nodded again.

The sheriff, holding in his left hand the nosegay and in his right the
white wand, placed himself opposite Gwynplaine, who was still seated,
and made him a low bow; then assuming another solemn attitude, he turned
his head over his shoulder, and looking Gwynplaine in the face, said,--

"To you here present, we Philip Denzill Parsons, knight, sheriff of the
county of Surrey, assisted by Aubrey Dominick, Esq., our clerk and
registrar, and by our usual officers, duly provided by the direct and
special commands of her Majesty, in virtue of our commission, and the
rights and duties of our charge, and with authority from the Lord
Chancellor of England, the affidavits having been drawn up and recorded,
regard being had to the documents communicated by the Admiralty, after
verification of attestations and signatures, after declarations read and
heard, after confrontation made, all the statements and legal
information having been completed, exhausted, and brought to a good and
just issue--we signify and declare to you, in order that right may be
done, that you are Fermain Clancharlie, Baron Clancharlie and
Hunkerville, Marquis de Corleone in Sicily, and a peer of England; and
God keep your lordship!"

And he bowed to him.

The serjeant on the right, the doctor, the justice of the quorum, the
wapentake, the secretary, all the attendants except the executioner,
repeated his salutation still more respectfully, and bowed to the ground
before Gwynplaine.

"Ah," said Gwynplaine, "awake me!"

And he stood up, pale as death.

"I come to awake you indeed," said a voice which had not yet been heard.

A man came out from behind the pillars. As no one had entered the cell
since the sheet of iron had given passage to the _cortege_ of police, it
was clear that this man had been there in the shadow before Gwynplaine
had entered, that he had a regular right of attendance, and had been
present by appointment and mission. The man was fat and pursy, and wore
a court wig and a travelling cloak.

He was rather old than young, and very precise.

He saluted Gwynplaine with ease and respect--with the ease of a
gentleman-in-waiting, and without the awkwardness of a judge.

"Yes," he said; "I have come to awaken you. For twenty-five years you
have slept. You have been dreaming. It is time to awake. You believe
yourself to be Gwynplaine; you are Clancharlie. You believe yourself to
be one of the people; you belong to the peera