ice and
flattery held the scales. The mean is difficult to discover, and
perhaps it is only possible to get somewhere near it by studying
results--the remarkable change, as already noticed, in Charles's life
and conduct whilst under her influence.

In the face of conflicting records it is no easy matter to determine
when Agnes Sorel first became the king's mistress. In 1435, when the
Treaty of Arras was concluded between Charles and the Duke of
Burgundy, Cardinal de Sainte-Croix (afterwards Pope Pius the Second)
was Papal legate at the French Court, and aided in the negotiations.
He tells in his memoirs that the relation between Charles and Agnes
was known publicly at the time, and that the king could do nothing
without her, even having her at his side at the royal councils. The
trustworthiness of this statement has, however, been so questioned,
that it seems safer to endeavour to arrive at the truth from other
sources, although, if the statement can be relied on, it seems to
follow, almost as a matter of course, that Agnes must have been born
earlier than 1422. It is an admitted fact that between 1433 and 1438
the manner of Charles's life entirely changed. In the year 1433 the
infamous and once all-powerful favourite, La Tremoille, who had been
the king's evil genius for six years, and was largely responsible for
the king's treatment of his wife, Marie of Anjou, was dismissed at the
instance of the politic Yolande. Yet even so, the king often relapsed
into indolence and apparent indifference to his kingly duties, and it
was not till after 1438, when he summoned a national Council at
Bourges, that Charles showed himself to be a new man. It is also not
long after this that we read of favours granted by the king to
Agnes's relations. From that time, Charles ceased to spend his time in
dreamland, as it were, in the sweet Touraine country, and engaged
himself in affairs of State, listening to and accepting wise counsels,
favouring the restoration of schools and universities--which, in the
uncertain state of the country, had almost ceased to exist--and
encouraging the final efforts to expel the national enemy, even at
times personally joining in the fight. If we see in this, in a measure
at all events, the guiding spirit of Agnes, the secret of her
influence is not very difficult to discover. Apart from her beauty,
which, with Charles, would be a potent factor, Agnes had a woman's
insight and skill in her relation with him,