第63章 THE CAPTIVE.MAY,1430-JAN.(4)

"How，"she cried，"could God let them perish who had been so good and loyal to their King？"St.Catherine replied gently that He would Himself care for these /bons amis/，and even promised that "before the St.Martin"relief would come.But Jeanne had probably by this time--in her great disappointment and loneliness，and with the sense in her of so much power to help were she only free--got beyond her own control.They bade her to be patient.One of them，amid their exhortations to accept her fate cheerfully，and not to be astonished at it，seems to have conveyed to her mind the impression that she should not be delivered till she had seen the King of England."Truly I will not see him！I would rather die than fall into the hands of the English，"cried Jeanne in her petulance.The King of England is spoken of always，it is curious to note，as if he had been a great，severe ruler like his father，never as the child he really was.But Jeanne in her helplessness and impotence was impatient even with her saints.Day by day the news came in from Compiègne，all that was favourable to the Burgundians received with joy and thanksgiving by the ladies of Luxembourg，while the captive consumed her heart with vain indignation.At last Jeanne would seem to have wrought herself up to the most desperate of expedients.Whether her room was in the donjon，or whether she was allowed sufficient freedom in the house to mount to the battlements there，we are not informed--probably the latter was the case：for it was from the top of the tower that the rash girl at last flung herself down，carried away by what sudden frenzy of alarm or sting of evil tidings can never be known.Probably she had hoped that a miracle would be wrought on her behalf，and that faith was all that was wanted，as on so many other occasions.Perhaps she had heard of the negotiations to sell her to the English，which would give a keener urgency to her determination to get free；all that appears in the story，however，is her wild anxiety about Compiègne and her /bons amis/.How she escaped destruction no one knows.She was rescued for a more tremendous and harder fate.

The Maid was taken up as dead from the foot of the tower (the height is estimated at sixty feet)；but she was not dead，nor even seriously hurt.Her frame，so slight that she had been able to slip between the bars put up to secure her，had so little solidity that the shock would seem to have been all that ailed her.She was stunned and unconscious and remained so far some time；and for three days neither ate nor drank.But though she was so humbled by the effects of the fall，"she was comforted by St.Catherine，who bade her confess and implore the mercy of God"for her rash disobedience--and repeated the promise that before Martinmas Compiègne should be relieved.Jeanne did not perhaps in her rebellion deserve this encouragement；but the heavenly ladies were kind and pitiful and did not stand upon their dignity.The wonderful thing was that Jeanne recovered perfectly from this tremendous leap.

The earthly ladies，though so completely on the other side，were scarcely less kind to the Maid.They visited her daily，carried their news to her，were very friendly and sweet：and no doubt other visitors came to make the acquaintance of a prisoner so wonderful.There was one point on which they were very urgent，and this was about her dress.It shamed and troubled them to see her in the costume of a man.

Jeanne had her good reasons for that，which perhaps she did not care to tell them，fearing to shock the ears of a demoiselle of Luxembourg with the suggestion of dangers of which she knew nothing.No doubt it was true that while doing the serious work of war，as she said afterwards，it was best that she should be dressed as a man；but Jeanne had reason to know besides，that it was safer，among the rough comrades and gaolers who now surrounded her，to wear the tight-fitting and firmly fastened dress of a soldier.She answered the ladies and their remonstrances with all the grace of a courtier.Could she have done it she would rather have yielded the point to them，she said，than to any one else in France，except the Queen.The women wherever she went were always faithful to this young creature，so pure-womanly in her young angel-hood and man-hood.The poor followed to kiss her hands or her armour，the rich wooed her with tender flatteries and persuasions.There is not record in all her career of any woman who was not her friend.