Latest / Book of Werewolves / 012 - Chapter Xii The Marechal De Retz Ii The Trial
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- 0:01Speaker 1: Chapter twelve of the Book of Werewolves. This is a
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- 0:16Speaker 1: Recording by Morgan Scorpion. The Book of Werewolves by Sabine
- 0:22Speaker 1: Baring Gould. Chapter twelve, The martial Dray two, the trial,
- 0:31Speaker 1: the appearance of the Marshal Pierre de l'o pital, the requisition,
- 0:36Speaker 1: the trial adjourned, meeting of the Marshal and his servants,
- 0:41Speaker 1: the confession of unrier Ponteu persuaded to confess all. The
- 0:46Speaker 1: adjourned trial not hurried on the hesitation of the Duke
- 0:50Speaker 1: of Brittany. On the tenth of October, Nicolas Chateau, notary
- 0:55Speaker 1: of the Duke, went to the chateau of Bouffet to
- 0:58Speaker 1: reach the prisoner the summons to appear in person. On
- 1:01Speaker 1: the morrow before Messieur delo Pertale, President of Brittany, Seneschal
- 1:05Speaker 1: of ren and Chief Justice of the Duchy of Brittany,
- 1:10Speaker 1: the Sire de Ray, who believed himself already a novice
- 1:13Speaker 1: in the Carmelite order, had dressed in white and was
- 1:16Speaker 1: engaged in singing Litany's. When the summons had been read,
- 1:20Speaker 1: he ordered a page to give the notary wine and cake,
- 1:23Speaker 1: and then he returned to his prayers with every appearance
- 1:25Speaker 1: of compunction and piety. On the morrow, Jean Labat and
- 1:30Speaker 1: four soldiers conducted him to the Hall of Justice. He
- 1:33Speaker 1: asked for Pontau and Henrier to accompany him, but this
- 1:37Speaker 1: was not permitted. He was adorned with all his military insignia,
- 1:41Speaker 1: as though to impose on his judges. He had around
- 1:45Speaker 1: his neck massive chains of gold and several colors of
- 1:48Speaker 1: knightly orders. His costume, with the exception of his purpoint,
- 1:53Speaker 1: was white, in token of his repentance. His purpoons was
- 1:57Speaker 1: of pearl gray silk, studded with gold stone, and girded
- 2:01Speaker 1: around his waist by a scarlet belt, from which dangled
- 2:04Speaker 1: uponier in scarlet velvet sheath. His collar, cuffs and the
- 2:08Speaker 1: edging of his purporon were of white ermine. His little
- 2:12Speaker 1: round cap or chapel was white, surrounded with the belt
- 2:15Speaker 1: of ermine, a fur which only the great feudal lords
- 2:18Speaker 1: of Brittany had a right to wear. All the rest
- 2:21Speaker 1: of his dress to his shoes, which were long and
- 2:23Speaker 1: pointed was white. No one at first glance would have
- 2:29Speaker 1: thought the sired Array to be by nature so cruel
- 2:32Speaker 1: and vicious as he was supposed to be. On the contrary,
- 2:35Speaker 1: his physiognomy was calm and thematic, somewhat pale and expressive melancholy.
- 2:41Speaker 1: His hair and mustache were light brown, and his beard
- 2:45Speaker 1: was clipped to a point. This beard, which resembled no
- 2:50Speaker 1: other beard, was black, but under certain lights it assumed
- 2:54Speaker 1: a blue hue. And it was this peculiarity which obtained
- 2:57Speaker 1: for the side Array the surname of blue Beard, a
- 3:00Speaker 1: name which has attached to him in popular romance at
- 3:03Speaker 1: the same time that his story has undergone strange metamorphosies.
