The Executioner's Knife Part 23

BISHOP CAUCHON--"What is the man's errand?"

CANON LOYSELEUR--"He came by orders of Captain Morris to request the Earl of Warwick to have the dungeon of the old tower prepared to receive Joan Darc, who is to arrive at Rouen under a strong escort to-morrow morning at the latest."

BISHOP CAUCHON--"Did Captain Morris follow my instructions accurately?"

CANON LOYSELEUR--"From point to point, monseigneur. The captive travels in a closed litter, with irons on her feet and hands. When a town has to be crossed, the said Joan is gagged. No one has been able to approach her. The guards of the escort informed all inquirers that they were taking to Rouen an old witch who throttled little children to accomplish her evil deeds."

BISHOP CAUCHON (laughing)--"And the good people forthwith crossed themselves and gave the litter a wide berth? Stupid plebs!"

CANON LOYSELEUR--"It was just as you say. That notwithstanding, at Dieppe, the exasperation of the mob at what they really took for a witch became so violent that the people sought to tear her from our hands and trample her to death."

BISHOP CAUCHON--"The idiots! What would have been left for us?"

CANON LOYSELEUR--"This incident excepted, the journey went smooth. No one along the route thought for a moment that the prisoner was Joan the Maid."

BISHOP CAUCHON--"That was of the highest importance. The girl's renown is such in Gaul at present, even in the provinces that are subject to our English friends, that if it had been learned that she was being taken in chains, the town and country plebs would have been greatly agitated, they might even have taken the she-devil away from her keepers. Well, at any rate, we got her now!"

CANON LOYSELEUR (pointing to the parchments)--"Shall we now proceed with the reading of the condensed acts of the Maid?"

BISHOP CAUCHON (taking up a parchment on which he has made a large number of notes)--"Yes; these facts and acts are to be the basis of the process. While you, canon, read, I shall mark down the acts upon which the said Joan is to be particularly interrogated. This report, which my brother in G.o.d the Bishop of Chartres secretly sent me by orders of the Sire of La Tremouille, is very full and accurate. It is attributed to one Percival of Cagny, equerry of the Duke of Alencon[106] and a partisan of the Maid, or to be more accurate, he does her justice. The justice done to her in the report does not trouble me. Her acts have been witnessed by such a large number of people, that it would be tactless to deny or alter the truth on that head, all the more seeing that the very acts carry with them their own condemnation. Where did we break off in our reading?"

CANON LOYSELEUR--"At the departure from Rheims after the consecration."

BISHOP CAUCHON--"Continue." (He dips his pen in the ink-horn and makes ready to take notes.)

CANON LOYSELEUR (reading)--"'After being consecrated, the King remained at Rheims until the following Thursday. He left Rheims bound for the Abbey of St. Marcoul where he took supper and slept over night. The keys of Laon were there brought to him. On Sat.u.r.day, July 23, 1429, the King went to dine and sleep at Soissons. He was very well received, the Maid having preceded him and harangued the people at the barrier of the town, conjuring them to renounce the English party and become again French.

Her words were received with enthusiasm. Several women who were about to go to child bed, or whose children had not yet been baptized, prayed the Maid to choose their baptismal names, which, said they, would be to them a pledge of divine protection--'"

BISHOP CAUCHON (writing rapidly)--"This must be noted--very important--excellent! _Excellentissime!_"

CANON LOYSELEUR (continuing to read)--"'On Friday, July 29, the King presented himself before Chateau-Thierry. The Maid ordered the banners to be unfurled, spoke to the people, and the town opened its gates. The King remained there until the following Monday, August 1. That day he slept at Montmirail in Brie. On Tuesday, August 2, the King made his entry into Provins, where he was received no less well than in the other towns. He remained there until Friday the 5th. On Sunday, the 7th of August, he slept at Coulommiers; on Wednesday, the 10th, at Ferte-Milon; on Thursday at Crespy in Valois; on Friday, the 12th, in Lagny-le-sec.

In this town a woman in tears pressed through the crowd that surrounded the Maid and implored her to come to a little dying child, whom, the mother said, the Maid could with one word recall to life. In her nave admiration for the Maid, the poor mother attributed to her divine powers comparable to those of Jesus of Nazareth--'"

BISHOP CAUCHON (writing with ghoulish glee)--"I would not sell that fact for a hundred gold sous! (Inflating his wide and hairy nostrils) Oh!

What a delectable smell of f.a.gots and roast flesh I begin to scent.

Proceed, canon. The process is taking shape."

