82, 203. _Chronique de
la Pucelle_, p. 275. B. Ledain, _Jeanne d'Arc a Poitiers_,
Saint-Maixent, 1891, in 8vo.]

[Footnote 743: Nevertheless see _Le mistere du siege_, pp. 397-406.]

Jean Rabateau's wife, in common with the wives of all lawyers, was a
woman of good reputation.[744] While she was at La Rose, Jeanne would
stay long on her knees every day after dinner. At night she would
rise from her bed to pray, and pass long hours in the little oratory
of the mansion. It was in this house that the doctors conducted her
examination. When their coming was announced she was seized with cruel
anxiety. The Blessed Saint Catherine was careful to reassure her.[745]
She likewise had disputed with doctors and confounded them. True,
those doctors were heathen, but they were learned and their minds were
subtle; for in the life of the Saint it is written: "The Emperor
summoned fifty doctors versed in the lore of the Egyptians and the
liberal arts. And when she heard that she was to dispute with the wise
men, Catherine feared lest she should not worthily defend the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. But an angel appeared unto her and said: 'I am the
Archangel Saint Michael, and I am come to tell thee that thou shalt
come forth from the strife victorious and worthy of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, the hope and crown of those who strive for him.' And the
Virgin disputed with the doctors."[746]

[Footnote 744: There can be no reason for suspecting this lady of not
living up to her reputation, for nothing is known of her, not even
whether she were Maitre Jean Rabateau's first or second wife, for he
had two. The first was the daughter of Benoit Pidelet. Cf. B. Ledain,
_La maison de Jeanne d'Arc a Poitiers, Maitre Jean Rabateau_ (_Revue
du Bas-Poitou_, April, 1891, pp. 48, 66). A. Barbier, _Jeanne d'Arc et
l'hotellerie de la Rose_, Poitiers, 1892, in 8vo.]

[Footnote 745: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 82.]

[Footnote 746: Voragine, _La legende doree_ (Vie de Sainte
Catherine).]

The grave doctors and masters and the principal clerks of the
Parlement of Poitiers, in companies of two and three, repaired to the
house of Jean Rabateau, and each one of them in turn questioned
Jeanne. The first to come were Jean Lombard, Guillaume le Maire,
Guillaume Aimery, Pierre Turelure, and Jacques Meledon. Brother Jean
Lombard asked: "Wherefore have you come? The King desires to know what
led you to come to him."

Jeanne's reply greatly impressed these clerks: "As I kept