第92章 THE EXAMINATION IN PRISON.LENT,(5)

There is a curious story existing，though we do not remember whence it comes and there is not a scrap of evidence for it，which suggests a rumour that Jeanne was not the child of the d'Arc family at all，but in fact an abandoned and illegitimate child of the Queen，Isabel of Bavaria，and that her real father was the murdered Duc d'Orléans.This suggestion might explain the ease with which she fell into the way of Courts，a sort of air /àla Princesse/which certainly was about her，and her especial devotion to Orleans，both to the city and the duke.Ashadow of a supposed child of our own Queen Mary has also appeared in history，quite without warrant or likelihood.It is a little conventional and well worn even in the way of romance，yet there are certain fanciful suggestions in the thought.

After the above，Jeanne was again questioned and at great length upon the sign given to the King，upon the angel who brought it，the manner of his coming and going，the persons who saw him，those who saw the crown bestowed upon the King，and so on，in the most minute detail.

That the purpose of the sign was that "they should give up arguing and so let her proceed on her mission，"she repeated again and again；but here is a curious additional note.

She was asked how the King and the people with him were convinced that it was an angel；and answered，that the King knew it by the instruction of the ecclesiastics who were there，and also by the sign of the crown.Asked，how the ecclesiastics (/gens d'église/)knew it was an angel she answered，"By their knowledge [science]，and because they were priests."Was this the keenest irony，or was it the wandering of a weary mind？

We cannot tell；but if the latter，it was the only occasion on which Jeanne's mind wandered；and there was method and meaning in the strange tale.

She was further questioned whether it was by the advice of her voices that she attacked La Charité，and afterwards Paris，her two points of failure；the purpose of her examiners clearly being to convince her that those voices had deceived her.To both questions she answered no.

To Paris she went at the request of gentlemen who wished to make a skirmish，or assault of arms (/vaillance d'armes/)；but she intended to go farther，and to pass the moats；that is，to force the fighting and make the skirmish into a serious assault；the same was the case before La Charité.She was asked whether she had no revelation concerning Pont l'Evêque，and said that since it was revealed to her at Melun that she should be taken，she had had more recourse to the will of the captains than to her own；but she did not tell them that it was revealed to her that she should be taken.Asked，if she thought it was well done to attack Paris on the day of the Nativity of our Lady，which was a festival of the Church；she answered，that it was always well to keep the festivals of our Lady：and in her conscience it seemed to her that it was and always would be a good thing to keep the feasts of our Lady，from one end to the other.

In the afternoon the examiners returned to the attempt at escape or suicide--they seemed to have preferred the latter explanation--made at Beaurevoir；and as Jeanne expresses herself with more freedom as to her personal motives in these prison examinations and opens her heart more freely，there is much here which we give in full.

She was asked first what was the cause of her leap from the tower of Beaurevoir.She answered that she had heard that all the people of Compiègne，down to the age of seven，were to be put to the sword，and that she would rather die than live after such a destruction of good people；this was one of the reasons；the other was that she knew that she was sold to the English and that she would rather die than fall into the hands of the English，her enemies.Asked，if she made that leap by the command of her voices；answered，that St.Catherine said to her almost every day that she was not to leap，for that God would help her，and also the people of Compiègne：and she，Jeanne，said to St.Catherine that since God intended to help the people of Compiègne she would fain be there.And St.Catherine said："You must take it in good part，but you will not be delivered till you have seen the King of the English."And she，Jeanne，answered："Truly I do not wish to see him.I would rather die than fall into the hands of the English."Asked，if she had said to St.Catherine and St.Margaret，"Will God leave the good people of Compiègne to die so cruelly？"answered，that she did not say "so cruelly，"but said it in this way："Will God leave these good people of Compiègne to die，who have been and are so loyal to their lord？"She added that after she fell there were two or three days that she would not eat；and that she was so hurt by the leap that she could not eat；but all the time she was comforted by St.

Catherine，who told her to confess and ask pardon of God for that act，and that without doubt the people of Compiègne would have succour before Martinmas.And then she took pains to recover and began to eat，and shortly was healed.

Asked，whether，when she threw herself down，she wished to kill herself，she answered no；but that in throwing herself down she commended herself to God，and hoped by means of that leap to escape and to avoid being delivered to the English.Asked，if，when she recovered the power of speech，she had denied and blasphemed God and the saints，as had been reported；answered，that she remembered nothing of the kind，and that，as far as she knew，she had never denied and blasphemed God and His saints there nor anywhere else，and did not confess that she had done so，having no recollection of it.