would never of itself
have occurred to her, since she did not know the place, and no soldier
would ever have put such madness into her head as an attack on an
entrenched camp by a convoy of cattle and wagons. Neither, as has so
often been asserted, can she have thought of forcing a passage between
the bastion Saint-Pouair and the outskirts of the wood, since of the
bastions and of the forest she knew as little as of the rest. If such
had been her intention she would have announced it plainly to the
Bastard; for she knew how to make her meaning clear, and even educated
persons considered that she spoke well. Then what was her idea? It is
not impossible to discover it if one remembers what must have been in
the saint's mind at that time, or if one merely recollects by what
words and deeds Jeanne had announced and prepared her mission. She had
said to the doctors of Poitiers: "The siege of Orleans shall be raised
and the town delivered from the enemy after I have summoned it to
surrender in God's name."[928] In the name of the King of Heaven she
had called upon Scales, Suffolk, and Talbot to raise the siege. She
had written that she was ready to make peace, and had bidden them
return to England. Now she asked Talbot, Suffolk, and Scales for an
answer. Since the English had not sent back her herald she herself
came to their leaders as the herald of Messire. She came to require
them to make peace, and if they would not make peace she was ready to
fight. It was not until they had refused that she could be certain of
conquering, not for any human reason, but because her Council had so
promised her. Perhaps even she may have hoped that by appearing to the
English captains, her standard in hand, accompanied by Saint
Catherine and Saint Margaret and Saint Michael the Archangel, she
would persuade them to leave France. She may have believed that
Talbot, falling on his knees, would obey not her, but Him who sent
her; that thus she would accomplish that for which she came, without
shedding one drop of that French blood which was so dear to her;
neither would the English whom she pitied lose their bodies or their
souls. In any case God must be obeyed and charity shown: it was only
at such a price that victory could be gained. A victory so spiritual,
a conquest so angelic, she had come to win; but now it was snatched
from her by the false wisdom of the leaders of her party. They were
hindering her from fulfilling her mission,--perhaps