- 3:09Speaker 1: But on closer examination of the countenance of chieldeat, contraction
- 3:13Speaker 1: in the muscles of his face, nervous quivering of the mouth,
- 3:17Speaker 1: spasmodic twitchings of the brows, and above all the sinister
- 3:21Speaker 1: expression of the eyes, showed that there was something strange
- 3:24Speaker 1: and frightful in the man. At intervals he ground his
- 3:28Speaker 1: teeth like a wild beast preparing to dash upon his prey,
- 3:32Speaker 1: And then his lips became so contracted as they were
- 3:35Speaker 1: drawn in and glowed as it were to his teeth,
- 3:38Speaker 1: that their very color was indiscernible. At times, also, his
- 3:43Speaker 1: eyes became fixed, and the pupils dilated to such an extent,
- 3:47Speaker 1: with the somber fire quivering in them, that the iris
- 3:50Speaker 1: seemed to fill the whole orbit, which became circular and
- 3:54Speaker 1: sank back into the head. At these moments, his complexion
- 3:59Speaker 1: became livid and cadaverous, His brow, especially just over the nose,
- 4:04Speaker 1: was covered with deep wrinkles, and his beard appeared to
- 4:08Speaker 1: bristle and to assume its bluish hues. But after a
- 4:12Speaker 1: few moments his features became again serene, with a sweet
- 4:16Speaker 1: smile reposing upon them, and his expression relaxed into a
- 4:19Speaker 1: vague and tender melancholy. Messieur said he saluting his judges,
- 4:26Speaker 1: I pray you to expedite my matter and despatch as
- 4:29Speaker 1: speedily as possible my unfortunate case, For I am peculiarly
- 4:33Speaker 1: anxious to consecrate myself to the service of God, who
- 4:36Speaker 1: has pardoned my great sins. I shall not fail. I
- 4:40Speaker 1: assure you to endow several of the churches in Nantes,
- 4:44Speaker 1: and I shall distribute the greater portion of my goods
- 4:46Speaker 1: among the poor to secure the salvation of my soul, Monseigneur,
- 4:52Speaker 1: replied gravely, Pierre Delbertald. It is always well to think
- 4:56Speaker 1: of the salvation of one's soul. But if you please
- 5:00Speaker 1: think now that we are concerned with the salvation of
- 5:03Speaker 1: your body. I have confessed to the farther superior of
- 5:07Speaker 1: the Carmelites, replied the Marshal with tranquility, and through his
- 5:11Speaker 1: absolution I have been able to communicate. I am therefore
- 5:16Speaker 1: guiltless and purified. Men's justice is not in common with
- 5:20Speaker 1: that of God, Monseigneur, and I cannot tell you what
- 5:24Speaker 1: will be your sentence. Be ready to make your defense,
- 5:28Speaker 1: and listen to the charges brought against you, which monsieur
- 5:32Speaker 1: le lieutenant to Procureur de nant will read. The officer
- 5:36Speaker 1: rose and read the following paper of charges, which I
- 5:40Speaker 1: shall condense. Having heard the bitter complaints of several of
- 5:44Speaker 1: the inhabitants of the Diocese of Nant, whose names follow Hereinafter,
- 5:48Speaker 1: here follow the names of the parents of the lost children, we,
- 5:53Speaker 1: Philippe de Levent, Lieutenant assessor of Messier de Procureur de Nantes,
- 5:58Speaker 1: have invited, and do invite the very noble and very
- 6:01Speaker 1: wise Messier Pierre de l'o petale, President of Brittany, et cetera,
- 6:06Speaker 1: to bring to trial the very high and very powerful
- 6:09Speaker 1: Lord gild de la Valle sired Array mashe gaul in
- 6:13Speaker 1: Grand and other places, counselor of his Majesty, the King
- 6:17Speaker 1: and Marshal of France. Forasmuch as the said Sired Array
- 6:20Speaker 1: has seized and caused to be seized several little children,
- 6:23Speaker 1: not only ten or twenty, but thirty, forty, sixty, one hundred,
- 6:28Speaker 1: two hundred and more, and has murdered and slain them
- 6:31Speaker 1: in humane and burnt their bodies to convert them to ashes.
- 6:35Speaker 1: Forasmuch as, persevering in evil, the said Sire, notwithstanding that
- 6:40Speaker 1: the powers that be are ordained of God, and that
- 6:42Speaker 1: every one should be an obedient subject of his Prince,
- 6:45Speaker 1: has assaulted Jean le Feron, subject of the Duke of Brittany.
