There was no doubt that
the King would approve the sentence of death, and if it were duly
and with some display enforced, it would but add to the Governor's
reputation in France. But should the prisoner die in captivity, or
should he go an invalid to the scaffold, there would only be pity
excited in the world for him. For his own honour, it were better the
Governor should hang a robust prisoner, who in full blood should
expiate his sins upon the scaffold. The advice went down like wine;
and when he knew not what to do, I urged your being brought here,
put under guard, and fed and nourished for your end. And so it was.
"The Governor's counsellor in the matter will remain a secret,
for by now he will be sure that he himself had the sparkling
inspiration. There, dear Robert, is the present climax to many
months of suspense and persecution, the like of which I hope I may
never see again. Some time I will tell you all: those meetings with
Monsieur Doltaire, his designs and approaches, his pleadings and
veiled threats, his numberless small seductions of words, manners,
and deeds, his singular changes of mood, when I was uncertain
what would happen next; the part I had to play to know all that
was going on in the Chateau St.
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