第80章 HOW ELLIOT'S JACKANAPES CAME HOME(1)

Of our Blessed Lord Himself it is said in the Gospel of St.Matthew,"et non fecit ibi virtutes multas propter incredulitatem illorum."These words I willingly leave in the Roman tongue;for by the wisdom of Holy Church it is deemed that many mysteries should not be published abroad in the vulgar speech,lest the unlearned hear to their own confusion.But if even He,doubtless by the wisdom of His own will,did not many great works "propter incredulitatem,"it is the less to be marvelled at that His Saints,through the person of the Blessed Maid,were of no avail where men utterly disbelieved.

And that,where infidelity was,even she must labour in vain was shown anon,even on this very day of my escape out of Paris town.

For I had scarce taken some food,and washed and armed myself,when the Maid's trumpets sounded,and she herself,armed and on horseback,despite her wound,rode into St.Denis,to devise with the gentle Duc d'Alencon.Together they came forth from the gate,and I,being in their company,heard her cry -"By my baton,I will never go back till I take that city."{31}

These words Percival de Cagny also heard,a good knight,and maitre d'hotel of the house of Alencon.Thereon arose some dispute,D'Alencon being eager,as indeed he always was,to follow where the Maiden led,and some others holding back.

Now,as they were devising together,some for,some against,for men-at-arms not a few had fallen in the onfall,there came the sound of horses'hoofs,and lo!Messire de Montmorency,who had been of the party of the English,and with them in Paris,rode up,leading a company of fifty or sixty gentlemen of his house,to join the Maid.

Thereat was great joy and new courage in all men of goodwill,seeing that,within Paris itself,so many gentlemen deemed ours the better cause and the more hopeful.

Thus there was an end of all dispute,our companies were fairly arrayed,and we were marching to revenge ourselves for the losses of yesterday,when two knights came spurring after us from St.Denis.

They were the Duc de Bar,and that unhappy Charles de Bourbon,Comte de Clermont,by whose folly,or illwill,or cowardice,the Scots were betrayed and deserted at the Battle of the Herrings,where my own brother fell,as I have already told.This second time Charles de Bourbon brought evil fortune,for he came on the King's part,straitly forbidding D'Alencon and the Maid to march forward another lance's length.Whereat D'Alencon swore profane,and the Maiden,weeping,rebuked him.So,with heavy hearts,we turned,all the host of us,and went back to quarters,the Maid to pray in the chapel,and the men-at-arms to drink and speak ill of the King.

All this was on the ninth of September,a weary day to all of us,though in the evening word came that we were to march early next morning and attack Paris in another quarter,crossing the river by a bridge of boats which the Duc d'Alencon had let build to that end.

After two wakeful nights I was well weary,and early laid me down to sleep,rising at dawn with high hopes.And so through the grey light we marched silently to the place appointed,but bridge there was none;for the King,having heard of the Maid's intent,had caused men to work all night long,destroying that which the gentle Duke had builded.Had the King but heard the shouts and curses of our company when they found nought but the bare piles standing,the grey water flowing,and the boats and planks vanished,he might have taken shame to himself of his lack of faith.Therefore I say it boldly,it was because of men's unbelief that the Maid at Paris wrought no great works,save that she put her body in such hazard of war as never did woman,nay,nor man,since the making of the world.

I have no heart to speak more of this shameful matter,nor of these days of anger and blasphemy.It was said and believed that her voices bade the Maid abide at St.Denis till she should take Paris town,but the King,and Charles de Bourbon,and the Archbishop of Reims refused to hearken to her.On the thirteenth day of September,after dinner,the King,with all his counsellors,rode away from St.Denis,towards Gien on the Loire.The Maiden,for her part,hung up all her harness that she had worn,save the sword of St.Catherine of Fierbois,in front of the altar of Our Lady,and the blessed relics of St.Denis in the chapel.Thereafter she rode,as needs she must,and we of her company with her,to join the King,for so he commanded.

And now was the will of the Maid and of the Duc d'Alencon broken,and broken was all that great army,whereof some were free lances out of many lands,but more were nobles of France with their men,who had served without price or pay,for love of France and of the Maid.Never again were they mustered;nay when,after some weeks passed,the gentle Duc d'Alencon prayed that he might have the Maiden with him,and burst into Normandy,where the English were strongest,by the Marches of Maine,even this grace was refused to him,by the malengin and ill-will of La Tremouille and the Archbishop of Reims.And these two fair friends met never more again,neither at fray nor feast.May she,among the Saints,so work by her prayers that the late sin and treason of the gentle Duke may be washed out and made clean,for while she lived there was no man more dear to her,nor any that followed her more stoutly in every onfall.