And this unexpected accusation,
instead of frightening her, only served to embolden her. She
looked the angry monarch full in the face.
" 'T is a false and lying charge, lord king," she said, "from
whomsoever it may come. Naught have I said but praise of you and
your courtesy to us motherless folk. 'T is a false and lying
charge; and I am ready to stand test of its proving, come what
may."
"Even to the judgment of God, girl?" demanded the king.
And the brave girl made instant reply: "Even to the judgment of
God, lord king." Then, skilled in all the curious customs of
those warlike times, she drew off her glove. "Whosoever my
accuser be, lord king," she said, "I do denounce him as foresworn
and false, and thus do I throw myself upon God's good mercy, if
it shall please him to raise me up a champion." And she flung her
glove upon the floor of the hall, in face of the king and all his
barons.
It was a bold thing for a girl to do, and a murmur of applause
ran through even that unfriendly throng. For, to stand the test
of a "wager of battle," or the "judgment of God," as the savage
contest was called, was the last resort of any one accused of
treason or of crime.
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