Therefore they sang at the foot of the scaffold,—
"Dieu nous soit doux et favorable,
Nous bénissant par sa bonté,
Et de son visage adorable
Nous fasse luire sa clarté."[5]
A verse was sung for every head as it fell; but every head that fell made one voice less in the chorus.
In an hour but twelve gentlemen remained, and they the most prominent leaders of the conspiracy.
Then there was a pause. The two executioners were weary, and the king was arriving.
François II. was more than pale; he was absolutely livid. Mary Stuart took her place at his right, and Catherine de Médicis at his left.
The Cardinal de Lorraine took his place beside the queen-mother; and the Prince de Condé was shown to a seat beside the young queen.
When the prince appeared upon the platform, almost as pale as the young king himself, the twelve condemned men saluted him.
He gravely responded to their salutation.
"I always bow in the presence of death," he remarked aloud.