It was their wish that the dauphin Charles of France (to all appearances a treacherous and cowardly toad) become the king of France; They chose as their instrument of policy a teenage farm girl named Jeanne d'Arc, to whom They appeared (infrequently) and spoke (constantly). Thanks to many hundreds of books and plays and films, everyone knows what happened next: Jeanne, clad in white armor, rode at the head of the dauphin's army, while he himself remained prudently at the rear.