- 6:50Speaker 1: The said Jean le Fermont, being guardian of the Fortress
- 6:52Speaker 1: of Malamour, in the name of Jeffrey le Fallont, his brother,
- 6:55Speaker 1: to whom the said Lord has made over the possession
- 6:58Speaker 1: of the said place. Forasmuch as the said Sire forced
- 7:02Speaker 1: Jean Leferon to give up to him, the said place,
- 7:05Speaker 1: and moreover retook the lordship of Malamore, in despite of
- 7:08Speaker 1: the order of the Dukes and of justice. Forasmuch as
- 7:12Speaker 1: the said Sire arrested Master Jean Rousseau, sergeant of the Duke,
- 7:16Speaker 1: who was sent to him with injunctions from the said Duke,
- 7:19Speaker 1: and beat his men with their own staves, although their
- 7:22Speaker 1: persons were under the protection of his grace. We conclude
- 7:26Speaker 1: that the said sied Array homicide in fact and in
- 7:30Speaker 1: intent according to the first count rebel and felon, according
- 7:33Speaker 1: to the second, should be condemned, to suffer corporal punishment,
- 7:37Speaker 1: and to pay a fine of his possessions in lands
- 7:40Speaker 1: and goods held in fief to the said nobleman, and
- 7:43Speaker 1: that these should be confiscated and remitted to the Crown
- 7:46Speaker 1: of Brittany. This requisition was evidently drawn up with the
- 7:50Speaker 1: view of saving the life of the sad Array, for
- 7:53Speaker 1: the crime of homicide was presented without aggravating circumstances, in
- 7:58Speaker 1: such a manner that it could be denied or shelved,
- 8:01Speaker 1: whilst the crimes of felony and rebellion against the Duke
- 8:03Speaker 1: of Brittany were brought into exaggerated prominence. Gialderray had undoubtedly
- 8:09Speaker 1: been forewarned of the course which was to be pursued,
- 8:12Speaker 1: and he was prepared to deny totally the charges made
- 8:15Speaker 1: in the first count. Monseigneur, said Pierre de l'opertal, whom
- 8:19Speaker 1: the form of the requisition had visibly astonished. What justification
- 8:23Speaker 1: have you to make take an oath on the gospels
- 8:26Speaker 1: to declare the truth? No, monsieur, answered the marshal. The
- 8:31Speaker 1: witnesses are bound to declare what they know upon oath,
- 8:34Speaker 1: but the accused is never put on his oath. Quite so,
- 8:38Speaker 1: replied the judge, because the accused may be put on
- 8:41Speaker 1: the rack and constrained to speak the truth, and please you.
- 8:45Speaker 1: Gildorray turned pale, bit his lips and cast a glance
- 8:49Speaker 1: of malignant hate at Pierre de l'o pertal. Then, composing
- 8:52Speaker 1: his countenance, he spoke with an appearance of calm, Monsieur,
- 8:57Speaker 1: I shall not deny that I behaved wrongfully in the
- 9:00Speaker 1: case of Jean Rousseaul. But in excuse, let me say
- 9:04Speaker 1: that the said r So was full of wine, and
- 9:06Speaker 1: he behaved with such endecorum towards me in the presence
- 9:09Speaker 1: of my servants that it was quite intolerable. Nor will
- 9:13Speaker 1: I deny my revenge on the brothers. Lefaren Jean had
- 9:17Speaker 1: declared that the said grace of Brittany had confiscated my
- 9:20Speaker 1: fortress of Malamour, which I had sold to him, and
- 9:23Speaker 1: for which I have not yet received payment, And jeanfrees
- 9:27Speaker 1: Lefant had announced far and wide that I was about
- 9:29Speaker 1: to be expelled Brittany as a traitor and a rebel.
- 9:32Speaker 1: To punish them, I re entered my fortress of Malamour.
- 9:36Speaker 1: As for the other charges, I shall say nothing about them.
- 9:39Speaker 1: They are simply false and columnious. Indeed, exclaimed Pierre delo Pertal,
- 9:46Speaker 1: whose blood boiled with indignation against the wretch who stood
- 9:49Speaker 1: before him with such effrontery. All these witnesses who complain
- 9:53Speaker 1: of having lost their children lied under oath. Undoubtedly, if
- 9:58Speaker 1: they accused me of having anything to do with their loss,
- 10:01Speaker 1: what am I to know about them? Am I their keeper?
