The Life of Joan of Arc Part 39

165. The 27th, if, as Pasquerel says, the army spent two nights on the march.]

[Footnote 917: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 105.]

[Footnote 918: Eberhard Windecke, p. 167.]

[Footnote 919: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 104 (Brother Pasquerel's evidence).]

That night they encamped in the fields. Jeanne, who had not been willing to take off her armour, awoke aching in every limb.[920] She heard ma.s.s and received communion from her chaplain, and exhorted the men-at-arms always to confess their sins.[921] Then the army resumed its march towards Orleans.

[Footnote 920: _Ibid._, p. 67 (evidence of Louis de Coutes).]

[Footnote 921: _Ibid._, p. 67. Pasquerel says (vol. iii, p. 105) that the soldiers of fortune were permitted to join the congregation if they had confessed.]

CHAPTER XII

THE MAID AT ORLeANS

On the evening of Thursday, the 28th of April, Jeanne was able to discern from the heights of Olivet the belfries of the town, the towers of Saint-Paul and Saint-Pierre-Empont, whence the watchmen announced her approach. The army descended the slopes towards the Loire and stopped at the Bouchet wharf, while the carts and the cattle continued their way along the bank as far as l'ile-aux-Bourdons, opposite Checy, two and a half miles further up the river.[922] There the unloading was to take place. At a signal from the watchmen my Lord the b.a.s.t.a.r.d, accompanied by Thibaut de Termes and certain other captains, left the town by the Burgundian Gate, took a boat at Saint-Jean-de-Braye, and came down to hold counsel with the Lords de Rais and de Lore, who commanded the convoy.[923]

[Footnote 922: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 4, 5. Boucher de Molandon, _Bulletin de la Societe archeologique de l'Orleanais_, vol. iv, p.

427; vol. ix, p. 73. The same author, _Premiere expedition de Jeanne d'Arc_, pp. 41 _et seq._ _Mistere du siege_, lines 11,480 _et seq._ _Chronique de l'etabliss.e.m.e.nt de la fete_, in _Trial_, vol. v, p.

289.]

[Footnote 923: _Journal du siege_, p. 75. _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 283.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLAN D'ORLeANS

Siege de 1429]

Meanwhile the Maid had only just perceived that she was on the Sologne bank,[924] and that she had been deceived concerning the line of march. Sorrow and wrath possessed her. She had been misled, that was certain. But had it been done on purpose? Had they really intended to deceive her? It is said that she had expressed a wish to go through La Beauce and not through La Sologne, and that she had received the answer: "Jeanne, be rea.s.sured; we will take you through La Beauce."[925] Is it possible? Why should the barons have thus trifled with the holy damsel, whom the King had confided to their care, and who already inspired most of them with respect? Certain of them, it is true, believing her not to be in earnest, would willingly have turned her to ridicule; but if one of them had played her the trick of representing La Beauce as La Sologne, how was it there was no one to undeceive her? How could Brother Pasquerel, her chaplain, her steward, and the honest squire d'Aulon, have become the accomplices of so clumsy a jest? It is all very mysterious, and, when one comes to think of it, what is most mysterious is that Jeanne should have expressly asked to go to Orleans through La Beauce. Since she was so ignorant of the way that when crossing the Blois bridge she never suspected that she was going into La Sologne, there is not much likelihood of her realising so exactly the lie of Orleans as to choose between entering it from the south or the west. A damsel knowing naught beyond the name of the gate through which she is to enter the city, and who is yet persuaded by malicious captains to take one road rather than another, sounds too much like a Mother Goose's tale.

[Footnote 924: "_Et cuidoit bien qu'ils deussent pa.s.ser par devers les bastides du siege devers la Beausse._" _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p.

281.]

[Footnote 925: _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 285 (the Chronicle here amplifies the evidence of Dunois, vol. iii, p. 67).]

Jeanne knew no more of Orleans than she did of Babylon. We may therefore conjecture that there was a misunderstanding. She had spoken neither of Sologne nor of Beauce. Her Voices had told her that the English would not budge. They had not shown her a picture of the town, they had not given her either maps or plans: soldiers did not use them. Doubtless Jeanne had said to the captains and priests what she was soon to repeat to the b.a.s.t.a.r.d: "I must go to Talbot and the English." And the priests and soldiers had replied quite frankly: "Jeanne, we are going to Talbot and the English."[926] They had thought they were speaking the truth, since Talbot, who was conducting the siege, would be before them, so to speak, from whatever side they approached the town. But apparently they had not thoroughly understood what the Maid said, and the Maid had not understood what they had replied. For now she was angry and sad at finding herself separated from the town by the sands and waters of the river. What was there to vex her in this? Those who were with her then did not discover; and perhaps her reasons were misunderstood because they were spiritual and mystic. She certainly could not have judged that a military mistake had been made by the bringing of troops and victuals through La Sologne. As she did not know the roads, it was impossible for her to tell which was the best. She was ignorant alike of the enemy's position, of the outworks of the besiegers, and of the defences of the besieged. She had just learnt on what bank of the river the town was situated, yet she must have thought she had good ground for complaint; for she approached the Lord b.a.s.t.a.r.d and inquired sharply: "Are you the b.a.s.t.a.r.d of Orleans?" "I am he. I rejoice at your coming." "Was it through your counsel that I came hither on this side of the river, and that I did not go straight to where Talbot and the English are?" "It was I and those wiser than I who gave this counsel, believing we acted for the best and for the greatest safety." But Jeanne retorted: "In G.o.d's name! Messire's counsel is better and wiser than yours. You thought to deceive me, but you deceive yourselves. For I bring you surer aid than ever came yet to knight or city; it is the aid of the King of Heaven and comes from G.o.d himself, who not merely for my sake but at the prayer of Saint Louis and Saint Charlemagne has had pity upon the town of Orleans, and will not suffer the enemy to hold at once both the body and the city of the Duke."[927]

