time; that, with Paris ours, all France would be ours in six months.
But if this golden opportunity to recover France was wasted, said
she, “I give you twenty years to do it in.”
She was right. After Paris fell, in 1436, the rest of the work had to
be done city by city, castle by castle, and it took twenty years to
finish it.
Yes, it was the first day of March, 1431, there in the court, that she
stood in the view of everybody and uttered that strange and
incredible prediction. Now and then, in this world, somebody’s
prophecy turns up correct, but when you come to look into it there
is sure to be considerable room for suspicion that the prophecy was
made after the fact. But here the matter is different. There in that
court Joan’s prophecy was set down in the official record at the
hour and moment of its utterance, years before the fulfilment, and
there you may read it to this day.
Twenty-five years after Joan’s death the record was produced in
the great Court of the Rehabilitation and verified under oath by
Manchon and me, and surviving judges of our court confirmed the
exactness of the record in their testimony.
Joan’ startling utterance on that now so celebrated first of March
stirred up a great turmoil, and it was some time before it quieted
down again. Naturally, everybody was troubled, for a prophecy is a
grisly and awful thing, whether one thinks it ascends from hell or
comes down from heaven.
All that these people felt sure of was, that the inspiration back of it
was genuine and puissant.
They would have given their right hands to know the source of it.
At last the questions began again.
“How do you know that those things are going to happen?”
“I know it by revelation. And I know it as surely as I know that you
sit here before me.”
This sort of answer was not going to allay the spreading
uneasiness. Therefore, after some further dallying the judge got the
subject out of the way and took up one which he could enjoy more.
“What languages do your Voices speak?”
“French.”
“St. Marguerite, too?”
“Verily; why not? She is on our side, not on the English!”
Saints and angels who did not condescend to speak English is a
grave affront. They could not be brought into court and punished
for contempt, but the tribunal could take silent note of Joan’s
remark and remember it against her; which they did. It might be
useful by and by.
“Do your saints and angels wear jewelry?–crowns, rings,
earrings?”
To Joan, questions like these were profane frivolities and not
worthy of serious notice; she answered indifferently. But the
question brought to her mind another matter, and she turned upon
Cauchon and said:
“I had two rings. They have been taken away from me during my
captivity. You have one of them. It is the gift of my brother. Give
it back to me. If not to me, then I pray that it be given to the
Church.”
The judges conceived the idea that maybe these rings were for the
working of enchantments.
Perhaps they could be made to do Joan a damage.
“Where is the other ring?”
“The Burgundians have it.”
“Where did you get it?”
“My father and mother gave it to me.”
“Describe it.”
“It is plain and simple and has ‘Jesus and Mary’ engraved upon it.”
Everybody could see that that was not a valuable equipment to do
devil’s rok with. So that trail was not worth following. Still, to
make sure, one of the judges asked Joan if she had ever cured sick
people by touching them with the ring. She said no.
“Now as concerning the fairies, that were used to abide near by
Domremy whereof there are many reports and traditions. It is said
that your godmother surprised these creatures on a summer’s night
dancing under the tree called l”Arbre F‚e de Bourlemont. Is it not
possible that your pretended saints and angles are but those
fairies?”
“Is that in your procЉs?”
She made no other answer.
“Have you not conversed with St. Marguerite and St. Catherine