Saint Joan

we were saying. It is the ignorant who suffer. Come, or we shall be late for the end. Cauchon Going with him. I shall not be sorry if we are: I am not so accustomed as you. They are going out when Warwick comes in, meeting them. Warwick Oh, I am intruding. I thought it was all over. He makes a feint of retiring. Cauchon Do not go, my lord. It is all over. The Inquisitor The execution is not in our hands, my lord; but it is desirable that we should witness the end. So by your leave⁠—He bows, and goes out through the courtyard. Cauchon There is some doubt whether your people have observed the forms of law, my lord. Warwick I am told that there is some doubt whether your authority runs in this city, my lord. It is not in your diocese. However, if you will answer for that I will answer for the rest. Cauchon It is to God that we both must answer. Good morning, my lord. Warwick My lord: good morning. They look at one another for a moment with unconcealed hostility. Then Cauchon follows the Inquisitor out. Warwick looks round. Finding himself alone, he calls for attendance. Warwick Hallo: some attendance here! Silence. Hallo, there! Silence. Hallo! Brian, you young blackguard, where are you? Silence. Guard! Silence. They have all gone to see the burning: even that child. The silence is broken by someone frantically howling and sobbing. Warwick What in the devil’s name⁠—? The Chaplain staggers in from the courtyard like a demented creature, his face streaming with tears, making the piteous sounds that Warwick has heard. He stumbles to the prisoner’s stool, and throws himself upon it with heartrending sobs. Warwick Going to him and patting him on the shoulder. What is it, Master John? What is the matter? The Chaplain Clutching at his hands. My lord, my lord: for Christ’s sake pray for my wretched guilty soul. Warwick Soothing him. Yes, yes: of course I will. Calmly, gently⁠— The Chaplain Blubbering miserably. I am not a bad man, my lord. Warwick No, no: not at all. The Chaplain I meant no harm. I did not know what it would be like. Warwick Hardening. Oh! You saw it, then? The Chaplain I did not know what I was doing. I am a hotheaded fool; and I shall be damned to all eternity for it. Warwick Nonsense! Very distressing, no doubt; but it was not your doing. The Chaplain Lamentably. I let them do it. If I had known, I would have torn her from their hands. You don’t know: you haven’t seen: it is so easy to talk when you don’t know. You madden yourself with words: you damn yourself because it feels grand to throw oil on the flaming hell of your own temper. But when it is brought home to you; when you see the thing you have done; when it is blinding your eyes, stifling your nostrils, tearing your heart, then⁠—then⁠—Falling on his knees. O God, take away this sight from me! O Christ, deliver me from this fire that is consuming me! She cried to Thee in the midst of it: Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! She is in Thy bosom; and I am in hell for evermore. Warwick Summarily hauling him to his feet. Come come, man! you must pull yourself together. We shall have the whole town talking of this. He throws him not too gently into a chair at the table. If you have not the nerve to see these things, why do you not do as I do, and stay away? The Chaplain Bewildered and submissive. She asked for a cross. A soldier gave her two sticks tied together. Thank God he was an Englishman! I might have done it; but I did not: I am a coward, a mad dog, a fool. But he was an Englishman too. Warwick The fool! They will burn him too if the priests get hold of him. The Chaplain Shaken with convulsion. Some of the people laughed at her. They would have laughed at Christ. They were French people, my lord: I know they were French. Warwick Hush: someone is coming. Control yourself. Ladvenu comes back through the courtyard to Warwick’s right hand, carrying a bishop’s cross which he has taken from a church. He is very grave and composed. Warwick I am informed that it is all over, Brother Martin. Ladvenu Enigmatically. We do not know, my lord. It may have only just begun. Warwick What does that mean, exactly? Ladvenu I took this cross from the church for her that she might see it to the last: she had only two sticks that she put into her bosom. When the fire crept round us, and she saw that if I held the cross before her I should be burnt myself, she warned me to get down and save myself. My lord: a girl who could think of another’s danger in such a moment was not inspired by the devil. When I had to snatch the cross from her sight, she looked up to heaven. And I do not believe that the heavens were empty. I firmly believe that her Savior appeared to her then in His tenderest glory. She called to Him and died. This is not the end for her, but the beginning. Warwick I am afraid it will have a bad effect on the people. Ladvenu It had, my lord, on some of them. I heard laughter. Forgive me for saying that I hope and believe it was English laughter. The Chaplain Rising frantically. No: it was not. There was only one Englishman there that disgraced his country; and that was the mad dog de Stogumber. He rushes wildly out, shrieking. Let them torture him. Let them burn him. I will go pray among her ashes. I am no better than Judas: I will hang myself. Warwick Quick, Brother Martin: follow him: he will do himself some