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 is now in order; and we proceed to trial this morning. [_He moves towards the judicial chairs_]. CAUCHON. This moment, if your lordship’s convenience allows. WARWICK [_graciously_] Well, that is good news, gentlemen. I will not attempt to conceal from you that our patience was becoming strained. CAUCHON. So I gathered from the threats of your soldiers to drown those of our people who favor The Maid. WARWICK. Dear me! At all events their intentions were friendly to y o u, my lord. CAUCHON [_sternly_] I hope not. I am determined that the woman shall have a fair hearing. The justice of the Church is not a mockery, my lord. THE INQUISITOR [_returning_] Never has there been a fairer examination within my experience, my lord. The Maid needs no lawyers to take her part: she will be tried by her most faithful friends, all ardently desirous to save her soul from perdition.