He asked about her early life, her trade, her visions, her coming to the King, the sign she had shown him, the wearing of male attire, and about the fairies of the Tree, and the healing properties of the Gooseberry Spring. The questions were purposely mixed and confused so as to entrap her into contradictions. Again and again he returned to the Sign she had shown to the King, and this Jeanne could not in loyalty reveal. Had it been known that Charles had doubts concerning his own right to the throne, it would have been claimed that he held the crown on the strength of an assurance from a sorceress. This Sign and the wearing of male attire were recurred to time after time. The whole judicial process was a succession of snares to catch an unsuspecting victim, a constant violation of justice and the most established rights. Day after day the interrogations continued, and the maiden evinced a courage in facing the learned doctors and divines as great as she had ever shown in battle. The readiness and beauty of her answers often astonished the assembly. They asked her one day: "Do you know that you are in the grace of God?" This was an unfair question. If she replied, "yes," she was presumptuous; if "no," she condemned herself. One of the assessors, Maître Jean Lefèvre, spoke up quickly: "That is an unsuitable question for such a girl." "Hold your peace," cried Cauchon angrily. "It will be the better for you." And Maître Jean was silent. "Answer," commanded the Bishop, turning sternly to Jeanne. The assembly awaited the reply in a silence so great that a pin might have been heard to fall. "If I am not in grace, may God bring me thither; if I am, God keep me there." The reply was sublime. The doctors were amazed, and murmurs were heard among them. "Jeanne, you say well," came from several. Cauchon was plainly chagrined. At another time she was asked if she had ever been present when English blood was shed. "In God's name, yes. How mildly you talk! Why did they not leave France and go back to their own country?" Thereupon a great English lord cried out: "She is a brave girl! If only she were English!" These public hearings lasted six days, through long weary hours, filled with tiresome repetitions, and hidden stratagems to catch her unawares. But there had been little progress made, so Cauchon brought them to an abrupt close. It was high time. As at Poictiers Jeanne's compelling personality was beginning to make itself felt. There was a visible softening toward her, and one or two of the judges tried to give her warnings or to aid her by whispered suggestions. In the streets men were whispering that the judges were "persecuting her out of perverse vengeance, of which they gave every sign; that she was kept in a secular prison against the opinion of the court for fear of displeasing the English; that the English believed that they could have neither glory nor success while she lived."