to lose no time, to leave
as little leisure as possible to the intriguers to resume their old
plots. So the generals thought as well as Jeanne: but the courtiers were
not of that mind. The weak and foolish notion of falling back upon what
they had gained, and of contenting themselves with that, was all they
thought of; and the un-French, unpatriotic temper of Paris which wanted
no native king, but was content with the foreigner, gave them a certain
excuse. We could not even imagine London as being ever, at any time,
contented with an alien rule. But Paris evidently was so, and was ready
to defend itself to the death against its lawful sovereign. Jeanne had
never before been brought face to face with such a complication. It had
been a straightforward struggle, each man for his own side, up to this
time. But now other things had to be taken into consideration. Here
was no faithful Orleans holding out eager arms to its deliverer, but a
crafty, self-seeking city, deaf to patriotism, indifferent to freedom,
calculating which was most to its profit--and deciding that the
stranger, with Philip of Burgundy at his back, was the safer guide. This
was enough of itself to make a simple mind pause in astonishment and
dismay.

There is no evidence that the supernatural leaders who had shaped the
course of the Maid failed her now. She still heard her "voices." She
still held communion with the three saints who, she believed devoutly,
came out of Heaven to aid her. The whole question of this supernatural
guidance is one which is of course open to discussion. There are many
in these days who do not believe in it at all, who believe in the
exaltation of Jeanne's brain, in the excitement of her nerves, in some
strange complication of bodily conditions, which made her believe she
saw and heard what she did not really see or hear. For our part, we
confess frankly that these explanations are no explanation at all so far
as we are concerned; we are far more inclined to believe that the
Maid spoke truth, she who never told a lie, she who fulfilled all the
promises she made in the name of her guides, than that those people are
right who tell us on their own authority that such interpositions of
Heaven are impossible. Nobody in Jeanne's day doubted that Heaven did
interpose directly in human affairs. The only question was, Was it
Heaven in this instance? Was it not rather the evil one? Was it sorcery
and witchcraft, or was it the agency of God?