIV. HOW THE MAID CLEARED THE KING'S WAY

CHAPTER XV. HOW THE MAID RODE WITH THE KING

CHAPTER XVI. HOW THE MAID ACCOMPLISHED HER MISSION

CHAPTER XVII. HOW THE MAID WAS PERSUADED

CHAPTER XVIII. HOW I LAST SAW THE MAID

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I did not forget my desire to see this maiden of Domremy, nor did Bertrand, I trow, forget the promise, albeit some days passed by ere we put our plan into action.

Bad news kept coming in to the little loyal township of Vaucouleurs. There was no manner of doubt but that the English Regent, Bedford, was resolved to lose no more time, but seek to put beneath his iron heel the whole of the realm of France. Gascony had been English so long that the people could remember nothing different than the rule of the Roy Outremer-as of old they called him. Now all France north of the Loire owned the same sway, and as all men know, the Duke of Burgundy was ally to the English, and hated 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 did not drive him into the arms of the Dauphin, whom he hated worse, it loosened the bond between him and our foes, and we had hoped it might bring about a better state of things for our party. Yet alas! – this seemed as far as ever from being so; and the Burgundian soldiers still ravaged along our borders, and it seemed ofttimes as though we little loyal community of the Duchy of Bar would be swallowed up altogether betwixt the two encroaching foes. So our hearts were often heavy and our faces grave with fear.

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As we rode through the fields and woodlands towards Domremy, the light began to take the golden hue which it does upon the autumn afternoon, and upon that day it shone with a wonderful radiance such as is not uncommon after rain. We were later than we 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 leisurely towards the village, and Bertrand told me of the Fairy Well and the Fairy Tree in the forest hard by, so beloved of the children of Domremy, and of which so much has been heard of late, though at that time I knew nothing of any such things.

But fairy lore has ever a charm for me, and I bid him show me these same things. So we turned a little aside into the forest, and found ourselves in a lovely glade, where 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, and well could I believe that the fairies danced around the well, sunk deep in its mossy dell, and fringed about with ferns and flowers and the shade of drooping trees.

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