He had anticipated no more lasting pleasure, looked forward to no safer gratification for his declining years, than to sit, as he now sat, surrounded by its grandeur.

In due time--not at once, lest the people take alarm or his enemies occasion--he had determined to rebuild the whole house after the same fashion.

The plans of the oaken gallery, the staircase and dining-chamber, prepared by a trusty craftsman of Basle, lay at this moment in the drawer of the bureau beside his chair.
Now all was changed.

A fiat had gone forth, which placed him alike beyond the envy of his friends, and the hatred of his foes.

He must die.