"'Well, Madame, you don't stop halfway in a felony, at least! Saint Peter denied his Lord three times, but Judas only betrayed him once. You have betrayed your lover three times within an hour. To be sure, Judas was only a man, while you are a woman and a duchess.'
"'Seize that man!' cried Madame Diane, in a perfect fury of rage.
"'Seize that man!' the Comte de Montausier echoed.
"'Ah, but I am not taken yet!' cried Perrot.
"And in so desperate a plight he took a desperate step; with one leap he was at Monsieur de Montgommery's side, and began to cut his bonds with his poniard, crying,—
"'Help yourself, Monseigneur, and let us sell our lives as dearly as we can!'
"But he had only time to free his left arm; for he could defend himself only partially while trying to cut the count's cords at the same time. Ten swords clashed with his. Surrounded, and struck at on all sides at once, a powerful blow that he received between the shoulders laid him at his master's feet, and he fell unconscious, and like a dead man."
[3]This exploit of the young Comte de Montausier, the apprehension of Montgommery, was a fitting prelude to the assassination of Lignerolles. It is well-known that Monsieur de Lignerolles having informed Charles IX. that the Duc d'Anjou, his master, had confided to him his secret scheme for getting rid of the leading Huguenots, the king induced his brother (D'Anjou) to have Lignerolles put out of the way as a precaution against any possible indiscretion on his part. The Comte de Montausier took charge of the execution, with four or five other gentlemen-executioners, all of whom eventually came to a wretched end. "Wherefore," says Brantôme, "we ought to take great care that we slay no man unjustly; for one scarcely ever hears of such a murder which has not been avenged with the sanction of God, who has put a sword at our side for use, and not to be abused."