"Come, monsieur," said he, "it is still time. Do not force us to do you any violence."
"Monsieur," said Gaston, "I swear before God who hears me, that if you put me to the torture, instead of speaking, I will hold my breath, and stifle myself, if the thing be possible. Judge, then, if I am likely to yield to threats, where I am determined not to yield to pain."
D'Argenson signed to the tormentors, who approached Gaston; but, as they did so, he seemed to gain new strength. With a calm smile, he helped them to remove his coat and to unfasten his cuffs.
"It is to be the water, then?" asked the man.
"The water first," said D'Argenson.
They passed the cords through the rings, brought the tressels, filled the vases—Gaston did not flinch.
D'Argenson reflected.
After about ten minutes' thought, which seemed an age to the chevalier—
"Let him go," said D'Argenson, with a grunt of discontent, "and take him back to the Bastille."