"Tell them
so, and that I have come to save them. And then let me go home."
So La Hire stood forth and gave the Maid's message in his trumpet
tones, and the Maid was escorted by the whole of the joyful and
loving crowd to the house of the Treasurer Boucher, where were her
quarters, and where she was received with acclamation and joy. And
thus the Maid entered the beleaguered city of Orleans.
CHAPTER IX. HOW THE MAID ASSUMED COMMAND AT ORLEANS.
The house of the Treasurer was a beautiful building in the Gothic
style, and weary as was the Maid with the toils and excitements
through which she had passed, I saw her eyes kindle with pleasure
and admiration as she was ceremoniously led into the great
banqueting hall, where the tables were spread with abundant good
cheer (despite the reduced condition of the city), to do honour to
her who came as its Deliverer.
There was something solemn and church-like in these surroundings
which appealed at once to the Maid. She had a keen eye for beauty,
whether of nature or in the handiwork of man, and her quick
penetrating glances missed nothing of the stately grandeur of the
house, the ceremonious and courtly welcome of the Treasurer, its
master, or the earnest, wistful gaze of his little daughter
Charlotte, who stood holding fast to her mother's hand in the
background, but feasting her great dark eyes upon the wonderful
shining figure of the Maid, from whose white armour the lights of
the great hall flashed back in a hundred points of fire.
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