d’Arras.  It was proved before the bailiff and justices of Lagny that Franquet had not only been a thief, but a murderer, and he was consequently condemned to die.  Joan of Arc wished that he should be exchanged for a French prisoner, but this French prisoner had meanwhile died.  The justices of Lagny insisted on having their sentence carried out, to which Joan at length unwillingly gave way, and Franquet met with his deserts.  We cannot see how the Maid was to blame in this affair; but this thing was one of the accusations which helped to bring her to the stake.

On the 17th of April the truce agreed to between King Charles and Burgundy came to an end.  At this time the town of greatest strategical importance to Burgundy was that of Compiegne.  Holding Compiegne, the Duke of Burgundy held the key of France.  King Charles, with his habitual carelessness, had been on the point of handing over Compiegne to the Duke as a pledge of peace; and no doubt he would have done so had not the inhabitants protested.  Charles then surrendered the town of Pont Sainte-Maxence to Burgundy instead of Compiegne.  But this sop did not at all satisfy the greedy Duke, whose mouth watered for Compiegne, which he was determined to obtain by fair or by foul means.  At Soissons the Duke had succeeded in gaining the Governor by a bribe, and had, through this bribe, obtained the place; and there is little reason not to suppose that he was still more ready to offer a still greater bribe to obtain Compiegne.  The Governor of Compiegne, William de Flavigny—­a man very deeply suspected, writes Michelet of him—­was not likely to refuse a bribe; and, as we shall see, he acted in a manner that has made the accusation of his treachery to his country and Joan of Arc almost a certainty.

It was to prevent, if possible, Compiegne falling into the hands of Burgundy that Joan of Arc hastened to its defence.  On the 13th of May she reached Compiegne, where she was received with great joy by the citizens.  The Maid lodged in the town with Mary le Boucher, wife of the Procureur of the King.  At Compiegne were some important Court officials—­the Chancellor Regnault de Chartres, no friend to Joan as we have seen, Vendome, and others.  The country around and the places of armed strength were all in the occupation of the English and Burgundians; near Noyon, the town of Pont-l’Eveque was in the possession of the English.  This place Joan of Arc attacked, and she was on the point of capturing it when a strong force of Burgundians arrived from Noyon, and Joan had to beat a retreat on Crecy.  On the 23rd of May, news reached Joan that Compiegne was threatened by the united English and Burgundian forces, under the command of the Duke and the Earl of Arundel.  By midnight of that day, Joan of Arc was back again in Compiegne.  She had been warned of the danger of passing, to gain the town, through the enemies’ lines with so small a company.

‘Never fear!’ she answered, ’we are enough.  I must go and see my good friends at Compiegne.’