CHAPTER XVIII--HOW ELLIOT'S JACKANAPES WAS SEEN AT THE KING'S CROWNING
"The hearts of kings are in His hand," says Holy Scripture, and it is ofnecessity to be believed that the hearts of kings, in an especial sense,are wisely governed. Yet, the blindness of our sinful souls, we oftenmay not see, nor by deep consideration find out, the causes whereforekings often act otherwise, and, as we might deem, less worthily thancommon men. For it is a truth and must be told, that neither before hewas anointed with the blessed oil from the holy vessel, or ampulla, whichthe angel brought to St. Remigius, nor even after that anointing (whichis more strange), did Charles VII., King of France, bear him kingly asregards the Maiden. Nay, I have many a time thought with sorrow that ifXaintrailles, or La Hire, ay, or any the meanest esquire in all our army,had been born Dauphin, in three months after the Maid's victories in JuneParis would have been ours, and not an Englishman left to breathe the airof France. For it needed but that the King should obey the Maid, ridestraight to Reims, and thence on Paris town, and every city would haveopened its gates to him, as the walls of Jericho fell at the mere soundof the trumpets of Israel.
This is no foolish fancy of an old man dreaming in a cloister about whatmight have been. For the Regent of the English, brother of their KingHarry the Fifth, and himself a wise man, and brave, if cruel, was of thissame mind. First, he left Paris and shut himself up in the strong castleof Vincennes, dreading an uproar among the people; and next, he whollywithdrew himself to Rouen, for he had now no force of men to guard thewalls of Paris. Our Dauphin had but to mount and ride, and all wouldhave been his at one blow, ay, or without a blow. The Maid, as we dailyheard, kept praying him, even with tears, to do no more than this; andfrom every side came in men free and noble, ready to serve at their owncharges. The poorest gentlemen who had lost all in the troubles, andmight not even keep a horse to ride, were of goodwill to march as commonfoot-soldiers.
But, while all France called on her King, he was dwelling at Sully, inthe castle of La Tremouille, a man who had a foot in either camp, so thatneither English nor Burgundians had ever raided on his rich lands, whenthese lay in their power. So, what with the self-seeking, and sloth, andjealousy of La Tremouille; what with the worldly policy of the Archbishopof Reims, crying Peace, where there was no peace, the Maid and thecaptains were not listened to, or, if they were heard, their plans werewrought out with a faint heart, so that, at last, if it is lawful to sayso, the will of men prevailed over the will of Heaven.
Never, I pray, may any prince of my own country be so bestead, and so ill-served, that, when he has won battles and gained cities two or three, andneeds but to ride forward and win all his kingdom, he shall be turnedback by the little faith of his counsellors! Never may such a thingbefall a prince of Scotland! Concerning these matters of State, as maybe believed, we devised much at Tours, while messengers were coming andgoing, and long, weary councils were being held at Sully and at Gien.D'Alencon, we got news, was all for striking a blow yet more bold thanthe march to Reims, and would have attacked the English where they werestrongest, and nearest their own shores, namely, at Rouen. Thecounsellors of the peaceful sort were inclined to waste time in besiegingLa Charite, and other little towns on Loire-side. But her Voices hadbidden the Maid, from the first, to carry the Dauphin to Reims, thatthere he might be anointed, and known to France for the very King. So atlast, finding that time was sorely wasted, whereas all hope lay in aswift stroke, ere the English could muster men, and bring over the armylately raised by the Cardinal of Winchester to go crusading against themiscreants of Bohemia--the Maid rode out of Gien, with her own company,on June the twenty-seventh, and lodged in the fields, some four leaguesaway, on the road to Auxerre. And next day the King and the Courtfollowed her perforce, with a great army of twelve thousand men.Thenceforth there came news to us every day in Tours, and all the newswas good. Town after town opened its gates at the summons of the Maid,and notably Troyes and Chalons, in despite of the English garrisons.
We were all right glad, and could scarce sleep for joy, above all when amessenger rode in, one Thomas Scott, whom I had encountered before, as Ihave written, bidding my master come straightway to Reims, to join theKing, and exercise his craft in designing a great picture of thecoronation. So with much ado he bestowed his canvases, brushes, paints,and all other gear of his trade in wallets, and, commending his daughterto his old kinswoman, to obey her in all things, he set off on horsebackwith Thomas Scott. But for myself, I was to lodge, while he was atReims, with a worthy woman of Tours, for the avoiding of evil tongues,and very tardily the time passed with me, for that I might not be, asbefore, always in the company of Elliot.
As for my lady, she was, during most of these days, on her knees at thealtar in the great minster, praying to the saints for the Dauphin, andthe Maid, and for her father, that he might come and go safely on hisjourney. Nor did she pray in vain, for, no more than two days after thefirst tidings had arrived that the sacring was done, and that all hadgone well, my master rode to his own door, weary, but glad at heart, andhobbled into his house. One was sent running to bring me this good news,and I myself ran, for now I was able, and found him seated at his meat,as well as he could eat it for Elliot, that often stopped his mouth withkisses.
He held forth his hand to me, saying, "All is as well as heart coulddesire, and the Maid bids you follow her, if you may, to the taking ofParis, for there she says will be your one chance to win your spurs. Andnow let me eat and drink, for the heat is great, the ways dusty, and Ihalf famished. Thereafter ask me what you will, and you, Elliot, comenot between a hungry man and his meat."
