Within the town a great fear had fallen on the citizens, divided as they were between the hope of their countrymen forcing their way into the city and fear as to how they would be treated by Charles should he be victorious.  Perhaps, had Joan of Arc’s urgent entreaties of continuing the attack been more vigorously responded to by the other French commanders, she might have been in the end successful.  At any rate Joan herself was of that opinion.

The following day she was, in spite of the previous evening’s failure and her wound, as urgent as ever for further fighting; and again and again implored Alencon to renew the attack.  It seems the Duke was on the point of complying, when there appeared on the scene Rene d’Anjou and Clermont, sent by the King with the order for the Maid’s immediate return to Saint Denis.  There was nothing to do but to obey, but it must have been a bitter disappointment to the brave maiden when she turned her back on Paris.  Alencon did his best to encourage her in the hope that it might yet fall.  He gave orders for a bridge to be thrown across the Seine at Saint Denis, in order to make a fresh attack on the city from that quarter.  However, on the next night this bridge was ordered by Charles to be removed, and with its destruction fell any hopes Joan might still have entertained of being able to take Paris.

All the blame of the want of success of the army before Paris was now laid at the door of Joan of Arc; and the creatures of the Court, who had long waited for an opportunity of this kind to show their bitter jealousy of the heroine, now made no secret of their enmity.  Foremost of these was the Archbishop of Rheims, who now, in spite of Joan of Arc’s entreaties, was allowed by the King to make a truce with the enemy.  Another powerful foe was La Tremoille, who (as has been pointed out by Captain Marin in his work on Joan of Arc) thought it to be against his personal influence that the French should take Paris.  La Tremoille had shown, from Joan’s first appearance at Court, his entire want of confidence in her mission.  He had unwillingly, after the examination of the Maid by the doctors and lawyers at Poitiers, conformed to the King’s wish that a command should be given her in the army.  He had done all in his power to induce the King not to undertake the expedition to Rheims.  He had told the King, when nothing else could be urged against the journey, that there was no money in the royal coffers, and that consequently the soldiers would not receive their pay.  As it turned out, volunteers offered their services gratuitously to escort Charles to his crowning.  At Auxerre, La Tremoille concluded a treaty with the citizens, which prevented Joan from taking that town.  At Troyes he tried to create a like impediment; but here he was foiled, for Troyes capitulated.  After the coronation, he persuaded Charles not to go to Paris, but to go instead to linger in his castle on the Loire; and thereby prevented what might then have proved