It was only a matter of a few hours, as they were to die at daybreak, and his request was granted.
Antoine's entrance turned the current of Monsieur the Viscount's thoughts.

No more selfish reflections now.

He must comfort this poor creature, of whose death he was to be the unintentional cause.
Antoine's first anxiety was that Monsieur the Viscount should bear witness that the gaoler had treated him kindly, and so earned the blessing and not the curse of Monsieur le Cure, whose powerful presence seemed to haunt him still.

On this score he was soon set at rest, and then came the old, old story.

He had been but a bad man.