“You fear not, then, to disobey your parents?”

I had need to put this question; for it was one that De Baudricourt had insisted upon; for he knew something of Jacques d’Arc’s opposition to his daughter’s proposed campaign.

“I must obey my Lord even above my earthly parents,” was her steadfast reply; “His word must stand the first.  He knows all, and He will pardon.  He knows that I love my father and my mother, and that if I only pleased myself I should never leave their side.”

Then suddenly as she spoke a strange look of awe fell upon her; I think she had forgotten my presence, for when she spoke, her words were so low that I could scarce hear them.

“I go to my death!” she whispered, the colour ebbing from her face, “but I am in the hands of my Lord; His will alone can be done.”

I went out from her presence with bent head.  What did those last words signify—­when hitherto all she had spoken was of deliverance, of victory?  She spoke them without knowing it.  Of that I was assured; and therefore I vowed to keep them locked in my heart.  But I knew that I should never forget them.

I found Robert de Baudricourt awaiting my coming in the great hall, pacing restlessly to and fro.  Bertrand was with him, and I saw by the tense expression upon his face that he was eager for my report.  I gave him one quick glance upon entering, which I trow he read and understood; but to De Baudricourt I spoke with caution and with measured words, for he was a man whose scorn and ridicule were easily aroused, and I knew that Bertrand had fallen into a kind of contempt with him, in that he had so quickly believed in the mission of the Maid.

“Well, and what make you of the girl?  Is she witch, or mad, or possessed by some spirit of vainglory and ambition?  What has she said to you, and what think you of her?”

“In all truth, my lord, I believe her to be honest; and more than this, I believe her to be directed of God.  Strange as it may seem, yet such things have been before, and who are we to say that God’s arm is shortened, or that He is not the same as in the days of old?  I have closely questioned the Maid as to her visions and voices, and I cannot believe them delusions of the senses.  You may ask, are they of the Devil?  Then would I say, if there be doubt, let the Abbe Perigord approach her with holy water, with exorcisms, or with such sacred words and signs as devils must needs flee before.  Then if it be established that the thing is not of the Evil One, we may the better regard it as from the Lord of whom she speaks.  At least, if she can stand this test, I would do this much for her—­give her a small escort to Chinon, with a letter to the Dauphin.  After that your responsibility will cease.  The matter will be in the hands of the King and his advisers.”

“Ay, after I have made myself the laughingstock of the realm!” burst out De Baudricourt grimly; yet after he had questioned me again, and yet again, and had even held one interview himself with the Maid, who came of her own accord to the Castle to ask for him one day, he seemed to come to some decision, after much thought and wavering.