Gregory was the first to break the silence that ensued:
"Accordingly, Clotaire the younger, son of Fredegonde and Chilperic, is the grandson of Clotaire the elder, the slayer of his little nephews, and is great-grandson to Clovis?"
"Yes—and how worthy of his stock he is proving himself you may judge, my son, by the era of new crimes that follows. His mother Fredegonde bequeathed to him the implacable hatred with which she was herself animated against Brunhild. Accordingly, the mortal duel continued unabated between the latter and the son of her enemy."
"Alas, fresh disasters will befall Gaul, with the renewal of the sanguinary conflict!"
"Oh, indeed frightful disasters—frightful—because the crimes of Fredegonde pale before those of Brunhild, our present Queen, the Queen of the people of Burgundy."
"Father, can the crimes of Brunhild surpass Fredegonde's?"
"Ronan," said Odille carrying both her hands to her temples. "This mass of murders, all committed in the same family, makes one's head reel with dizziness. One's mind feels over-burdened and tires in the effort to follow the bloody thread that alone can lead through the maze of such unnamable crimes. Great God, in what times do we live! What sights may yet be reserved for our children!"
"Unless the demons themselves step next out of hell, little Odille, our children will see nothing that could surpass what is happening now. As I said to you, the crimes of Fredegonde are as naught beside Brunhild's. If you only knew what is going on at this very hour in the magnificent castle of Chalon-on-the-Saone, where the old Queen—the daughter, wife and mother of kings—holds her own great-grandchildren under her tutelage—but no—I dare not—my lips refuse to narrate the shocking incidents—"
"Ronan is right. Shocking things, that language is unable to render, take place to-day in the castle of Queen Brunhild," replied Loysik with a shudder; but turning to his brother he proceeded to say: "Ronan, out of respect for these young families, out of respect for humanity at large, break off your narrative at where you now are."
"You are right, Loysik; I am bound to stop before the impossibility of narrating the misdeeds of Queen Brunhild, who, nevertheless, is one of God's creatures, and belongs to the human species."