- 10:05Speaker 1: The answer of Cain, exclaimed Pierre de l'o Petal, rising
- 10:09Speaker 1: from his seat in the vehemence of his emotion. However,
- 10:13Speaker 1: as you solemnly deny these charges, we must question ou
- 10:17Speaker 1: Mie and pontou Nne Ponteu cried the Marshal, trembling. They
- 10:23Speaker 1: accuse me of nothing, surely not. As yet they have
- 10:28Speaker 1: not been questioned. But they are about to be brought
- 10:31Speaker 1: into court, and I do not expect that they will
- 10:34Speaker 1: lie in the face of justice. I demand that my
- 10:38Speaker 1: servants be not brought forward as witnesses against their master,
- 10:42Speaker 1: said the Marshal, his eyes dilating, his brow wrinkling, and
- 10:45Speaker 1: his beard bristling blue upon his chin. A master is
- 10:49Speaker 1: above the gossiping, tales and charges of his servants. Do
- 10:54Speaker 1: you think, then, monsieur, that your servants will accuse you?
- 10:59Speaker 1: I demand that I, a marshal of France, a bowon
- 11:02Speaker 1: of the Duchy, should be sheltered from the slanders of
- 11:04Speaker 1: small folk whom I disowns my servants if they are
- 11:07Speaker 1: untrue to their master. Messieurs, I see, we must put
- 11:12Speaker 1: you on the rack, or nothing will be got from you.
- 11:16Speaker 1: All ah, I appeal to his Grace, the Duke of Brittany,
- 11:19Speaker 1: and ask an adjournment that I may take advice on
- 11:22Speaker 1: the charges brought against me, which I have denied, and
- 11:25Speaker 1: which I deny still well. I shall adjourn the case
- 11:29Speaker 1: to the twenty fifth of this month, that you may
- 11:31Speaker 1: be well prepared to meet the accusations. On his way
- 11:36Speaker 1: back to prison, the Marshal passed on Mie and Ponteut
- 11:39Speaker 1: as they were being conducted to the court Omnrie pretended
- 11:43Speaker 1: not to see his master, but Pontu burst into tears
- 11:46Speaker 1: on meeting him. The Marshal held out his hand and
- 11:50Speaker 1: Pontu kissed it affectionately. Remember what I have done for you,
- 11:55Speaker 1: and be faithful servants, said Gil d'orray. Onrie recalled from
- 12:00Speaker 1: him with a shudder, and the Marshal passed on. I
- 12:04Speaker 1: shall speak, whispered Nrie, for we have another master besides
- 12:08Speaker 1: our poor master of Ray, and we shall soon be
- 12:11Speaker 1: with the heavenly one. The President ordered the clerk to
- 12:15Speaker 1: read again the requisition of the Lieutenant, that the two
- 12:18Speaker 1: presumed accomplices of Gilderray might be informed of the charges
- 12:22Speaker 1: brought against their master. Unrier burst into tears, trembled violently,
- 12:27Speaker 1: and cried out that he would tell all. Pontout, alarmed,
- 12:31Speaker 1: tried to hinder his companion and said that Unrie was
- 12:34Speaker 1: touched in the head and that what he was about
- 12:37Speaker 1: to say would be the ravings of insanity. Silence was
- 12:41Speaker 1: imposed upon him. I will speak out, continued unvie, and
- 12:47Speaker 1: yet I dare not speak of the horrors which I
- 12:49Speaker 1: know have taken place before that image of my Lord Christ.
- 12:53Speaker 1: And he pointed tremblingly to a large crucifix above the
- 12:56Speaker 1: seat of the judge. Unrie moaned, Pontou, squeezing his hand,
- 13:02Speaker 1: you will destroy yourself as well as your master. Pierre
- 13:06Speaker 1: de l'o petraals rose, and the figure of our Redeemer
- 13:09Speaker 1: was solemnly veiled. Nrie, who had great difficulty in overcoming
- 13:14Speaker 1: his agitation, then began his revelation. The following is the
- 13:19Speaker 1: substance of them. On leaving the University of Ongoar, he
- 13:23Speaker 1: had taken the situation of reader in the house of guild'array.
- 13:27Speaker 1: The Marshal took a liking to him and made him
- 13:29Speaker 1: his chamberlain a confidante. On the occasion of the Sire
- 13:34Speaker 1: de la Sous, brother of the Sire de Ray taking
- 13:37Speaker 1: possession of the castle of Chentonsey, Charles des Souyene, who
- 13:41Speaker 1: had arrived at Chantonsin, assured an Vie that he had
- 13:44Speaker 1: found in the ubliettes of a tower a number of
- 13:46Speaker 1: dead children, some headless, others rightfully mutilated. Nrie then thought
- 13:52Speaker 1: that this was but a calumny invented by the side
- 13:54Speaker 1: de las Souz. But when some while after the Sire
- 13:59Speaker 1: de Ray read took the castle of Chantonseil and had
- 14:02Speaker 1: ceded it to the Duke of Brittany, he one evening
- 14:05Speaker 1: summoned Nrier Pontus and a certain petit Robin to his room.
