In that moment the scene in the council-room at Saumur came to his mind, and he remembered that there he had rebuked Adolphe Denot for his false ambition, and had probably been the means of driving him to the horrid crime which he had committed.

Though he knew that the traitor's iniquity admitted of no excuse, he sympathized with the sufferings which had brought him to his present condition.

He turned away his head, as the tears rolled down his cheeks, and felt that he was unable to speak to the miserable man.
Had de Lescure upbraided him, Denot's spirit, affected and unreal as it was, would have enabled him to endure it without flinching.

He would have answered the anger of his former friend with bombast, and might very probably have mustered courage enough to support the same character till they led him out to death.

But de Lescure's tears affected him.