Not for herself, but for Him was
her spirit moved.
The Archbishop with much circumlocution told her of the difficulty
in which the King's Council was placed, and would have discoursed
for long upon the situation, only that in his first pause the Maid
spoke, addressing herself to the King:
"Shall I be believed if I speak my counsel?" she asked.
"You will be believed according as you speak," answered the King,
thoroughly uneasy, as he ever was, when torn in twain by the
multitude of counsellors with whom he must needs surround himself,
though his heart ever inclined towards the Maid.
"I speak that which my Lord gives me to speak," she answered, her
wonderful eyes full upon the King. "Shall I be believed?"
"If you speak that which is reasonable and profitable, I will
certainly believe you," he answered, still uneasy beneath her look.
"Shall I be believed?" she questioned a third time, and there was a
fire in her eyes which seemed to leap out and scathe the
pusillanimous monarch as he sat quaking in his Council.
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