第11章 DOMREMY AND VAUCOULEURS.1424-1429.(6)

No doubt his wife smoothed the matter over as well as she could，and，whatever alarms were in her own mind，hastily thought of a feminine expedient to mend matters，and persuaded the angry father that to substitute other dreams for these would be an easier way.Isabeau most probably knew the village lad who would fain have had her child，so good a housewife，so industrious a workwoman，and always so friendly and so helpful，for his wife.At all events there was such a one，too willing to exert himself，not discouraged by any refusal，who could be egged up to the very strong point of appearing before the bishop at Toul and swearing that Jeanne had been promised to him from her childhood.So timid a girl，they all thought，so devout a Catholic，would simply obey the bishop's decision and would not be bold enough even to remonstrate，though it is curious that with the spectacle of her grave determination before them，and sorrowful sense of that necessity of her mission which had steeled her to dispense with their consent，they should have expected such an expedient to arrest her steps.The affair，we must suppose，had gone through all the more usual stages of entreaty on the lover's part，and persuasion on that of the parents，before such an attempt was finally made.But the shy Jeanne had by this time attained that courage of desperation which is not inconsistent with the most gentle nature；and without saying anything to anyone，she too went to Toul，appeared before the bishop，and easily freed herself from the pretended engagement，though whether with any reference to her very different destination we are not told.[3]

These proceedings，however，and the father's dreams and the remonstrances of the mother，must have made troubled days in the cottage，and scenes of wrath and contradiction，hard to bear.The winter passed distracted by these contentions，and it is difficult to imagine how Jeanne could have borne this had it not been that the period of her outset had already been indicated，and that it was only in the middle of Lent that her succour was to reach the King.The village，no doubt，was almost as much distracted as her father's house to hear of these strange discussions and of the incredible purpose of the /bonne douce fille/，whose qualities everybody knew and about whom there was nothing eccentric，nothing unnatural，but only simple goodness，to distinguish her above her neighbours.In the meantime her voices called her continually to her work.They set her free from the ordinary yoke of obedience，always so strong in the mind of a French girl.The dreadful step of abandoning her home，not to be thought of under any other circumstances，was more and more urgently pressed upon her.Could it indeed be saints and angels who ordained a step which was outside of all the habits and first duties of nature？But we have no reason to believe that this nineteenth-century doubt of her visitors，and of whether their mandates were right，entered into the mind of a girl who was of her own period and not of ours.She went on steadfastly，certain of her mission now，and inaccessible either to remonstrance or appeal.

It was towards the beginning of Lent，as Poulengy tells us，that the decision was made，and she left home finally，to go "to France"as is always said.But it seems to have been in January that she set out once more for Vaucouleurs，accompanied by her uncle，who took her to the house of some humble folk they knew，a carter and his wife，where they lodged.Jeanne wore her peasant dress of heavy red homespun，her rude heavy shoes，her village coif.She never made any pretence of ladyhood or superiority to her class，but was always equal to the finest society in which she found herself，by dint of that simple good faith，sense，and seriousness，without excitement or exaggeration，and radiant purity and straightforwardness which were apparent to all seeing eyes.By this time all the little world about knew something of her purpose and followed her every step with wonder and quickly rising curiosity：and no doubt the whole town was astir，women gazing at their doors，all on her side from the first moment，the men half interested，half insolent，as she went once more to the chateau to make her personal appeal.Simple as she was，the /bonne douce fille/was not intimidated by the guard at the gates，the lounging soldiers，the no doubt impudent glances flung at her by these rude companions.

She was inaccessible to alarms of that kind--which，perhaps，is one of the greatest safeguards against them even in more ordinary cases.We find little record of her second interview with Baudricourt.The /Journal du Siège d'Orleans/and the /Chronique de la Pucelle/both mention it as if it had been one of several，which may well have been the case，as she was for three weeks in Vaucouleurs.It is almost impossible to arrange the incidents of this interval between her arrival there and her final departure for Chinon on the 23d February，during which time she made a pilgrimage to a shrine of St.Nicolas and also a visit to the Duke of Lorraine.It is clear，however，that she must have repeated her demand with such stress and urgency that the Captain of Vaucouleurs was a much perplexed man.It was a very natural idea then，and in accordance with every sentiment of the time that he should suspect this wonderful girl，who would not be daunted，of being a witch and capable of bringing an evil fate on all who crossed her.