"Well, then," whispered the lad Renouf, breaking in on his boast with
a white countenance, "hearken well to me. When you enter the chamber
of the marshal, put this in your mouth. And if nothing happens keep it
there, but be careful neither to swallow it nor yet to bite upon it.
But if it should chance that either Henriet or Poitou or Gilles de
Sille seize hold of your arms, bite hard upon the pellet till you feel
a bitter taste and then swallow. That is all. You are indeed a cock
whose comb wants cutting, and if all be well, we will incise it for
your soul's good. But in the meanwhile you are of our company and
fellowship. So for God's sake and your own do as you are bid. Fare you
well."

As he followed Clerk Henriet, Laurence looked at the round pellet in
his hand. It was white, soft like ripe fruit, of an elastic
consistency, and of the largeness of a pea.

As Laurence ascended the stairs, he heard the practice of the choir
beginning in the chapel. Precentor Renouf, the father of Blaise, had
summoned the youths from the cloisters with a long mellow whistle upon
his Italian pitch-pipe, running up and down the scale and ending with
a flourished "A-a-men."

The open windows and the pierced stone railing of the great staircase
of Machecoul brought up the sound of that sweet singing from the
chapel to the ear of the adventurous Scot as through a funnel. They
were beginning the practice for the Christmas services, though the
time was not yet near.

"_Unto God be the glory
In the Highest;
Peace be on the earth,
On the earth,
Unto men who have good-will._"

So they chanted in their white robes in the Chapel of the Holy
Innocents in the Castle of Machecoul near by the Atlantic shore.

The chamber of Gilles de Retz testified to the extraordinary
advancement of that great man in knowledge which has been claimed as
peculiar to much later centuries. The window casements were so
arranged that in a moment the place could either be made as dark as
midnight or flooded with bright light. The walls were always freshly
whitewashed, and the lime was constantly renewed. The stone floor was
stained a deep brick red, and that, too, would often be applied
freshly during the night. At a time when the very word "sanitation"
was unknown, Gilles had properly constructed conduits leading from an
adjoining apartment to the castle ditch. The chimney was wide as a
peasant's whole house, an