La Reynie, determined15 to extort16 confessions from the four prisoners who had appeared before their judges at the Arsenal17, had already decided18 by midnight that all should be submitted to the "question." This resolve, however, was negatived by the majority of those judges.
De Beaurepaire was, they said, too high in position to be treated with such indignity19; he had been too closely allied20 with the King, both as friend and exalted21 subject as well as bearer of great offices, to be submitted to such degradation22; and they had made up their minds that he was guilty and must die. Therefore he was exempted23 from torture.
To their honour, the same exemption24 was granted to Emérance on the plea that she was a woman and was also to die.
"It is a noble resolution," exclaimed the Père Bourdaloue, who had been deputed to discover by exhortation25 the truth and extent of their guilt, if possible. "A noble one. She is a woman. If, like another, she has sinned, so, also, she has loved and suffered."
From the two others, however, Fleur de Mai and Van den26 Enden, nothing could be obtained in any shape or form at the trial except denials of every statement made. Therefore both, instead of Van den Enden alone, were now to be submitted to the torture.
Yet, once again, as Van den Enden was led into the room where he was to submit to the trial of the Wedge or Coin as it was termed, Bourdaloue made a final attempt not only to extract some admission from him but also, from Christian27 charity, to spare so old a man unnecessary pain.
"My son," he said, "reflect. Why force your judges to obtain by torture that which may be told freely, since you are surely doomed28. Remember, there is another world to which you are hastening; a God whom you have outraged----"
"There is no other world," Van den Enden snarled29. "There is no God. I am a materialist30. I believe in nothing but that which is tangible31, that which I can see and recognise. And I have nothing to confess more than I have told. As for your tortures, it is the fear of them that alone terrifies."
Bravely as the old atheist32 spoke33, he was, however, now to learn that it is sometimes far better to rely less upon oneself and more upon a Superior Power.
The torture of the Coin did not vary much in method from that which, at the same period, was known in the British Islands as the "Boot." Brodequins, or long half-riding boots, were placed upon the feet and legs of those who were to be put to the question. Into these, which were sometimes made of wood and sometimes, but not often, of hardened pigskin almost as tough and firm as wood, the wedges or coins were thrust, or hammered, one by one according to the stubborn refusals of the prisoners to reply to the questions put to them.
To the room where he was to be subjected to this inquisition, Van den Enden was led. There were present to administer the questions two of the Councillors of State, De Pomereu and Lefèvre de Caumartin, each of whom had taken part as judges in the last confrontation1 of the prisoners, as well as the Père Bourdaloue who still hoped to either obtain some amelioration of his sufferings for the wretched man, or to be able to administer religious consolation34 to him should he perish under the torture. To apply the torture there were the executioner's assistants.
"You have not told all the truth," De Pomereu said, when the brodequins had been placed on the legs and feet of Van den Enden and one of the torturers stood by, a wedge in one hand and a hammer in the other. "What more have you to tell?"
"Nothing. You may kill me if you will. I am innocent."
At a sign from De Pomereu the assistant struck in the first wedge, at which Van den Enden winced35 but said again: "I am innocent."
A second wedge was now inserted and the wretched man emitted a slight groan36, but only exclaimed: "I know nothing. Nothing. Mercy!"
A third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth were rapidly inserted next, and Van den Enden cried out: "I am dying. Kill me at once."
"Answer truly," exclaimed De Pomereu. "Did the Prince say, 'If we could only have the King's person we should win'?"
"No. I did not hear it. Yes!" Van den Enden screamed suddenly, as now other wedges were rapidly hammered in between the boots and his legs until the ninth--which was much larger than the previous ones--was inserted. "Yes. He said so. I heard him."
"Did he say, 'When Quillebeuf is taken we will proceed to Versailles and seize upon the King's person'?"
"No. Never. Ah! mercy! mercy! mercy!" for now the last wedge of all--which was composed of several ordinary wedges bound together--was being hammered into his crushed and bleeding leg. "Mercy. Oh! my God! have mercy on me."
"Stop," exclaimed the Père Bourdaloue advancing, his Crucifix in his hands. "Stop! He has confessed something far better than that which you seek to extort from him. Van den Enden," he said, approaching the old man whose eyes were now so turned up in his head that nothing but the whites were visible, while his face was a mass of perspiration37, "you are no atheist, praised be God above. You term yourself one, yet in your hour of tribulation38 you call upon the God you pretend to deny. Van den Enden, look upon this symbol, 'tis the symbol of One who suffered more than you can ever suffer, yet Who was pure and holy; Who was God incarnate39. Kiss it, Van den Enden. Acknowledge at last the error of your ways."
"No! no!" groaned40 the victim, half delirious41 from pain. "No! no! I believe nothing. I--I--ah! Ask Spinosa. And--and--I was born a Jew."
"So," said Bourdaloue, "was He."
"Mercy! Mercy!"
"He must reply," De Pomereu said in answer to a look of appeal from the priest; "or the wedges must be struck deeper. Speak, Van den Enden," he continued. "Did De Beaurepaire say he would possess himself of the King's sacred person?"
"No. Ah!" and again he called on the Deity42 as the torturer struck at the great wedge. "Ah! Ah! Yes. Yes. Mercy. I--I--am dying. Save me."
"Remove him," De Pomereu ordered, "and bring in the other. La Preaux."
When, however, this adventurer was subjected to similar treatment to that which Van den Enden had endured nothing was to be obtained from him.
