her neck, holding in her hands a burning torch two pounds in weight; and there on her knees she shall say and declare that maliciously, with desire for revenge and seeking their goods, she did poison her father, cause to be poisoned her two brothers, and attempt the life of her sister, whereof she doth repent, asking pardon of God, of the king, and of the judges; and when this is done, she shall be conveyed and carried in the same tumbril to the Place de Greve of this town, there to have her head cut off on a scaffold to be set up for the purpose at that place; afterwards her body to be burnt and the ashes scattered; and first she is to be subjected to the question ordinary and extraordinary, that she may reveal the names of her accomplices.  She is declared to be deprived of all successions from her said father, brothers, and sister, from the date of the several crimes; and all her goods are confiscated to the proper persons; and the sum of 4000 livres shall be paid out of her estate to the king, and 400 livres to the Church for prayers to be said on behalf of the poisoned persons; and all the costs shall be paid, including those of Amelin called Lachaussee.  In Parliament, 16th July 1676.”

The marquise heard her sentence without showing any sign of fear or weakness.  When it was finished, she said to the registrar, “Will you, sir, be so kind as to read it again?  I had not expected the tumbril, and I was so much struck by that that I lost the thread of what followed.”

The registrar read the sentence again.  From that moment she was the property of the executioner, who approached her.  She knew him by the cord he held in his hands, and extended her own, looking him over coolly from head to foot without a word.  The judges then filed out, disclosing as they did so the various apparatus of the question.  The marquise firmly gazed upon the racks and ghastly rings, on which so many had been stretched crying and screaming.  She noticed the three buckets of water

[Note:  The torture with the water was thus administered.  There were eight vessels, each containing 2 pints of water.  Four of these were given for the ordinary, and eight for the extraordinary.  The executioner inserted a horn into the patient’s mouth, and if he shut his teeth, forced him to open them by pinching his nose with the finger and thumb.]

prepared for her, and turned to the registrar—­for she would not address the executioner—­saying, with a smile, “No doubt all this water is to drown me in?  I hope you don’t suppose that a person of my size could swallow it all.”  The executioner said not a word, but began taking off her cloak and all her other garments, until she was completely naked.  He then led her up to the wall and made her sit on the rack of the ordinary question, two feet from the ground.  There she was again asked to give the names of her accomplices, the composition of the poison and its antidote; but she made the same reply as to the doctor, only adding, “If you do not believe me, you have my body in your hands, and you can torture me.”