- 14:10Speaker 1: The two latter were already deep in the secrets of
- 14:13Speaker 1: their master, but before confiding anything to Henrie, Doray made
- 14:17Speaker 1: him take a solemn oath never to reveal what he
- 14:19Speaker 1: was about to tell him. The oath taken the Sire
- 14:23Speaker 1: de Ray, addressing the three, said that on the morrow
- 14:26Speaker 1: an officer of the Duke would take possession of the
- 14:28Speaker 1: castle in the name of the Duke, and that it
- 14:31Speaker 1: was necessary before this took place, that a certain well
- 14:34Speaker 1: should be emptied of children's corpses, and that their bodies
- 14:37Speaker 1: should be put into boxes and transported to marsh corps. Nrie,
- 14:43Speaker 1: Pontus and Petit Robin went together, furnished with ropes and hooks,
- 14:47Speaker 1: to the tower where were the corpses. They toiled all
- 14:51Speaker 1: night in removing the half decayed bodies, and with them
- 14:54Speaker 1: they filled three large cases, which they sent by a
- 14:57Speaker 1: boat down the Loire to marsh Corps, where they were
- 15:00Speaker 1: reduced to ashes. Anrie counted thirty six children's heads, but
- 15:06Speaker 1: there were more bodies than heads. This night's work, he said,
- 15:10Speaker 1: had produced a profound impression on his imagination, and he
- 15:14Speaker 1: was constantly haunted with a vision of these heads rolling
- 15:17Speaker 1: as in a game of skittles, and clashing with a
- 15:20Speaker 1: mournful wail. Anrie soon began to collect children for his master,
- 15:25Speaker 1: and was present whilst he massacred them. They were murdered
- 15:29Speaker 1: invariably in one room at masch cour The Marshal used
- 15:33Speaker 1: to bathe in their blood. He was fond of making
- 15:36Speaker 1: shield Descilie Ponteut of Aunrie tortured them, and he experienced
- 15:41Speaker 1: intense pleasure in seeing them in their agonies, But his
- 15:45Speaker 1: great passion was to welter in their blood. His servants
- 15:48Speaker 1: would stab a child in the jugular vein and let
- 15:51Speaker 1: the blood squirt over him. The room was often steeped
- 15:55Speaker 1: in blood. When the horrible deed was done and the
- 15:57Speaker 1: child was dead, the Marshal would be filled with grief
- 16:00Speaker 1: for what he had done, and would toss weeping and
- 16:02Speaker 1: preying on a bed or recite fervent prayers and litanys
- 16:06Speaker 1: on his knees, whilst his servants washed the floor and
- 16:09Speaker 1: burned in the huge fireplace the bodies of the murdered children.
- 16:13Speaker 1: With the bodies were burned the clothes of everything that
- 16:15Speaker 1: had belonged to the little victims. An insupportable odor filled
- 16:19Speaker 1: the womb, but the Marechal de ray inhaled it with delight.
- 16:24Speaker 1: Nriey acknowledged that he had seen forty children put to
- 16:27Speaker 1: death in this manner, and he was able to give
- 16:30Speaker 1: an account of several, so that it was possible to
- 16:33Speaker 1: identify them with the children reported to be lost. It
- 16:37Speaker 1: is quite impossible, said the lieutenant, who had been given
- 16:41Speaker 1: the cue, to do all that was possible to save
- 16:43Speaker 1: the marshal. It is impossible that the bodies could be
- 16:46Speaker 1: burned in a chamber fireplace. It was done for all that,
- 16:50Speaker 1: Monsieur replied Henrie. The fireplace was very large, both at
- 16:54Speaker 1: the hotel Sews and also at mush Cool. We piled
- 16:58Speaker 1: up great faggots and logs and lay the dead children
- 17:00Speaker 1: among them. In a few hours the operation was complete,
- 17:04Speaker 1: and we flung the ashes out of the window into
- 17:06Speaker 1: the moat. An Weey remembered the case of the two
- 17:10Speaker 1: sons of Amelon. He said that whilst the one child
- 17:13Speaker 1: was being tortured, the other was on its knees, sobbing
- 17:17Speaker 1: and praying to God, till its own turn came. What
- 17:21Speaker 1: you have said concerning the excesses of the Sir to Ray,
- 17:24Speaker 1: exclaimed the Lieutenant de Procureur seems to be pure invention
- 17:28Speaker 1: and destitute of all probability. The greatest monsters of iniquity
- 17:32Speaker 1: never committed such crimes, except perhaps some Caesar's of old Rome. Monsieur,
- 17:38Speaker 1: it was the acts of these caesars that my Lord
- 17:40Speaker 1: of Ray desired to imitate. I used to read to
- 17:43Speaker 1: him the chronicles of Suetonius and Tacitus, in which their
- 17:47Speaker 1: cruelties are recorded. He used to delight in hearing of them,
- 17:52Speaker 1: and he said that it gave him greater pleasure to
- 17:54Speaker 1: hack off a child's head than to assist at a banquet.