Whether, knowing that death was certain in any case, or determined that, as he had lived without fear--with one exception, namely his cowardice43 when thinking he was about to be slain44 by Humphrey West--so he would die, it is at least certain that he was bold enough to bear the torture without uttering one word or one cry. By some superhuman, perhaps by some devilish, courage, he forced himself to refrain from emitting any sound when the torture was applied, and, though his great coarse lips were horribly thrust out and pursed up by the agony he was suffering, no moan issued from them. To all questions put to him by De Pomereu and De Caumartin he returned but one answer, "I am innocent of any knowledge of the plot," and nothing more could be extorted45 from him.
An hour later, De Beaurepaire accompanied by Bourdaloue and another priest, Le Père Talon46, was led into the prison chapel47 in which were already Van den Enden and La Preaux, or Fleur de Mai. The former had been supported to this spot between two guards; the latter, indomitable as ever, had managed to limp from his cell to the chapel. Emérance was not there.
"To your knees," whispered the priests to the unhappy conspirators. "To your knees and hear the sentences passed on you."
"This," said the Greffier of the Judges when all were kneeling, Van den Enden being assisted and held up between the two guards, "is the decree of the High Court of his Majesty48 the King. You, Louis, Chevalier and Prince de Beaurepaire, late Colonel of all his Majesty's Guards and Grand Veneur of France, are adjudged guilty of high treason and lèse-majeste. You, Francois Affinius van den Enden, are adjudged guilty of the same. You, La Preaux, falsely styling yourself Chevalier and known to many under an assumed name, are adjudged guilty of the same. The woman Louise de Belleau de Cortonne, widow of Jacques de Mallorties, Seigneur de Villers and Boudéville, styling herself falsely Emérance, Marquise de Villiers-Bordéville, is found guilty of the same."
"The Lord's will be done," said the two priests solemnly.
"For you, Louis de Beaurepaire, Prince et Chevalier," continued the Greffier, "the sentence is that you be decapitated to-morrow at three of the afternoon in front of this, his Majesty's fortress49 of the Bastille. If your body is claimed by your family it will be given up for burial. At that burial no insignia of your offices of Colonel of his Majesty's Guards and Grand Veneur may be placed upon your bier, or coffin50, nor may your Chevalier's sword and fourreau en croix be so placed. All your goods are confiscated51 to the King."
"God save the King!" exclaimed De Beaurepaire.
"For you, La Preaux," continued the Greffier, "the sentence is that you be decapitated at the same time and place as the Prince Louis de Beaurepaire, and in company with him and the woman Louise de Belleau de Cortonne."
"Ah," murmured De Beaurepaire. "Ah! Emérance and I shall be happy at last. We dreamt of a union. At last we shall be united."
"I thank my judges and the King--though they have misjudged me--for recognising my claims to gentle blood," exclaimed Fleur de Mai.
"For you, Van den Enden," again went on the Greffier, "the sentence is that you be hanged by the neck on a gibbet near unto the scaffold on which your companions in guilt must die. And your goods, like the goods of those companions, are confiscated to the King. Amen."
"I shall not leave you till the end," Bourdaloue whispered in De Beaurepaire's ears as the prisoners were now escorted back to their cells. "My son, may God have mercy on you."
"I pray so, holy father. He knows I have need of mercy."
"As have all of us. Come, my son, come."
At the same hour, almost at the same moment, a different scene, though one which owed its existence to the trial now concluded, was being enacted52 at St. Germain, where the Court now was.
Seated in his chair, advanced three feet from the brilliant circle that surrounded him, Le Roi Soleil witnessed the representation of Cinna, that superb tragedy which Corneille--stung by the criticisms on Le Cid of those who were deemed his rivals, and doubly stung by the criticisms of those who could by no possibility whatever possess the right of deeming themselves his rivals--had determined should outvie the former masterpiece. By connivance53 with those who fondly hoped that this play--written immediately after a preceding Norman Rebellion had been crushed--might soften54 the King's heart towards his whilom companion, it had been selected by the chamberlains for that evening's representation. Never, perhaps, had a greater tribute been paid to genius than this now paid to the dramatist!
Throughout the play, Louis had sat unmoved in his chair, though all present remarked that no word or action of the players was lost by him.
But when, at the end, Augustus C?sar, having, discovered the treachery of Cinna, resolved to pardon the latter and thus win back his fidelity55, the King was observed to move restlessly.
As Monvel, the actor who played the part of C?sar, speaking with deep impressiveness uttered the superb speech commencing:--
Soyons amis, Cinna.
Tu trahis mes bienfaits, je les veux redoubler.
Je t'en avois comblé, je t'en veux accabler,
Louis' hand was raised to his head and it seemed as though he swiftly brushed away some tears that had sprung to his eyes.
While, a moment later, those seated next to him heard him, or thought they heard him, mutter the words:--
"For the treachery to myself I might have pardoned him. For that against France, for making a pact56 with her enemies, I can never pardon him."
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1
confrontation
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| n.对抗，对峙，冲突 | |
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confrontations
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| n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 ) | |
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conspirators
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| n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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confessions
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| n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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accomplices
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| 从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
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implicated
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| adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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extort
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| v.勒索，敲诈，强要 | |
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arsenal
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| n.兵工厂，军械库 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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indignity
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| n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑 | |
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allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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exempted
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| 使免除[豁免]( exempt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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exemption
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| n.豁免，免税额，免除 | |
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exhortation
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| n.劝告，规劝 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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materialist
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| n. 唯物主义者 | |
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tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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atheist
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| n.无神论者 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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tribulation
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| n.苦难，灾难 | |
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incarnate
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| adj.化身的，人体化的，肉色的 | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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extorted
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| v.敲诈( extort的过去式和过去分词 )；曲解 | |
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46
talon
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| n.爪；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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50
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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51
confiscated
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| 没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
connivance
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| n.纵容；默许 | |
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54
soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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55
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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56
pact
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| n.合同，条约，公约，协定 | |
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