CANON LOYSELEUR (reading)--"'On Sat.u.r.day, August 13, being instructed by her forerunners that the enemy was only at a little distance, the Maid, with her wonted promptness, drew up the army in order of battle in the plain of Dammartin-in-Gouelle, a.s.signed his post to each, and issued her orders with the consummate skill of a captain. But frightened at the att.i.tude of the royal army the English did not dare to give battle, although much stronger in numbers--'"

BISHOP CAUCHON (in a hollow voice)--"Oh, in order to save the honor of our friends from the other side of the water, it will be absolutely necessary to attribute their cowardice to Joan's witchery."

CANON LOYSELEUR (reading)--"'Sunday, August 14, 1429, the Maid, the Duke of Alencon, the Count of Vendome and other captains, accompanied by six or seven thousand soldiers, encamped near Montepilloy, two leagues from Senlis. The Duke of Bedford with eight or nine thousand soldiers defended the approaches of Senlis. They were posted half a league in front of the town, having before them the little River of Nonette and to their right a village of the name of Notre Dame de la Victoire. Both sides skirmished. When night fell both retired to their camps to the great displeasure of the Maid, who, contrary to the opinion of the King and his captains, wished to enter into a general engagement. The English profited by the delay. They threw up earthworks during the night, dug moats and set up palisades, and utilized even their carts to cover themselves. At break of day, and despite the opposition of the captains, the Maid marched at the head of a few determined companies that always obeyed her and pushed up to the foot of the enemy's entrenchments.

Arrived there she learned that the English had decamped over night, given up Senlis, and withdrawn to Paris, the earthworks they had thrown up being intended merely to delay their pursuit--'"

BISHOP CAUCHON--"Witchcraft! Devil's work! The girl is possessed!"

CANON LOYSELEUR (reading)--"'On Wednesday, August 17, the keys of Compiegne were brought to the King, and on Thursday he made his entry into the town amidst the acclamations of the people who cried frantically: "Blessings on the daughter of G.o.d!"--'"

BISHOP CAUCHON (writing)--"'Daughter of G.o.d!' You have rather imprudent fanatics among your admirers, my little girl!"

CANON LOYSELEUR (reading)--"'When the King left Crespy, he ordered Marshals Boussac and Retz to summon the inhabitants of Senlis to surrender. They answered that they would surrender, not to the King, but to the Maid, whom they considered sent by G.o.d and to be a sister of the angels-'"

BISHOP CAUCHON (writing)--"'Sister of the angels!' 'Sent by G.o.d!' Well, the scamps will have contributed their f.a.gots to the pyre."

CANON LOYSELEUR (reading)--"'Much to the annoyance of the Maid, the King wished to stop at Senlis instead of pus.h.i.+ng forward. He seemed satisfied with the success he had so far had, and to wish for nothing more. His council was of his opinion; the Maid, however, held that it would be enough for the King to show himself before Paris for the town to open its gates to its sovereign. "Fear not," Joan said to the King; "I shall speak so sweetly to the Parisians that they will prefer to become French again rather than to remain English"--'"

BISHOP CAUCHON--"What an impudence on the part of the she cowherd. She is certain of everything. Well, she shall pay dearly for her infernal vanity!"

CANON LOYSELEUR (reading)--"'On Tuesday, August 23, despite the opposition of the King and his council, the Maid left Compiegne together with the Duke of Alencon, leaving the prince behind with the bulk of the army. The following Friday, August 26, without striking a blow, the Maid entered St Denis, which declared itself royalist. At this news, the King decided, not without considerable hesitation to proceed to that town, where he arrived in safety. The King's council now opposed the Maid more doggedly than ever before. Joan, however, affirmed that if she was listened to she would render the Parisians to the King by the command of G.o.d, and without shedding a drop of blood--'"

BISHOP CAUCHON (in a rage)--"The execrable hypocrite! To hear her speak she is all honey--and yet at her homicidal voice the French have been turned into the butchers of the Englis.h.!.+ (writing) We must not forget above all to designate her as a furious monster of carnage."

CANON LOYSELEUR (reading)--"'Learning of the capture of Senlis and of the Maid's march upon Paris, the Duke of Bedford reinforced his garrison, and took vigorous measures against those of the Armagnac or royalist party who wished to surrender the town. The Duke picked out only Englishmen and bitter Burgundians to guard the gates, men who were expected to be able to resist the charm of the Maid's sweet words.

