as gentle, kind to the poor and lowly, but not devoid of mistrust and
suspicion.

It is said that during this private conversation, addressing him with
the familiarity of an angel, she made him this strange announcement:
"My Lord bids me say unto thee that thou art indeed the heir of France
and the son of a King; he has sent me to thee to lead thee to Reims to
be crowned there and anointed if thou wilt."[676] Afterwards the
Maid's chaplain reported these words, saying he had received them
from the Maid herself. All that is certain is that the Armagnacs were
not slow to turn them into a miracle in favour of the Line of the
Lilies. It was asserted that these words spoken by God himself, by the
mouth of an innocent girl, were a reply to the carking, secret anxiety
of the King. Madame Ysabeau's son, it was said, distracted and
saddened by the thought that perhaps the royal blood did not flow in
his veins, was ready to renounce his kingdom and declare himself a
usurper, unless by some heavenly light his doubts concerning his birth
should be dispelled.[677] Men told how his face shone with joy[678]
when it was revealed to him that he was the true heir of France.

[Footnote 676: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 103 (evidence of Brother
Pasquerel).]

[Footnote 677: The Abridger of the _Trial_, in _Trial_, vol. iv, pp.
258, 259. Basin, _Histoire de Charles VII et de Louis XI_, vol. i, p.
67. _Journal du siege_, p. 48.]

[Footnote 678: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 116 (evidence of S. Charles). S.
Luce, _Jeanne d'Arc a Domremy_, p. lxi.]

Doubtless the Armagnac preachers were in the habit of speaking of
Queen Ysabeau as "_une grande gorre_" and a Herodias of
licentiousness; but one would like to know whence her son derived his
curious misgiving. He had not manifested it on entering into his
inheritance; and, had occasion required, the jurists of his party
would have proved to him by reasons derived from laws and customs that
he was by birth the true heir and the lawful successor of the late
King; for filiation must be proved not by what is hidden, but by what
is manifest, otherwise it would be impossible to assign the legal heir
to a kingdom or to an acre of land. Nevertheless it must be borne in
mind that the King was very unfortunate at this time. Now misfortune
agitates the conscience and raises scruples; and he might well doubt
the justice of his cause since God was forsaking him. But if he were
indeed assailed by painful doubts, how can