he English from that
city, and for taking the Dauphin to be anointed king at Rheims. At
length she informed her parents of her divine mission, and told them
that she must go to the Sire de Baudricourt, who commanded at
Vaucouleurs, and who was the appointed person to bring her into the
presence of the King, whom she was to save.

Neither the anger nor the grief of her parents, who said that they would
rather see her drowned than exposed to the contamination of the camp,
could move her from her purpose. One of her uncles consented to take her
to Vaucouleurs, where De Baudricourt at first thought her mad, and
derided her, but by degrees was led to believe, if not in her
inspiration, at least in her enthusiasm, and in its possible utility to
the Dauphin's cause.

The inhabitants of Vaucouleurs were completely won over to her side by
the piety and devoutness which she displayed, and by her firm assurance
in the truth of her mission. She told them that it was God's will that
she should go to the King, and that no one but her could save the
kingdom of France. She said that she herself would rather remain with
her poor mother and spin; but the Lord had ordered her forth.

The fame of "the Maid," as she was termed, the renown of her holiness
and of her mission, spread far and wide. Baudricourt sent her with an
escort to Chinon, where the dauphin Charles was dallying away his time.
Her "voices" had bidden her assume the arms and the apparel of a knight;
and the wealthiest inhabitants of Vaucouleurs had vied with each other
in equipping her with war-horse, armor, and sword. On reaching Chinon,
she was, after some delay, admitted into the presence of the Dauphin.
Charles designedly dressed himself far less richly than many of his
courtiers were apparelled, and mingled with them, when Jeanne was
introduced, in order to see if the holy Maid would address her
exhortations to the wrong person. But she instantly singled him out,
and, kneeling before him, said:

"Most noble Dauphin, the King of Heaven announces to you by me that you
shall be anointed and crowned king in the city of Rheims, and that you
shall be his vicegerent in France."

His features may probably have been seen by her previously in
portraits, or have been described to her by others; but she herself
believed that her "voices" inspired her when she addressed the King, and
the report soon spread abroad that the holy Maid had found the King by a
miracle; and this, wi