Several times she advanced alone on horseback near the barriers of the town, imploring all those who were French like herself no longer to tolerate the rule of the English, who had inflicted so much damage upon the poor people of France. But the men of the Burgundian party and the English answered her with insults and threatened to fire at her although she came for a parley. She would then return weeping over the hard-heartedness or the blindness of men, who, although French, wished to remain English. This notwithstanding, she every day heard "her voices" a.s.sure her that Gaul would not be saved until all the English were driven from her soil, or were exterminated--'"

BISHOP CAUCHON (writing)--"Again 'her voices.' Let us note that important fact. It is capital in the framing of the process."

CANON LOYSELEUR (reading)--"'Seeing that the King continued to refuse to draw nearer to Paris and to present himself before the gates, as the Maid desired, she declared to the Duke of Alencon, who placed great confidence in her, that St. Marguerite and St. Catherine, having again appeared before her, ordered her to demand of the King that he put forth all his efforts to regain the good town of Paris by coming in person and by promises of his clemency and a general amnesty--'"

BISHOP CAUCHON (writing)--"Again St. Marguerite and St. Catherine. Let us jot down the fact. It is no less capital than the one about the 'voices.' Ah, you double-dyed witch! You see visions! Apparitions!

(laughing) You will have to roast for it, my daughter!"

CANON LOYSELEUR (reading)--"'Yielding to the wishes of the Maid, the Duke of Alencon returned to the King, who promised him that on August 27 he would proceed to Chapelle-St. Denis and march from there to Paris.

But he did not keep his promise. The Duke of Alencon returned to him on Monday, September 5. Thanks to the pressure that he exercised, after long hesitating and against the advice of his council, the King came to Chapelle-St. Denis on September 7 to the great joy of the Maid.

Everybody in the army said: "The Maid will restore Paris to the King, if he but consents to show himself before the gates." On Thursday, the 8th of September, the Duke of Alencon together with a few captains whom the Maid carried away with her persuasion, started from Chapelle-St. Denis towards eight in the morning with flying colors but leaving behind the King, who did not wish to accompany them. The Maid advanced toward the St. Honore Gate, which was defended by a body of English soldiers, because, said she, she had a horror of seeing Frenchmen fighting Frenchmen. She took her standard in her hand and boldly leaped at the head of all into the moat, near the swine market. The a.s.sault was long and b.l.o.o.d.y; the English defended themselves bravely; the Maid was wounded by an arrow that ran through her thigh; she fell, but in falling cried out that the attack had to be kept up with all the greater vigor.

But despite her feeble efforts, the Sire of Gaucourt and others carried her to a place of safety seeing that she was losing much blood. She was placed on a cart and taken back to Chapelle-St Denis--'"

BISHOP CAUCHON (writing)--"Let us underscore once more the bloodthirsty nature of the she-devil, who against the advice of all insists upon fighting. We must emphasize her thirst for carnage. She recommends the extermination of the English."

CANON LOYSELEUR (reading)--"'On Monday, September 12, and still hardly able to keep herself in the saddle, the Maid wished to ride out towards St. Denis in order to a.s.sure herself that a bridge over the Seine, the construction of which she had ordered in order to facilitate the pa.s.sage of the troops, had been properly built. The bridge had been built, but was afterwards cut by orders of the King, who had decided to make no further attempts against Paris. On Tuesday, the 13th of September, 1429, and with the advice of his council, the King left St. Denis after dinner, intending to retreat towards the Loire. In despair at the King's departure the Maid wept bitterly, and carried away by the first impulse of her grief she decided to renounce his service. She took off her armor and deposited it _ex voto_ before the statue of Our Lady in the basilica of St. Denis--'"

BISHOP CAUCHON (rubs his hands and writes)--"Excellent! Very excellent!

Idolatry! Sacrilege! In her infernal pride, she offers her armor to the adoration of the simple-minded!"

CANON LOYSELEUR (reading)--"'In her despair, the Maid wished to return to her own country of Lorraine, to her family, and forever renounce war.

