|THE wise King had arranged with the Duke of Burgundy that they two
should be at peace till Easter, 1430; while he might fight the English
as much as he liked, which was, not at all.
Now the English let the Duke of Burgundy be Governor of Paris. It was
always Paris that the Maid wished to take for her King, as it was the
greatest city and the capital of France. But the King said she must not
attack Paris, for it was now under the Duke of Burgundy, not under the
English. All this was mere pretence, to avoid fighting. Jean’s aim was
to turn the English and their child King, Henry VI., out of her country;
and the English were not likely to go out till they were driven out.
The English still held towns on the river Loire, such as St.
Pierre-le-Moustier and La Charité. Joan went to Bourges and gathered
an army, with a gentleman named d’Elbret to help her, and besieged the
town of St. Pierre-le-Moustier. When they had battered the walls for
some time with their guns, and made a breach, the French tried to rash
through it; but the English were too strong and too many, and drove them
out At this time Joan’s Master cf the Household, d’Aulon, who had been
with her at Orleans, was wounded in the heel by an arrow, and he could
not walk without crutches. He saw that while the rest of the French had
retired out of shot from the breach, Joan was there almost alone, with
a very small company. D’Aulon therefore got a horse, and rode to her to
ask her to come out of danger. “What are you doing here alone?” he asked
her. She took off her helmet and said, “I am not alone; here I have
with me fifty thousand of my own” (by which she seems to have meant an
invisible army of Angels); “and will not leave this place till I take
the town.” D’Aulon told her that she had but four or five men with her,
to which she only answered by bidding him make her army bring faggots of
wood to fill up the ditch with, that they might cross to the town. Then
she shouted in a loud voice:--
“Bring up faggots, all of you!” and they obeyed, filled up the ditch,
attacked the breach in the wall again, rushed through, beat the English,
and took the town.
This was just like what Joan had done when her army was on the point cf
retreating from the attack on Les Tourelles, at Orleans. “One charge
more” was what she called for, and her men were inspired with courage,
while the English were terrified by their refusal to be beaten. This was
the last time that Joan led the French to such a victory. She besieged
another town, La Charité, which was held by Burgundians, but the
King did mot send food enough for her men, and she had to go away
unsuccessful.
About this time she was troubled by a woman called Catherine of La
Rochelle, a married woman, who declared that a lovely lady came to her
at night, dressed all in doth of gold, and told her where treasures of
money were hidden, which were much needed for the wars. Jean said that
she must see this wonderful lady before she could believe in her, and
she sat up all night with Catherine; but the lady never came. Joan told
Catherine to go back to her husband and her children, and mind her own
affairs. There were several people who went about saying that they had
visions; but they were of no use, for, visions or none, they had not
Joan’s courage and wisdom. It is true that Catherine might have said to
Joan, “You can’t see my golden lady, but I can’t see your Saints, nor
hear your Voices.” The difference was that Joan’s Saints and Voices
had enabled her to do a great many wonderful things, while Catherine’s
golden lady never led to the finding of treasures or anything else that
was of any use.