- 17:57Speaker 1: Sometimes he would seat himself on the breast of a
- 18:00Speaker 1: little one, and with a knife, sever the head from
- 18:03Speaker 1: the body at a single blow. Sometimes he cut the
- 18:06Speaker 1: throat half through, very gently, that the child might languish,
- 18:10Speaker 1: and he would wash his hands and his beard in
- 18:12Speaker 1: its blood. Sometimes he had all the limbs chopped off
- 18:16Speaker 1: at once from the trunk. At other times he ordered
- 18:19Speaker 1: us to hang the infants till they were nearly dead,
- 18:21Speaker 1: and then take them down and cut their throats. I
- 18:24Speaker 1: remember having brought to him three little girls who were
- 18:27Speaker 1: asking charity at the castle gates. He bade me cut
- 18:30Speaker 1: their throats whilst he looked on Andrea Briquet found another
- 18:34Speaker 1: little girl crying on the steps of the house at
- 18:36Speaker 1: wont because she had lost her mother. He brought the
- 18:39Speaker 1: little thing, it was but a babe in his arms
- 18:42Speaker 1: to my lord, and it was killed before him. Pontou
- 18:46Speaker 1: and I had to make away with the body. We
- 18:49Speaker 1: threw it down a privy in one of the towers,
- 18:52Speaker 1: but the corpse caught on a nail in the outer wall.
- 18:55Speaker 1: Saw that it would be visible to all who passed.
- 18:58Speaker 1: Pontou was let down by a ro and he disengaged
- 19:01Speaker 1: it with great difficulty. How many children do you estimate
- 19:06Speaker 1: that the sired Array and his servants have killed? The
- 19:09Speaker 1: reckoning is long. I, for my part, confess to having
- 19:14Speaker 1: killed twelve with my own hand by my master's orders,
- 19:17Speaker 1: and I have brought him about sixty. I knew that
- 19:21Speaker 1: things of the kind went on before I was admitted
- 19:23Speaker 1: to the secret For the castle of Marche corps had
- 19:26Speaker 1: been occupied a short while by the Sieur de la Stage.
- 19:29Speaker 1: My Lord recovered it speedily, for he knew that there
- 19:32Speaker 1: were many children's corpses hidden in the hayloft. There were
- 19:36Speaker 1: forty there, quite dry and black as call, because they
- 19:39Speaker 1: had been charred. One of the women of Madame de
- 19:43Speaker 1: Ray came by chance into the loft and saw the corpses.
- 19:46Speaker 1: Bouget de Brickville wanted to kill her, but the Marechal
- 19:49Speaker 1: would not let him. Have you nothing more to declare nothing,
- 19:57Speaker 1: I asked Pontau, my friend, to corroborate what I have said.
- 20:02Speaker 1: This deposition, so circumstantial and detailed, produced on the judges
- 20:08Speaker 1: a profound impression of horror. Human imagination at this time
- 20:12Speaker 1: had not penetrated such mysteries of refined cruelty. Several times,
- 20:16Speaker 1: as Mrie spake, the President had shown his astonishment and
- 20:20Speaker 1: indignation by signing himself with the cross. Several times his
- 20:24Speaker 1: face had become scarlet and his eyes had fallen. He
- 20:28Speaker 1: had pressed his hand to his brow to assure himself
- 20:31Speaker 1: that he was not laboring under a hideous dream, and
- 20:34Speaker 1: a quiver of horror had run through his whole frame.
