THE NOBLEMAN. Easy, man, easy: we shall burn the witch and beat the bastard all in good time. Indeed I am waiting at present for the Bishop of Beauvais, to arrange the burning with him. He has been turned out of his diocese by her faction. THE CHAPLAIN. You have first to catch her, my lord. THE NOBLEMAN. Or buy her. I will offer a king’s ransom. THE CHAPLAIN. A king’s ransom! For that slut! THE NOBLEMAN. One has to leave a margin. Some of Charles’s people will sell her to the Burgundians; the Burgundians will sell her to us; and there will probably be three or four middlemen who will expect their little commissions. THE CHAPLAIN. Monstrous. It is all those scoundrels of Jews: they get in every time money changes hands. I would not leave a Jew alive in Christendom if I had my way. THE NOBLEMAN. Why not? The Jews generally give value. They make you pay; but they deliver the goods. In my experience the men who want something for nothing are invariably Christians. _A page appears._ THE PAGE. The Right Reverend the Bishop of Beauvais: Monseigneur Cauchon. _Cauchon, aged about 60, comes in. The page withdraws. The two Englishmen rise._ THE NOBLEMAN [_with effusive courtesy_] My dear Bishop, how good of you to come! Allow me to introduce myself: Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, at your service. CAUCHON. Your lordship’s fame is well known to me. WARWICK. This reverend cleric is Master John de Stogumber. THE CHAPLAIN [_glibly_] John Bowyer Spenser Neville de Stogumber, at your service, my lord: Bachelor of Theology, and Keeper of the Private Seal to His Eminence the Cardinal of Winchester. WARWICK [_to Cauchon_] You call him the Cardinal of England, I believe. Our king’s uncle. CAUCHON. Messire John de Stogumber: I am always the very good friend of His Eminence. [_He extends his hand to the chaplain, who kisses his ring_]. WARWICK. Do me the honor to be seated. [_He gives Cauchon his chair, placing it at the head of the table_]. _Cauchon accepts the place of honor with a grave inclination. Warwick fetches the leather stool carelessly, and sits in his former place. The chaplain goes back to his chair._ _Though Warwick has taken second place in calculated deference to the Bishop, he assumes the lead in opening the proceedings as a matter of course. He is still cordial and expansive; but there is a new note in his voice which means that he is coming to business._ WARWICK. Well, my Lord Bishop, you find us in one of our unlucky moments. Charles is to be crowned at Rheims, practically by the young woman from Lorraine; and—I must not deceive you, nor flatter your hopes—we cannot prevent it. I suppose it will make a great difference to Charles’s position. CAUCHON. Undoubtedly. It is a masterstroke of The Maid’s. THE CHAPLAIN [_again agitated_] We were not fairly beaten, my lord. No Englishman is ever fairly beaten. CAUCHON [_raises his eyebrow slightly, then quickly composes his face_].