Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, vol 2 | Page 5

further.
She snatched the letter from my hand and searched it up and down and all over, turning it
this way and that, and sobbing great sobs, and the tears flowing down her cheeks, and
ejaculating all the time, "Oh, cruel, cruel! how could any be so heartless? Ah, poor Arbre
F‚e de Bourlemont gone--and we children loved it so! Show me the place where it says
it!"
And I, still lying, showed her the pretended fatal words on the pretended fatal page, and
she gazed at them through her tears, and said she could see herself that they were hateful,
ugly words--they "had the very look of it."

Then we heard a strong voice down the corridor announcing:
"His majesty's messenger--with despatches for her Excellency the Commander-in-Chief
of the Armies of France!"


Chapter 29
Fierce Talbot Reconsiders
I KNEW she had seen the wisdom of the Tree. But when? I could not know. Doubtless
before she had lately told the King to use her, for that she had but one year left to work in.
It had not occurred to me at the time, but the conviction came upon me now that at that
time she had already seen the Tree. It had brought her a welcome message; that was plain,
otherwise she could not have been so joyous and light-hearted as she had been these latter
days. The death-warning had nothing dismal about it for her; no, it was remission of exile,
it was leave to come home.
Yes, she had seen the Tree. No one had taken the prophecy to heart which she made to
the King; and for a good reason, no doubt; no one wanted to take it to heart; all wanted to
banish it away and forget it. And all had succeeded, and would go on to the end placid
and comfortable. All but me alone. I must carry my awful secret without any to help me.
A heavy load, a bitter burden; and would cost me a daily heartbreak. She was to die; and
so soon. I had never dreamed of that. How could I, and she so strong and fresh and young,
and every day earning a new right to a peaceful and honored old age? For at that time I
though old age valuable. I do not know why, but I thought so. All young people think it, I
believe, they being ignorant and full of superstitions. She had seen the Tree. All that
miserable night those ancient verses went floating back and forth through my brain:
And when, in exile wand'ring, we Shall fainting yearn for glimpse of thee, Oh, rise upon
our sight!
But at dawn the bugles and the drums burst through the dreamy hush of the morning, and
it was turn out all! mount and ride. For there was red work to be done.
We marched to Meung without halting. There we carried the bridge by assault, and left a
force to hold it, the rest of the army marching away next morning toward Beaugency,
where the lion Talbot, the terror of the French, was in command. When we arrived at that
place, the English retired into the castle and we sat down in the abandoned town.
Talbot was not at the moment present in person, for he had gone away to watch for and
welcome Fastolfe and his reinforcement of five thousand men.
Joan placed her batteries and bombarded the castle till night. Then some news came:
Richemont, Constable of France, this long time in disgrace with the King, largely because
of the evil machinations of La Tremouille and his party, was approaching with a large
body of men to offer his services to Joan--and very much she needed them, now that
Fastolfe was so close by. Richemont had wanted to join us before, when we first marched
on Orleans; but the foolish King, slave of those paltry advisers of his, warned him to keep
his distance and refused all reconciliation with him.
I go into these details because they are important. Important because they lead up to the
exhibition of a new gift in Joan's extraordinary mental make-up--statesmanship. It is a
sufficiently strange thing to find that great quality in an ignorant country-girl of
seventeen and a half, but she had it.

Joan was for receiving Richemont cordially, and so was La Hire and the two young
Lavals and other chiefs, but the Lieutenant-General, d'Alen‡on, strenuously and
stubbornly opposed it. He said he had absolute orders from the King to deny and defy
Richemont, and that if they were overridden he would leave the army. This would have
been a heavy disaster, indeed. But Joan set herself the task of persuading him that the
salvation of France took precedence of all minor things--even the commands