CHAPTER LIII.
THE SACRIFICE OF BLOOD.
The Abbé, meanwhile, prayed unceasingly in an outer chamber, and separated only from the King’s by a wooden partition.
He and Cléry, the recently-appointed but faithful attendant on the King, heard the condemned man’s breath regular and peaceful, uninterrupted by cries or restlessness. His heart beat regularly, with no more fear than is experienced by clockwork which has nearly run down, and is about to stop.
At five, it was necessary to awaken the King.
“Has it struck five?” he inquired, of Cléry.
“Not yet, by the town clock,” the man replied “but several bells have sounded the hour.”
“I have slept heartily,” remarked the King; “I suppose because, yesterday, I was very much fatigued.”
Cléry now lighted the fire, and helped his dying master to dress.
The King “communicated,” the altar being raised in the room in which he usually sat.