But the King ordered her to follow him to Gien, where, said he, he would need her services. They arrived in that town on September 29. The Maid offered the Duke of Alencon to aid him in reconquering his duchy of Normandy. The Duke communicated the project to the King. He refused his consent. He wished to keep the Maid near him in Touraine to defend the province in case the English should return to attack it. The Maid took several fortified towns in the neighborhood of Charite-on-the-Loire and then laid siege to that place. But as the royal council sent neither provisions nor money to the Maid for the soldiers, she was, much to her sorrow, forced to give up the attack, and on March 7, 1430, she went to the Castle of Sully, the property of the Sire of La Tremouille, where the King was sojourning. The Maid expressed in the presence of the prince her unqualified indignation against the royal councilors and the captains, and bitterly reproached them with traitorously putting obstacles in the way of the complete recovery of the realm. Fully aware of the uselessness of her further services to the King, but still hoping to serve France, she left Charles VII forever, and without taking leave of him she departed under the pretext of exercising outside of the castle a company of determined men attached to her fortunes. She went with them to Crespy in Valois. There she was soon called for by the Sire of Flavy who wished her aid in Compiegne, a town that the Duke of Burgundy and the Count of Arundel had jointly besieged. The Maid was not a little perplexed what to do in the matter. She was not ignorant of the proverbial perfidy and ferocity of the Sire of Flavy. But the inhabitants of the place that he commanded had, at the time of her first visit to the town, received Joan with so much affection, that, overcoming her apprehensions, she decided to go to the aid of the good people. On the 23rd of May, 1430, Joan departed from Crespy at the head of her company, two or three hundred men strong. Thanks to the darkness and to the skilful precautions in which she wrapped her nocturnal march, her troops pa.s.sed unperceived between the Burgundian and English camps and entered Compiegne with her before daylight. She immediately went to ma.s.s in the parish church of St. James. It was barely day, but a large number of the inhabitants had learned of the arrival of their emanc.i.p.atrix and went to church to see her. After ma.s.s, Joan retired near one of the pillars of the nave, and addressing herself to several of the people who were gathered there together with their children, all anxious to see her, she said to them in sad accents: "My friends, I have been sold and betrayed, I shall soon be taken and put to death--my voices have for some time been warning me of the contemplated treason"--'"

BISHOP CAUCHON--"What a lucky thing it was for us that Joan did not hearken to these presentiments! The she-devil so often escaped the snares vainly laid for her by the captains, whose vindictive jealousy so well served our purposes and the purposes of the Sires of La Tremouille and of Gaucourt and of my companion in G.o.d, the Bishop of Chartres!"

CANON LOYSELEUR--"Indeed, the emissary whom Monseigneur the Bishop of Chartres sent here secretly and whom I visited in your name, informed me that it was in concert with the Sire of La Tremouille that the Sire of Flavy invited the Maid to Compiegne, meaning to deliver her to the English."

BISHOP CAUCHON (laughing)--"I shall give Flavy, whenever he wishes it, full absolution for all his crimes in return for the capture of Joan.

Proceed, canon. I shall presently tell you more fully what my projects are."

CANON LOYSELEUR (reading)--"'When it was full daylight the Maid made preparations for a vigorous sally. The town of Compiegne is situated on the left bank of the Oise. On the right bank is a wide meadow about a quarter of a league in length and bounded by crags on the side of Picardy. This low meadow, which often is under water, is crossed by a road that starts at Compiegne and ends at the foot of the hill that bounds the horizon on that side of the town. Three villages border on the meadow: Margny, at the extreme end of the road; Clairoy about three-fourths of a league up the river at the confluence of the Aronde and the Oise; and Venette about half a league below on the road to Pont St. Maxence. The Burgundians had a camp at Margny and one at Clairoy.

The English occupied Venette. The defences of Compiegne consisted of a redoubt raised at the head of the bridge and the boulevards. The redoubt was zigzagged and strongly palisaded. The Maid's plan of attack was first to carry the village of Margny, then that of Clairoy, and, mistress of the two positions, to await in the valley of the Aronde the troops of the Duke of Burgundy, who, so soon as he heard the noise of the action, would not fail to hasten to the help of the English.

Foreseeing the movement and wis.h.i.+ng to keep her retreat free, the Maid demanded of the Sire of Flavy to charge himself with keeping the Duke of Burgundy in check, should he turn into the valley before the capture of Margny and Clairoy, and also to keep a reserve of troops on the front and the flanks of the redoubt, ready to cover her retreat. Furthermore, covered barges, placed on the Oise, were to stand ready to receive the footmen in case of a reverse. Having given these orders, the Maid, despite her sinister forebodings, hastened to mount her horse, and, at the head of her company, marched straight upon the village of Margny, which, although vigorously defended, she swiftly carried. The English encamped at Clairoy rushed to the defence of their allies and were thrown back; but they thrice returned to the attack with maddening fury.

This battle was fought in the low meadow and was dragging along. The Duke of Burgundy was not long in entering the valley of the Aronde with his men and he reached the jetty. It was in order to guard against such a move that Joan had charged Flavy to keep the Burgundians in check. Her order was not executed. The Burgundians entered the valley by the road.