"So I have heard," Jonas said easily. "But I shall prove what I say."
"I am under no compulsion to listen to you," Knupf said after a pause.
Jonas shrugged. His feet were beginning to hurt, he realized; he sighed briefly, but there was no time or attention to spare for them. "I could only see you by having myself accused of witchcraft," he said. "In that way, you would be forced to listen to me. You may listen now, or later at a full hearing of the Inquisitor's Court."
"And I am to take my choice?" Knupf said. He smiled briefly; his face remained cold. The strong hands moved on the tabletop.
"It is a matter of indifference to me," Jonas said. "But the wait becomes boring, after a time."
Knupf's eyebrows went up. "Boring is—hardly the word others would use."
"I am not like others," Jonas said. He wished for Claerten suddenly, but there was no way to reach him safely. He had to make his move alone.
Well, he told himself, that was what he had wanted.
"I can tell you what is in your mind," he said.
The words hung in the air of the room for a long time. At last Knupf nodded. "The Devil grants to many his power of seeing the minds of men," he said quietly.