“The poor lad gave him one indignant look.”
So far we have made extracts from the registers of Rougemont.
What was Sir John’s object in all this? why did he persist in securing the condemnation of Cuthbert? and then insist upon the delay of a week in its execution?
Because he trusted to the weakness of human nature, and thought that the fear of death would extract the secret he craved.
And if the fear of death did not extract it, he meant to obtain it by torture; he was provided with a warrant to that effect from the council.
Torture was not, even then, lawful in England, but could be applied by special warrant of the Privy Council, in cases where the safety of the commonwealth was concerned; and this was considered to be one, as the royal Blue-Beard himself was ravenously eager for such wholesale detection of his enemies, as would be attained by the discovery of the records of Furness transmitted to Glastonbury.