"'Tis a lamentable necessity," added René.
"Say, rather, a mild retaliation," insisted Giacinto.
Amélie's glance was of an avenging archangel.
Naundorff rose to his feet and towered above them all. His voice rose in an appeal, a supplication: "No blood! No blood! Let us forgive!"
"Forgive that unscrupulous creature?—that instrument of tyrants?" exclaimed Louis Pierre.
"He has betrayed and tortured the innocent," said Soliviac solemnly.
"He brought my brother to the scaffold" cried Giacinto.
"He sought the death of my father," said Amélie.
Then, in chorus, they cried:
"He must die!"