"
So the Maid put on her spotless apparel, and looked more than ever
like a youthful warrior, going forth with stainless shield, in the
quest of chivalrous adventure. The whole Court was entranced by her
beauty, her lofty dignity, her strange air of aloofness from the
world, which made her move amongst them as a thing apart, and
seemed to set a seal upon her every word and act.
When she spoke of the coming strife, and her plans for the relief
of the beleaguered city, her eyes would shine, a ringing note of
authority would be heard in her voice, she would fearlessly enter
into debate with the King and his Ministers, and tell them that
which she was resolved to do, whether they counselled it or no. At
such moments she appeared gifted with a power impossible rightly to
describe. Without setting herself up in haughtiness, she yet
overbore all opposition by her serene composure and calm serenity
in the result. Men of war said that she spoke like a soldier and a
strategist; they listened to her in amaze, and wondered what the
great La Hire would say when he should arrive, to find that a
country maiden had been set over his head.
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