so he could not have considered the time he had
passed with the d'Aubrays as an interruption to this service. The bag
containing the thousand pistoles and the three bonds for a hundred livres
had been found in the place indicated; thus Lachaussee had a thorough
knowledge of this closet: if he knew the closet, he would know about the
box; if he knew about the box, he could not be an innocent man. This was
enough to induce Madame Mangot de Villarceaux, the lieutenant's widow, to
lodge an accusation against him, and in consequence a writ was issued
against Lachaussee, and he was arrested.

When this happened, poison was found upon him. The trial came on before
the Chatelet. Lachaussee denied his guilt obstinately. The judges
thinking they had no sufficient proof, ordered the preparatory question
to be applied. Mme. Mangot appealed from a judgment which would probably
save the culprit if he had the strength to resist the torture and own to
nothing;

[Note: There were two kinds of question, one before and one after the
sentence was passed. In the first, an accused person would endure
frightful torture in the hope of saving his life, and so would often
confess nothing. In the second, there was no hope, and therefore it was
not worth while to suffer additional pains.]

so, in virtue of this appeal, a judgment, on March 4th, 1673, declared
that Jean Amelin Lachaussee was convicted of having poisoned the
lieutenant and the councillor; for which he was to be broken alive on the
wheel, having been first subjected to the question both ordinary and
extraordinary, with a view to the discovery of his accomplices. At the
same time Madame de Brinvilliers was condemned in default of appearance
to have her head cut off.

Lachaussee suffered the torture of the boot. This was having each leg
fastened between two planks and drawn together in an iron ring, after
which wedges were driven in between the middle planks; the ordinary
question was with four wedges, the extraordinary with eight. At the third
wedge Lachaussee said he was ready to speak; so the question was stopped,
and he was carried into the choir of the chapel stretched on a mattress,
where, in a weak voice--for he could hardly speak--he begged for half an
hour to recover himself. We give a verbatim extract from the report of
the question and the execution of the death-sentence:

"Lachaussee, released from the question and laid on the mattress, the
official reporter