He was
to ride forward in all haste, whilst we were to follow in slower
and more cautious fashion.
I think it was about the fifth day of March when the great towers
of Chinon first broke upon our gaze. We had been travelling all the
night, and it was just as the dawn was breaking that we espied the
huge round turrets rising, as it were, from amid the mists which
clung about the river and its banks. There we halted, for no
message had yet come from the King; but upon the Maid's face was a
look of awe and radiant joy as she stood a little apart, gazing
upon the goal of her toilsome journey. No fear beset her as to her
reception, just as no fears had troubled her with regard to perils
by the way.
"God clears the road for me," she said, when news had been brought
from time to time of bands of soldiers whom we had narrowly
escaped; and now, as she looked upon the towers of Chinon, growing
more and more distinct as the daylight strengthened, her face wore
a smile of serene confidence in which natural fear and shrinking
had no part.
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