The crowd trembled—murmured.
He was about to speak again, when the officer of the troop gave orders to the drums to beat and the King’s voice was drowned.
He had said enough. Nothing could add to the majesty of those few words. The agony was spared him of learning who the man was that gave the order which drowned his last words. It was the Count d’Oyat, a natural son of Louis XV; and therefore by blood, if not by marriage, the King’s uncle—Louis XVI being the grandson of Louis XV.
What a fate! His cousin voted for his death, and the last words he uttered were drowned by the command of his uncle.
The condemned man turned slowly away. As they fastened him to the plank, he cast one look upon the praying minister, and the next moment the plank was sinking forward, carrying down Louis of France, his face towards the earth.
Another moment—the time for the passage of the heavy blade—and Louis of France was dead!
CHAPTER LV.
WHAT FOLLOWS.
I saw Louis XVI die.
“Go,” said Robespierre, “see liberty declared, and a King proved to be no more than a man.”