[Footnote 926: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 5, 6.]

[Footnote 927: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 5, 6. _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 284. Boucher de Molandon, _Premiere expedition de Jeanne d'Arc_, p.

49.]

One may conclude that what really vexed her was that she had not been taken straight to Talbot and the English. She had just heard that Talbot with his camp was on the right bank. And when she spoke of Talbot and the English she meant only those English who were with Talbot. For, as she came down into the Loire valley, near the ford of Saint-Jean-le-Blanc, she must have seen the bastion of Les Augustins and Les Tourelles at the end of the bridge; and she must have known that there were also English on the left bank. But still, it is not clear why she should have desired to appear first before Talbot and his English, and why she was now so annoyed at being separated from him by the Loire. Did she think that the entrenched camp, Saint-Laurent-des-Orgerils, commanded by Scales, Suffolk, and Talbot would be attacked immediately? Such an idea would never of itself have occurred to her, since she did not know the place, and no soldier would ever have put such madness into her head as an attack on an entrenched camp by a convoy of cattle and wagons. Neither, as has so often been a.s.serted, can she have thought of forcing a pa.s.sage between the bastion Saint-Pouair and the outskirts of the wood, since of the bastions and of the forest she knew as little as of the rest. If such had been her intention she would have announced it plainly to the b.a.s.t.a.r.d; for she knew how to make her meaning clear, and even educated persons considered that she spoke well. Then what was her idea? It is not impossible to discover it if one remembers what must have been in the saint's mind at that time, or if one merely recollects by what words and deeds Jeanne had announced and prepared her mission. She had said to the doctors of Poitiers: "The siege of Orleans shall be raised and the town delivered from the enemy after I have summoned it to surrender in G.o.d's name."[928] In the name of the King of Heaven she had called upon Scales, Suffolk, and Talbot to raise the siege. She had written that she was ready to make peace, and had bidden them return to England. Now she asked Talbot, Suffolk, and Scales for an answer. Since the English had not sent back her herald she herself came to their leaders as the herald of Messire. She came to require them to make peace, and if they would not make peace she was ready to fight. It was not until they had refused that she could be certain of conquering, not for any human reason, but because her Council had so promised her. Perhaps even she may have hoped that by appearing to the English captains, her standard in hand, accompanied by Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret and Saint Michael the Archangel, she would persuade them to leave France. She may have believed that Talbot, falling on his knees, would obey not her, but Him who sent her; that thus she would accomplish that for which she came, without shedding one drop of that French blood which was so dear to her; neither would the English whom she pitied lose their bodies or their souls. In any case G.o.d must be obeyed and charity shown: it was only at such a price that victory could be gained. A victory so spiritual, a conquest so angelic, she had come to win; but now it was s.n.a.t.c.hed from her by the false wisdom of the leaders of her party. They were hindering her from fulfilling her mission,--perhaps from giving the promised sign,--and they were involving her with themselves in enterprises less certain of success and less n.o.ble in spirit. Hence her sorrow and her wrath.

[Footnote 928: _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 273.]

Even after the discomfiture of her arrival, in order that she might please G.o.d, she did not consider herself freed from the obligation of offering peace to her enemies.[929] And since she could not go straight to Talbot's camp she wanted to appear before the fort of Saint-Jean-le-Blanc.[930]

[Footnote 929: Opinion of Martin Berruyer, in Lanery d'Arc, _Memoires et consultations_, ch. vii.]

[Footnote 930: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 78, 214.]

There was no one left behind the palisades. But if she had gone and found any of the enemy there she would first have offered them peace.

Of this her subsequent behaviour within the city walls is positive proof. Her mission was not to contribute to the defence of Orleans plans of campaign or stratagems of war; her share in the work of deliverance was higher and n.o.bler. To suffering men, weak, unhappy, and selfish, she brought the invincible forces of love and faith, the virtue of sacrifice.

