Saint Joan

out now to the common people, and let the love in their eyes comfort me for the hate in yours. You will all be glad to see me burnt; but if I go through the fire I shall go through it to their hearts forever and ever. And so, God be with me! She goes from them. They stare after her in glum silence for a moment. Then Gilles de Rais twirls his beard. Bluebeard You know, the woman is quite impossible. I don’t dislike her, really; but what are you to do with such a character? Dunois As God is my judge, if she fell into the Loire I would jump in in full armor to fish her out. But if she plays the fool at Compiègne, and gets caught, I must leave her to her doom. La Hire Then you had better chain me up; for I could follow her to hell when the spirit rises in her like that. The Archbishop She disturbs my judgment too: there is a dangerous power in her outbursts. But the pit is open at her feet; and for good or evil we cannot turn her from it. Charles If only she would keep quiet, or go home! They follow her dispiritedly.

Scene VI

Rouen, 30th May 1431. A great stone hall in the castle, arranged for a trial-at-law, but not a trial-by-jury, the court being the Bishop’s court with the Inquisition participating: hence there are two raised chairs side by side for the Bishop and the Inquisitor as judges. Rows of chairs radiating from them at an obtuse angle are for the canons, the doctors of law and theology, and the Dominican monks, who act as assessors. In the angle is a table for the scribes, with stools. There is also a heavy rough wooden stool for the prisoner. All these are at the inner end of the hall. The further end is open to the courtyard through a row of arches. The court is shielded from the weather by screens and curtains.

Looking down the great hall from the middle of the inner end, the judicial chairs and scribes’ table are to the right. The prisoner’s stool is to the left. There are arched doors right and left. It is a fine sunshiny May morning.

Warwick comes in through the arched doorway on the judges’ side, followed by his page.

The Page	Pertly. I suppose your lordship is aware that we have no business here. This is an ecclesiastical court; and we are only the secular arm.
Warwick	I am aware of that fact. Will it please your impudence to find the Bishop of Beauvais for me, and give him a hint that he can have a word with me here before the trial, if he wishes?
The Page	Going. Yes, my lord.
Warwick	And mind you behave yourself. Do not address him as Pious Peter.
The Page	No, my lord. I shall be kind to him, because, when The Maid is brought in, Pious Peter will have to pick a peck of pickled pepper.
	Cauchon enters through the same door with a Dominican monk and a canon, the latter carrying a brief.
The Page	The Right Reverend his lordship the Bishop of Beauvais. And two other reverend gentlemen.
Warwick	Get out; and see that we are not interrupted.
The Page	Right, my lord He vanishes airily.
Cauchon	I wish your lordship good-morrow.
Warwick	Good-morrow to your lordship. Have I had the pleasure of meeting your friends before? I think not.
Cauchon	Introducing the monk, who is on his right. This, my lord, is Brother John Lemaître, of the order of St. Dominic. He is acting as deputy for the Chief Inquisitor into the evil of heresy in France. Brother John: the Earl of Warwick.
Warwick	Your Reverence is most welcome. We have no Inquisitor in England, unfortunately; though we miss him greatly, especially on occasions like the present.
	The Inquisitor smiles patiently, and bows. He is a mild elderly gentleman, but has evident reserves of authority and firmness.
Cauchon	Introducing the Canon, who is on his left. This gentleman is Canon John D’Estivet, of the Chapter of Bayeux. He is acting as Promoter.
Warwick	Promoter?
Cauchon	Prosecutor, you would call him in civil law.
Warwick	Ah! prosecutor. Quite, quite. I am very glad to make your acquaintance, Canon D’Estivet.
D’estivet	Bows. ! He is on the young side of middle age, well mannered, but vulpine beneath his veneer.
Warwick	May I ask what stage the proceedings have reached? It is now more than nine months since The Maid was captured at Compiègne by the Burgundians. It is fully four months since I bought her from the Burgundians for a very handsome sum, solely that she might be brought to justice. It is very nearly three months since I delivered her up to you, my Lord Bishop, as a person suspected of heresy. May I suggest that you are taking a rather unconscionable time to make up your minds about a very plain case? Is this trial never going to end?
The Inquisitor	Smiling. It has not yet begun, my lord.
Warwick	Not yet begun! Why, you have been at it eleven weeks!
Cauchon	We have not been idle, my lord. We have held fifteen examinations of The Maid: six public and nine private.
The Inquisitor	Always patiently smiling. You see, my lord, I have been present at only two of these examinations. They were proceedings of the Bishop’s court solely, and not of the Holy Office. I have only just decided to associate myself⁠—that is, to associate the Holy Inquisition⁠—with the Bishop’s court. I did not at first think that this was a case of heresy at all. I regarded it as a political case, and The Maid as a prisoner of war. But having now been present at two of the examinations, I must admit that this seems to be one of the gravest cases of heresy within my experience. Therefore everything