So he spoke, sitting at his table with his tankard in his hand, and hiswallets lying about him on the floor. Elliot was therefore fain not tobe embracing him, but rather to carve for him, and serve in the bestmanner, that he might sup the quicker and tell us all his tale. This hedid at last, Elliot sitting on his knee, with her arm about his neck.But, as touches the sacring, how it was done, though many of the peers ofFrance were not there to see, and how noble were the manners of the Kingand the Maid, who stood there with her banner, and of the only rewardwhich she would take, namely, that her townsfolk should live free of taxand corvee, all this is known and written of in Chronicles. Nor did Isee it myself, so I pass by. But, next to actual beholding of thatglorious rite, the best thing was to hear my master tell of it, takingout his books, wherein he had drawn the King, and the Maid in herharness, and many of the great lords. From these pictures a tapestry wasafterwards wrought, and hung in Reims Cathedral, where it is to this day:the Maid on horseback beckoning the King onward, the Scots archers besidehim in the most honourable place, as was their lawful due, and, behindall, the father of the Maid entering Reims by another road. By greatgood fortune, and by virtue of being a fellow-traveller with ThomasScott, the rider of the King's stable, my master found lodgings easilyenough. So crowded was the town that, the weather being warm, in midJuly, many lay in tabernacles of boughs, in the great place of Reims, andthere was more singing that night than sleeping. But my master had lainat the hostelry called L'Asne Roye, in the parvise, opposite to thecathedral, where also lay Jean d'Arc, the father of the Maid. Thithershe herself came to visit him, and she gave gifts to such of the peopleof her own countryside as were gathered at Reims.
"And, Jeannot, do you fear nothing?" one of them asked her, who had knownher from a child.
"I fear nothing but treason," my master heard her reply, a word that wehad afterwards too good cause to remember.
"And is she proud now that she is so great?" asked Elliot.
"She proud! No pride has she, but sat at meat, and spoke friendly withall these manants, and it was 'tu' and 'toy,' and 'How is this one? andthat one?' till verily, I think, she had asked for every man, woman,child, and dog in Domremy. And that puts me in mind--"
"In mind of what?"
"Of nought. Faith, I remember not what I was going to say, for I am wellweary."
"But Paris
?" I asked. "When march we on Paris?" My master's faceclouded. "They should have set forth for Paris the very day after thesacring, which was the seventeenth of July. But envoys had come in fromthe Duke of Burgundy, and there were parleys with them as touching peace.Now, peace will never be won save at the point of the lance. But a truceof a fortnight has been made with Burgundy, and then he is to give upParis to the King. Yet, ere a fortnight has passed, the new troops fromEngland will have come over to fight us, and not against the heretics ofBohemia, though they have taken the cross and the vow. And the King hasgone to Saint Marcoul, forsooth, seeing that, unless he goes there to dohis devotions, he may not touch the sick and heal the crewels. {29}Faith, they that have the crewels might even wait till the King has cometo his own again; they have waited long enough to learn patience while hewas Dauphin. It should be Paris first, and Saint Marcoul and the crewelsafterwards, but anything to waste time and keep out of the brunt of thebattle." Here he struck his hand on the table so that the vesselsleaped. "I fear what may come of it," he said. "For every day thatpasses is great loss to us and much gain to our enemies of England, whowill anon garrison Paris."
"Faint-heart," cried Elliot, plucking his beard. "You will never believein the Maid, who has never yet failed to help us, by the aid of thesaints."
"The saints help them that help themselves," he answered. "And Paristown has walls so strong, that once the fresh English are entered in,even the saints may find it a hard bargain. But you, Elliot, run up andsee if my chamber be ready, for I am well weary." She ran forth, and mymaster, turning to me, said in a low voice, "I have something for yourown ear, but I feared to grieve her. In a booth at Reims I saw herjackanapes doing his tricks, and when he came round questing with hisbowl the little beast knew me and jumped up into my arms, and wailed asif he had been a Christian. Then I was for keeping him, but I was set onby three or four stout knaves, and, I being alone, and the crowd takingtheir part, I thought it not well to draw sword, and so break the King'speace that had just then begun to be King. But my heart was sore for thepoor creature, and, in very truth, I bring back no light heart, save tosee you twain again, for I fear me that the worst of the darg {30} isstill to do. But here comes Elliot, so no word of the jackanapes."
Therewith he went off to his chamber, and I to mine, with less pleasurethan I had looked for. Still, the thought came into my heart that, thelonger the delay of the onslaught on Paris, the better chance I had totake part therein; and the harder the work, the greater the glory.
The boding words of my master proved over true. The King was sacred onJuly the sixteenth, and Paris then stood empty of English soldiers, beinggarrisoned by Burgundians only. But, so soon as he was anointed, theKing began to parley with Burgundy, and thus they spun out the time,till, on July the twenty-fifth, a strong army of Englishmen had enteredParis. Whether their hearts were high may not be known, but on theirbanner they had hung a distaff, and had painted the flag with the words--
"Ores viegne la Belle,"
meaning, "Let the fair Maid come, and we shall give her wool to spin."Next we heard, and were loth to believe it, that a new truce of fifteendays more had been made with Burgundy. The Maid, indeed, said openlythat she loved not the truce, and that she kept it only for the honour ofthe King, which was dearer to her than her life, as she proved in theend.
Then came marchings, this way and that, all about the Isle of France,Bedford leaving Paris to fight the King, and then refusing battle, thoughthe Maid rode up to the English palisades, and smote them with her sword,defying the English to come out, if they were men. So the English betookthem back to Paris, after certain light skirmishes only. Meanwhile someof his good towns that had been in the hands of the English yielded tothe King, or rather to the Maid. Among these the most notable wasCompiegne, a city as great as Orleans. Many a time it had been taken andretaken in the wars, but now the burgesses swore that they would ratherall die, with their wives and children, than open their gates again tothe English. And this oath they kept well, as shall be seen in the end.