My Lord the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who regarded Jeanne's mission as purely religious, and who would have been greatly astonished had any one told him that he ought to consult this peasant on military matters,[931] appeared as if he did not understand the reproaches she addressed to him. And he went away to see that operations were carried out according to the plans he had made.

[Footnote 931: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 16.]

Everything had been carefully concerted and prepared, but a slight obstacle occurred. The barges that the people of Orleans were to send for the victuals were not yet unmoored.[932] They were sailing vessels, and, as the wind was blowing from the east, they could not set out. No one knew how long they would be delayed, and time was precious. Jeanne said confidently to those who were growing anxious: "Wait a little, for in G.o.d's name everything shall enter the town."[933]

[Footnote 932: _Ibid._, p. 78. _Journal du siege_, pp. 74, 75.

_Chronique de la fete_, in _Trial_, vol. v, p. 290.]

[Footnote 933: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 105. _Chronique du la Pucelle_, p. 284.]

She was right. The wind changed: the sails were unfurled, and the barges were borne up the river by a favourable wind, so strong that one boat was able to tow two or three others.[934] Without hindrance they pa.s.sed the Saint-Loup bastion. My Lord the b.a.s.t.a.r.d sailed in one of these boats with Nicole de Giresme, Grand Prior of France of the order of Rhodes. And the flotilla came to the port of Checy, where it remained at anchor all night.[935] It was decided that the relieving army should that night encamp at the port of Bouchet and guard the convoy by watching down the river, while one detachment was stationed near the Islands of Checy to watch up the river in the direction of Jargeau. In company with certain captains, and with a body of men-at-arms and archers, the Maid followed the bank as far as l'ile-aux-Bourdons.[936]

[Footnote 934: Boucher de Molandon, _La delivrance d'Orleans et l'inst.i.tution de la fete du 8 mai, Chronique anonyme du XV'e siecle_, Orleans, 1883, in 8vo, pp. 28, 29.]

[Footnote 935: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 6. _Journal du siege_, p. 75.]

[Footnote 936: _Chronique de la fete_, in the _Trial_, vol. v, p. 290.

Morosini, vol. iii, p. 23, note 5. Boucher de Molandon, _Premiere expedition de Jeanne d'Arc_, pp. 52-56.]

The lords who had brought the convoy decided that they would set out immediately after the unloading. Having accomplished the first part of its task, the army would return to Blois to fetch the remaining victuals and ammunition, for everything had not been brought at once.

Hearing that the soldiers, with whom she had come, were going away, Jeanne wished to go with them; and, after having so urgently asked to be taken to Orleans, now that she was before the gates of the city, her one idea was to go back.[937] Thus is the soul of the mystic blown hither and thither by the breath of the Spirit. Now as always Jeanne was guided by impulses purely spiritual. She would not be parted from these soldiers because she believed they had made their peace with G.o.d, and she feared that she might not find others as contrite. For her, victory or defeat depended absolutely on whether the combatants were in a state of grace or of sin. To lead them to confession was her only art of war; no other science did she know, whether for fighting behind ramparts or in the open field.[938]

[Footnote 937: _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 285. This doc.u.ment very untrustworthy as a whole is in certain pa.s.sages a better authority than _Le journal du siege_.]

[Footnote 938: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 104, 105 (Pasquerel's evidence).]

"As for entering the town," she said, "it would hurt me to leave my men, and I ought not to do it. They have all confessed, and in their company I should not fear the uttermost power of the English."[939]

[Footnote 939: _Chronique de la Pucelle_, pp. 284, 285.]

In reality, as one may well imagine, whether or no they had confessed, whether they were near or far from her, these mercenaries committed all the sins compatible with the simplicity of their minds. But the innocent damsel did not see them. Sensitive to things invisible, her eyes were closed to things material.

She was confirmed in her resolution to return to Blois by the captains who had brought her and who wanted to take her back, alleging the King's command. They wished to keep her because she brought good luck.

My Lord the b.a.s.t.a.r.d, however, saw serious obstacles and even dangers in the way of her return.[940] In the state in which he had left the people of Orleans, if their Maid were not straightway brought before them they would rise in fury and despair, with cries, threats, rioting, and violence; everything was to be feared, even ma.s.sacres. He entreated the captains, in the King's interest, to agree to Jeanne's entering Orleans; and without great difficulty, he induced them to return to Blois without her. But Jeanne did not give in so quickly. He besought her to decide to cross the Loire. She refused and with such insistence that he must have realised how difficult it is to influence a saint. It was necessary for one of the lords who had brought her, the Sire de Rais or the Sire de Lore, to join his entreaties to those of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d, and to say to her: "a.s.suredly you must go, for we promise to return to you shortly."[941]

[Footnote 940: "_Ex tunc dictus deponens habuit bonam spem de ea et plus quam ante_," _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 6.]

[Footnote 941: _Timens ne recedere vellent et quod opus remaneret imperfectum_, _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 78. _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p.