e who don't happen to know it. And I was
ashamed of these courtiers, too, for the way they licked their chops, so
to speak, as envying Joan her great chance, they not knowing her any
better than the King did. A blush began to rise in Joan's cheeks at the
thought that she was working for her country for pay, and she dropped her
head and tried to hide her face, as girls always do when they find
themselves blushing; no one knows why they do, but they do, and the more
they blush the more they fail to get reconciled to it, and the more they
can't bear to have people look at them when they are doing it. The King
made it a great deal worse by calling attention to it, which is the
unkindest thing a person can do when a girl is blushing; sometimes, when
there is a big crowd of strangers, it is even likely to make her cry if
she is as young as Joan was. God knows the reason for this, it is hidden
from men. As for me, I would as soon blush as sneeze; in fact, I would
rather. However, these meditations are not of consequence: I will go on
with what I was saying. The King rallied her for blushing, and this
brought up the rest of the blood and turned her face to fire. Then he was
sorry, seeing what he had done, and tried to make her comfortable by
saying the blush was exceeding becoming to her and not to mind it--which
caused even the dog to notice it now, so of course the red in Joan's face
turned to purple, and the tears overflowed and ran down--I could have
told anybody that that would happen. The King was distressed, and saw
that the best thing to do would be to get away from this subject, so he
began to say the finest kind of things about Joan's capture of the
Tourelles, and presently when she was more composed he mentioned the
reward again and pressed her to name it. Everybody listened with anxious
interest to hear what her claim was going to be, but when her answer came
their faces showed that the thing she asked for was not what they had
been expecting.

"Oh, dear and gracious Dauphin, I have but one desire--only one. If--"

"Do not be afraid, my child--name it."

"That you will not delay a day. My army is strong and valiant, and eager
to finish its work--march with me to Rheims and receive your crown." You
could see the indolent King shrink, in his butterfly clothes.

"To Rheims--oh, impossible, my General! We march through the heart of
England's power?"

Could those be French faces there? Not one of them lighted in resp