第52章 DEFEAT AND DISCOURAGEMENT.AUTUMN,(5)

We can imagine nothing more dreadful for the Maid than the months that followed.The Court was not ungrateful to her；she received the warmest welcome from the Queen；she had a /maison/arranged for her like the household of a noble chief，with the addition of women and maidens of rank to her existing staff，and everything which could serve to show that she was one whom the King delighted to honour.And Charles would have her apparelled gloriously like the king's daughter in the psalm."He gave her a mantle of cloth of gold，open at both sides，to wear over her armour，"and apparently did his best to make her，if not a noble lady，yet into the semblance of a noble young chevalière，one the glories of his Court，with all the distinction of her achievements and all the complacences of a carpet knight.It was said afterwards，in the absence of any graver possibility of accusation，that she liked her fine clothes.The tears rise to the eyes at such a suggestion.She was so natural that let us hope she did，the martyr Maid whose torture had already begun.If that mantle of gold gave her a moment of pleasure，it is something to be thankful for in the midst of the dismal shadows that were already closing round her.They were ready to give her any shining mantle，any beautiful dress，even a title and a noble name if she would；but what the King and his counsellors were determined on，was，that she should no more have the fame of individual triumph，or do anything save under their orders.

Alen？on，the gentle duke，with whom she had taken so much trouble，and who had grown into a true and noble comrade，made one effort to free his friend and leader.He planned an expedition into Normandy，where，with the help of Jeanne，he hoped to inflict upon the English a loss so tremendous，the destruction of their base of operations，that they would be compelled to abandon the centre of France altogether，and leave the way open to Paris and to the recovery of the entire kingdom；but the King，or La Tremo？lle，as the historians prefer to say，would not permit Jeanne to accompany him，and this hope came to nothing.

Alen？on disbanded his troops，everything in the form of an army was broken up--the short period of feudal service making this inevitable，unless new levies were made--and no forces were left under arms except those bands which formed the body-guard of the King.Nevertheless，there was plenty of work to be done still，and the breaking up of the French forces encouraged many a little garrison of English partisans，which would have yielded naturally and easily to a strong national party.

In the midst of the winter，however，it seemed appropriate to the Court to launch forth an expedition against some of the unsubdued towns，perhaps on account of the mortal languishment of Jeanne herself，perhaps for some other reason of its own.The first necessity was to collect the necessary forces，and for this reason Jeanne came to Bourges，where she was lodged in one of the great houses of the city，that of Raynard de Bouligny，/conseiller de roi/，and his wife，Marguerite，one of the Queen's ladies.She was there for three weeks collecting her men，and the noble gentlewoman，who was her hostess，was afterwards in the Rehabilitation trial，one of the witnesses to the purity of her life.

From this lady and others we have a clear enough view of what the Maid was in this second chapter of her history.She spent her time in the most intimate intercourse with Madam Marguerite，sharing even her room，so that nothing could be more complete than the knowledge of her hostess of every detail of her young guest's life.And wonderful as was the difference between the peasant maiden of Domremy and the most famous woman in France，the life of Jeanne，the Deliverer of her country，is as the life of Jeanne，the cottage sempstress，--as simple，as devout，and as pure.She loved to go to church for the early matins，but as it was not fit that she should go out alone at that hour，she besought Madame Marguerite to go with her.In the evening she went to the nearest church，and there with all her old childish love for the church bells，she had them rung for half an hour，calling together the poor，the beggars who haunt every Catholic church，the poor friars and bedesmen，the penniless and forlorn from all the neighbourhood.This custom would，no doubt，soon become known，and not only her poor pensioners，but the general crowd would gather to gaze at the Maid as well as to join in her prayers.It was her great pleasure to sing a hymn to the Virgin，probably one of the litanies which the unlearned worshipper loves，with its choruses and constant repetitions，in company with all those untutored voices，in the dimness of the church，while the twilight sank into night，and the twinkling stars of candles on the altar made a radiance in the middle of the gloom.When she had money to give she divided it，according to the liberal custom of her time，among her poor fellow-worshippers.

These evening services were her recreation.The days were full of business，of enrolling soldiers，and regulating the "lances，"groups of retainers，headed by their lord，who came to perform their feudal service.