st remind the reader, and which was of the
greatest importance, is, that it was only a small part of France that
knew anything personally of Jeanne. From Tours it is a far cry to
Picardy. All her triumphs had taken place in the south. The captive of
Beaulieu and Beaurevoir spent the sad months of her captivity among a
population which could have heard of her only by flying rumours coming
from hostile quarters. From the midland of France to the sea, near
to which her prison was situated, is a long way, and those northern
districts were as unlike the Orleannais as if they had been in two
different countries. Rouen in Normandy no more resembled Rheims, than
Edinburgh resembled London: and in the fifteenth century that was saying
a great deal. Nothing can be more deceptive than to think of these
separate and often hostile duchies as if they bore any resemblance to
the France of to-day.

The captor of Jeanne was a vassal of Jean de Luxembourg and took her as
we have seen to the quarters of his master at Margny, into whose hands
she thenceforward passed. She was kept in the camp three or four days
and then transferred to the castle of Beaulieu, which belonged to him;
and afterwards to the more important stronghold of Beaurevoir, which
seems to have been his principal residence. We know very few details of
her captivity. According to one chronicler, d'Aulon, her faithful friend
and intendant, was with her at least in the former of those prisons,
where at first she would appear to have been hopeful and in good
spirits, if we may trust to the brief conversation between her and
d'Aulon, which is one of the few details which reach us of that period.
While he lamented over the probable fate of Compiegne she was confident.
"That poor town of Compiegne that you loved so much," he said, "by this
time it will be in the hands of the enemies of France." "No," said
the Maid, "the places which the king of Heaven brought back to the
allegiance of the gentle King Charles by me, will not be retaken by his
enemies." In this case at least the prophecy came true.

And perhaps there might have been at first a certain relief in Jeanne's
mind, such as often follows after a long threatened blow has fallen. She
had no longer the vague tortures of suspense, and probably believed that
she would be ransomed as was usual: and in this silence and seclusion
her "voices" which she had not obeyed as at first, but yet which had not
abandoned her, nor shown e