at the porter's lodge, as he was taking a glass of wine,
that judgment had been given, and that Madame de Brinvilliers was to have
her hand cut off. This severity--as a fact, there was a mitigation of
the sentence--made him feel yet more interest in his penitent, and he
hastened back to her side.

As soon as she saw the door open, she advanced calmly towards him, and
asked if he had truly prayed for her; and when he assured her of this,
she said, "Father, shall I have the consolation of receiving the viaticum
before I die?"

"Madame," replied the doctor, "if you are condemned to death, you must
die without that sacrament, and I should be deceiving you if I let you
hope for it. We have heard of the death of the constable of Saint-Paul
without his obtaining this grace, in spite of all his entreaties. He was
executed in sight of the towers of Notre-Dame. He offered his own prayer,
as you may offer yours, if you suffer the same fate. But that is all:
God, in His goodness, allows it to suffice."

"But," replied the marquise, "I believe M. de Cinq-Mars and M. de Thou
communicated before their death."

"I think not, madame," said the doctor; "for it is not so said in the
pages of Montresor or any other book that describes their execution."

"But M. de Montmorency?" said she.

"But M. de Marillac?" replied the doctor.

In truth, if the favour had been granted to the first, it had been
refused to the second, and the marquise was specially struck thereby, for
M. de Marillac was of her own family, and she was very proud of the
connection. No doubt she was unaware that M. de Rohan had received the
sacrament at the midnight mass said for the salvation of his soul by
Father Bourdaloue, for she said nothing about it, and hearing the
doctor's answer, only sighed.

"Besides," he continued, "in recalling examples of the kind, madame, you
must not build upon them, please: they are extraordinary cases, not the
rule. You must expect no privilege; in your case the ordinary laws will
be carried out, and your fate will not differ from the fate of other
condemned persons. How would it have been had you lived and died before
the reign of Charles VI? Up to the reign of this prince, the guilty died
without confession, and it was only by this king's orders that there was
a relaxation of this severity. Besides, communion is not absolutely
necessary to salvation, and one may communicate spiritually in reading
the word, which is like