Father Lactantius was distinguishable among them by his simple Capuchin habit, his tonsure, and the extreme hardness of his features.

In a side gallery sat the Bishop of Poitiers, hidden from view; other galleries were filled with veiled women.

Below the bench of judges a group of men and women, the dregs of the populace, stood behind six young Ursuline nuns, who seemed full of disgust at their proximity; these were the witnesses.
The rest of the hall was filled with an enormous crowd, gloomy and silent, clinging to the arches, the gates, and the beams, and full of a terror which communicated itself to the judges, for it arose from an interest in the accused.

Numerous archers, armed with long pikes, formed an appropriate frame for this lugubrious picture.
At a sign from the President, the witnesses withdrew through a narrow door opened for them by an usher.

As the Superior of the Ursulines passed M.de Laubardemont she was heard to say to him, "You have deceived me, Monsieur." He remained immovable, and she went on.