etween Laon and Reims.
It was said, by the priests who officiated there, to be one of the
halting places on the route of the coronation procession, where the
kings and their retinues were accustomed to stop on their return from
Reims; but this is very likely not to be true. Whether it were such a
halting place or no, there is no doubt that the folk of Metz displayed
a particular devotion to Our Lady of Liance; and it seemed fitting
that Jeanne, who had escaped from an English prison, should go and
give thanks for her marvellous deliverance to the Black Virgin of
Picardy.[2630]

[Footnote 2630: _Chronique du doyen de Saint-Thibaud_, in _Trial_,
vol. v, pp. 322, 324. Dom Lelong, _Histoire du diocese de Laon_, 1783,
p. 371. Abbe Ledouble, _Les origines de Liesse et du pelerinage de
Notre-Dame_, Soissons, 1885, pp. 6 _et seq._]

Thence she went on her way to Arlon, to Elisabeth of Gorlitz, Duchess
of Luxembourg, an aunt by marriage of the Duke of Burgundy.[2631] She
was an old woman, who had been twice a widow. By extortion and
oppression she had made herself detested by her vassals. By this
princess Jeanne was well received. There was nothing strange in that.
Persons living holy lives and working miracles were much sought after
by princes and nobles who desired to discover secrets or to obtain the
fulfilment of some wish. And the Duchess of Luxembourg might well
believe this damsel to be the Maid Jeanne herself, since the brothers
Du Lys, the nobles of Metz and the folk of Vaucouleurs were of that
opinion.

[Footnote 2631: _Trial_, vol. v, p. 322, note 2. G. Lefevre-Pontalis,
_La fausse Jeanne d'Arc_, p. 21, note 1.]

For the generality of men, Jeanne's life and death were surrounded by
marvels and mysteries. Many had from the first doubted her having
perished by the hand of the executioner. Certain were curiously
reticent on this point; they said: "the English had her publicly burnt
at Rouen, or some other woman like her."[2632] Others confessed that
they did not know what had become of her.[2633]

[Footnote 2632: _Chronique normande_ (MS. in the British Museum), in
_Trial_, vol. iv, p. 344. Symphorien Champier, _Nef des Dames_, Lyon,
1503, _ibid._]

[Footnote 2633: _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_, p. 272. _Chronique
normande_, in _Bibliotheque de l'Ecole des Chartes_, second series,
vol. iii, p. 116. D. Calmet, _Histoire de Lorraine_, p. vi, proofs and
illustrations. G. Save, _Jehanne des Armoises_, pp. 6, 7. I