Then he drew towards him
a sheet of paper, and, taking a quill, he sat toying with it.
"Because they call me the Just, I must let justice take its course,"
he answered presently.
"But," I objected, with a sudden hope, "the course of justice cannot
lead to the headsman in the case of the Vicomte de Lavedan."
"Why not?" And his solemn eyes met mine across the table.
"Because he took no active part in the revolt. If he was a traitor,
he was no more than a traitor at heart, and until a man commits a
crime in deed he is not amenable to the law's rigour. His wife has
made his defection clear; but it were unfair to punish him in the
same measure as you punish those who bore arms against you, Sire."
"Ah!" he pondered. "Well? What more?"
"Is that not enough, Sire?" I cried. My heart beat quickly, and my
pulses throbbed with the suspense of that portentous moment.
He bent his head, dipped his pen and began to write.
"What punishment would you have me mete out to him?" he asked as he
wrote. "Come, Marcel, deal fairly with me, and deal fairly with him
--for as you deal with him, so shall I deal with you through him."
I felt myself paling in my excitement. "There is banishment, Sire
--it is usual in cases of treason that are not sufficiently flagrant
to be punished by death."
"Yes!" He wrote busily. "Banishment for how long, Marcel? For his
lifetime?"
"Nay, Sire. That were too long."
"For my lifetime, then?"
"Again that were too long.
Pages:
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285