But Jeanne turned a happy face toward them, and answered out of the serene peace of her heart:
“I do not fear men-at-arms. My way has been made plain before me. If there be men-at-arms my Lord God will make a way for me to go to my Lord Dauphin. For this I was born.”
Sire Robert also was present, and as he gazed at the bright face of the maiden his grim old heart was touched.
“Swear,” he said, making Jean de Metz kneel before him. “Swear that you will deliver this maiden whom I have confided to your care safely and surely to the King.”
And De Metz answered solemnly:
“I swear.”
And so from each and every man the Governor took the oath. Then belting his own sword about the girl’s slender waist, he said:
“Go! and come of it what may.”
And off into the mists that enveloped the meadows of the Meuse rode the little company down the road into France.