- 20:37Speaker 1: Pontou had taken no part in the revelation of Anrie,
- 20:41Speaker 1: but when the latter appealed to him, he raised his head,
- 20:44Speaker 1: looked sadly round the court, and sighed, Etien Cornellon alias Pontau,
- 20:52Speaker 1: I command you, in the name of God and Justice,
- 20:54Speaker 1: to declare what you know. This injunction of Pierre de
- 20:59Speaker 1: l'o Petrau remained unresponded to, and Pontou seemed to strengthen
- 21:03Speaker 1: himself in his resolution not to accuse his master. But
- 21:08Speaker 1: Nree flinging himself into the arms of his accomplice, implored him,
- 21:12Speaker 1: as he valued his soul no longer to harden his
- 21:15Speaker 1: heart to the cause of God, but to bring to
- 21:18Speaker 1: light the crime he had committed. Along with the sad array,
- 21:22Speaker 1: the Lieutenant du Pocueur, who hitherto had endeavored to extenuate
- 21:26Speaker 1: or discredit the charges brought against Chieldray, tried a last
- 21:30Speaker 1: expedient to counterbalance the damaging confession of Nreer and to
- 21:34Speaker 1: withhold Pontou from giving way. You have heard, monseigneur, said
- 21:40Speaker 1: he to the President the atrocities which have been acknowledged
- 21:43Speaker 1: by Unree, and you, as I do, consider them to
- 21:47Speaker 1: be pure inventions of the athel said, made out of
- 21:50Speaker 1: bitter hatred and envy, with the purpose of ruining his master.
- 21:54Speaker 1: I therefore demand that Nreer should be put to the rack,
- 21:58Speaker 1: that he may be brought to give the light his
- 22:00Speaker 1: former statements. You forget, replied Delo Petraud, that the rack
- 22:06Speaker 1: is for those who do not confess, and not for
- 22:08Speaker 1: those who freely acknowledge their crimes. Therefore, I order the
- 22:13Speaker 1: second accused, Etien Cornelion Elias Pontou, to be placed on
- 22:17Speaker 1: the rack. If he continues silent, Pontus, will you speak
- 22:22Speaker 1: or will you not? Monseigneur, he will speak, exclaimed Henrier,
- 22:27Speaker 1: Oh Pontou, dear friend, resist not God any more. Well, then, Monseigneurs,
- 22:33Speaker 1: said Pontou, with emotion, I will satisfy you. I cannot
- 22:38Speaker 1: defend my poor lord against the allegations of Unrier, who
- 22:41Speaker 1: has confessed all through a dread of eternal damnation. He
- 22:45Speaker 1: then fully substantiated all the statements of the other, adding
- 22:48Speaker 1: other facts of the same character known only to himself.
- 22:52Speaker 1: Notwithstanding the avowal of Pontou and Henrier. The adjourned trial
- 22:56Speaker 1: was not hurried on. It would have been easy to
- 22:59Speaker 1: have kept sured some of the accomplices of the wretched man,
- 23:03Speaker 1: But the Duke, who was informed of the whole of
- 23:05Speaker 1: the proceedings, did not wish to augment the scandal by
- 23:08Speaker 1: increasing the number of the accused. He even forbade researches
- 23:12Speaker 1: to be made into the castles and mansions of the
- 23:14Speaker 1: Sire de Ray, fearing lest proofs of fresh crimes, more
- 23:18Speaker 1: mysterious and more horrible than those already divulged should come
- 23:22Speaker 1: to light. The dismay spread through the country by the
- 23:26Speaker 1: revelations already made, demanded that religion and morality, which had
- 23:30Speaker 1: been so grossly outraged, should be speedily avenged. People wondered
- 23:34Speaker 1: at the delay in pronouncing sentence, and it was loudly
- 23:38Speaker 1: proclaimed in Nant that the Sire de Ray was rich
- 23:41Speaker 1: enough to purchase his life. It is true that Madame
- 23:44Speaker 1: de Ray solicited the King and the Duke again to
- 23:46Speaker 1: give pardon to her husband, but the Duke, counseled by
- 23:50Speaker 1: the Bishop, refused to extend his authority to interfere with
- 23:53Speaker 1: the course of justice, and the King, after having sent
- 23:57Speaker 1: one of his counselors to Noch to investigate the case.
- 24:00Speaker 1: Determined not to stir in it. End of Chapter twelve,