226
THE BOOK OF WERE-WOLVES.
CHAPTER XIII.
MARÉCHAL DE RETZ.—III. THE SENTENCE AND EXECUTION.
The adjourned Trial—The Marshal Confesses—The Case handed over to the Ecclesiastical Tribunal—Prompt steps taken by the Bishop—The Sentence—Ratified by the Secular Court—The Execution.
On the 24th October the trial of the Maréchal de Retz was resumed. The prisoner entered in a Carmelite habit, knelt and prayed in silence before the examination began. Then he ran his eye over the court, and the sight of the rack, windlass, and cords made a slight shudder run through him.
"Messire Gilles de Laval," began the president; "you appear before me now for the second time to answer to a certain requisition read by M. le Lieutenant du Procureur de Nantes."
"I shall answer frankly, monseigneur," said the prisoner calmly; "but I reserve the right of appeal to
