nt him from being borne back by
force of numbers. The English armies, uniting, inundated the country,
and, pushing on unchecked, invaded the interior. The king was ready to
flee to the Mediterranean provinces and let France go, when Jeanne d'Arc
appeared.

"Gilles returned to court and was entrusted by Charles with the 'guard
and defence' of the Maid of Orleans. He followed her everywhere, fought
at her side, even under the walls of Paris, and was with her at Rheims
the day of the coronation, at which time, says Monstrelet, the king
rewarded his valour by naming him Marshal of France, at the age of
twenty-five."

"Lord!" Des Hermies interrupted, "promotion came rapidly in those times.
But I suppose warriors then weren't the bemedalled, time-serving
incompetents they are now."

"Oh, don't be misled. The title of Marshal of France didn't mean so
much in Gilles's time as it did afterward in the reign of Francis I, and
nothing like what it has come to mean since Napoleon.

"What was the conduct of Gilles de Rais toward Jeanne d'Arc? We have no
certain knowledge. M. Vallet de Viriville, without proof, accuses him of
treachery. M. l'abbe Bossard, on the contrary, claims--and alleges
plausible reasons for entertaining the opinion--that he was loyal to her
and watched over her devotedly.

"What is certain is that Gilles's soul became saturated with mystical
ideas. His whole history proves it.

"He was constantly in association with this extraordinary maid whose
adventures seemed to attest the possibility of divine intervention in
earthly affairs. He witnessed the miracle of a peasant girl dominating a
court of ruffians and bandits and arousing a cowardly king who was on
the point of flight. He witnessed the incredible episode of a virgin
bringing back to the fold such black rams as La Hire, Xaintrailles,
Beaumanoir, Chabannes, Dunois, and Gaucourt, and washing their old
fleeces whiter than snow. Undoubtedly Gilles also, under her
shepherding, docilely cropped the white grass of the gospel, took
communion the morning of a battle, and revered Jeanne as a saint.

"He saw the Maid fulfil all her promises. She raised the siege of
Orleans, had the king consecrated at Rheims, and then declared that her
mission was accomplished and asked as a boon that she be permitted to
return home.

"Now I should say that as a result of such an association Gilles's
mysticism began to soar. Henceforth we have to deal with a man who is
half