"It is well. As you say, I am the master, and I choose just now to apply the ordinary and extraordinary question: Do you know what they are, monsieur?" said D"Argenson, leaning on each syllable.
A cold sweat bathed Gaston"s temples, not that he feared to die, but torture was worse than death. A victim of the torture was always disfigured or crippled, and the best of these alternatives was a cruel one for a young man of five and twenty.
D"Argenson saw, as in a mirror, what was pa.s.sing in Gaston"s mind.
"Hola!" said the interrogator.
Two men entered.
"Here is a gentleman who seems to have no dislike to the question ordinary or extraordinary. Take him to the room."
"It is the dark hour, the hour I expected," murmured Gaston. "Oh, my G.o.d! give me courage."
Doubtless his prayer was heard, for, making a sign that he was ready, he followed the guards with a firm step.
D"Argenson came behind him.
They descended the stone staircase and pa.s.sed the first dungeon in the tower. There they crossed two courts. As they crossed the second court, some prisoners, looking through their windows and seeing a gentleman well dressed, called out:
"Hola! monsieur, you are set free then?"
A woman"s voice added:
"Monsieur, if you are asked about us when you are free from here, say that we said nothing."
A young man"s voice said:
"You are happy, monsieur--you will see her you love."
"You are mistaken, monsieur," said the chevalier. "I am about to suffer the question."
A terrible silence succeeded. Then the sad procession went over the drawbridge, Gaston was placed in a closed and locked chair and taken to the a.r.s.enal, which was separated from the Bastille by a narrow pa.s.sage.
D"Argenson had taken the lead, and awaited the prisoner, who found himself in a low room covered with damp. On the wall hung chains, collars, and other strange instruments; chafing dishes stood on the ground, and crosses of Saint Andre were in the corner.
"You see this," said D"Argenson, showing the chevalier two rings fastened into flagstones at six feet apart, and separated by a wooden bench about three feet high; "in these rings are placed the head and feet of the patient; then this tressel is placed under him, so that his stomach is two feet higher than his mouth; then we pour pots of water holding two pints each into his mouth. The number is fixed at eight for the ordinary, ten for the extraordinary question. If the patient refuses to swallow, we pinch his nose so that he cannot breathe; then he opens his mouth, then he swallows. This question," continued he, emphasizing every detail, "is very disagreeable, and yet I do not think I should prefer the boot. Both kill sometimes; the boot disfigures the patient, and it is true that the water destroys his health for the future; but it is rare, for the prisoner always speaks at the ordinary question if he be guilty, and generally at the extraordinary, if he be not."
Gaston, pale and silent, listened and watched.
"Do you prefer the wedges, chevalier? Here, bring the wedges."
A man brought six wedges and showed them, still stained with blood and flattened at the edges by the blows which had been struck upon them.
"Do you know the way in which these are used? The knees and ankles of the patient are pressed between two wooden slabs as tightly as possible, then one of these men forces a wedge between the knees, which is followed by a larger one. There are eight for the ordinary torture, and two larger for the extraordinary. These wedges, I warn you, chevalier, break bones like gla.s.s, and wound the flesh insupportably."
"Enough, enough," said Gaston, "unless you wish to double the torture by describing it; but, if it be only to guide my choice, I leave it to you, as you must know them better than I, and I shall be grateful if you will choose the one which will kill me most quickly."
D"Argenson could not conceal the admiration with which Gaston"s strength of will inspired him.
"Come," said he, "speak, and you shall not be tortured."
"I have nothing to say, monsieur, so I cannot."
"Do not play the Spartan, I advise you. One may cry, but between the cries one always speaks under torture."
"Try," said Gaston.
Gaston"s resolute air, in spite of the struggle of nature--a struggle which was evidenced by his paleness, and by a slight nervous tremor which shook him--gave D"Argenson the measure of his courage. He was accustomed to this kind of thing, and was rarely mistaken. He saw that he should get nothing out of him, yet he persisted.
"Come, monsieur," said he, "it is still time. Do not force us to do you any violence."
"Monsieur," said Gaston, "I swear before G.o.d who hears me, that if you put me to the torture, instead of speaking, I will hold my breath, and stifle myself, if the thing be possible. Judge, then, if I am likely to yield to threats, where I am determined not to yield to pain."
D"Argenson signed to the tormentors, who approached Gaston; but, as they did so, he seemed to gain new strength. With a calm smile, he helped them to remove his coat and to unfasten his cuffs.
"It is to be the water, then?" asked the man.
"The water first," said D"Argenson.
They pa.s.sed the cords through the rings, brought the tressels, filled the vases--Gaston did not flinch.
D"Argenson reflected.
After about ten minutes" thought, which seemed an age to the chevalier--
"Let him go," said D"Argenson, with a grunt of discontent, "and take him back to the Bastille."
CHAPTER XXVI.
HOW LIFE Pa.s.sED IN THE BASTILLE WHILE WAITING FOR DEATH.
Gaston was inclined to thank the lieutenant of police, but he refrained.
It might appear as though he had been afraid. He took his hat and coat, and returned to the Bastille as he had come.
"They did not like to put a man of high birth to the torture," thought he; "they will try me and condemn me to death."
But death seemed easy when divested of the preliminary agonies which the lieutenant of police had so minutely described.
On re-entering his room, Gaston saw, almost with joy, all that had seemed so horrible to him an hour before. The prison seemed gay, the view charming, the saddest inscriptions on the walls were madrigals compared to the menacing appearance of the room he had just quitted.
The major of the Bastille came to fetch him about an hour afterward, accompanied by a turnkey.
"I understand," thought Gaston; "the governor"s invitation is a pretext, in such a case, to take from the prisoner the anguish of expectation. I shall, doubtless, cross some dungeon, into which I shall fall and die.
G.o.d"s will be done." And, with a firm step, he followed the major, expecting every moment to be precipitated into some secret dungeon, and murmuring Helene"s name, that he might die with it on his lips.