For this imposing trial Bertram de Baux made great preparations.  A platform was erected in the great hall of tribunal, and all the officers of the crown and great state dignitaries, and all the chief barons, had a place behind the enclosure where the magistrates sat.  Three days after Clement VI’s bull had been published in the capital, the chief-justice was ready for a public examination of two accused persons.  The two culprits who had first fallen into the hands of justice were, as one may easily suppose, those whose condition was least exalted, whose lives were least valuable, Tommaso Pace and Nicholas of Melazzo.  They were led before the tribunal to be first of all tortured, as the custom was.  As they approached the judges, the notary passing by Charles in the street had time to say in a low voice—­

“My lord, the time has come to give my life for you:  I will do my duty; I commend my wife and children to you.”

Encouraged by a nod from his patron, he walked on firmly and deliberately.  The chief-justice, after establishing the identity of the accused, gave them over to the executioner and his men to be tortured in the public square, so that their sufferings might serve as a show and an example to the crowd.  But no sooner was Tommaso Pace tied to the rope, when to the great disappointment of all he declared that he would confess everything, and asked accordingly to be taken back before his judges.  At these words, the Count of Terlizzi, who was following every movement of the two men with mortal anxiety, thought it was all over now with him and his accomplices; and so, when Tommaso Pace was turning his steps towards the great hall, led by two guards, his hands tied behind his back, and followed by the notary, he contrived to take him into a secluded house, and squeezing his throat with great force, made him thus put his tongue out, whereupon he cut it off with a sharp razor.

The yells of the poor wretch so cruelly mutilated fell on the ears of the Duke of Durazzo:  he found his way into the room where the barbarous act had been committed just as the Count of Terlizzi was coming out, and approached the notary, who had been present at the dreadful spectacle and had not given the least sign of fear or emotion.  Master Nicholas, thinking the same fate was in store for him, turned calmly to the duke, saying with a sad smile—­

“My lord, the precaution is useless; there is no need for you to cut out my tongue, as the noble count has done to my poor companion.  The last scrap of my flesh may be torn off without one word being dragged from my mouth.  I have promised, my lord, and you have the life of my wife and the future of my children as guarantee for my word.”

“I do not ask for silence,” said the duke solemnly; “you can free me from all my enemies at once, and I order you to denounce them at the tribunal.”

The notary bowed his head with mournful resignation; then raising it in affright, made one step up to the duke and murmured in a choking voice—­