第777页 / 共896页

"'He! Proud as these nobles are, he is afraid to see me. Where is

the man who was here? Turn my face to him.'

"I did so, raising the boy's head against my knee. But, invested

for the moment with extraordinary power, he raised himself

completely: obliging me to rise too, or I could not have still

supported him.

"'Marquis,' said the boy, turned to him with his eyes opened

wide, and his right hand raised, 'in the days when all these

things are to be answered for, I summon you and yours, to the

last of your bad race, to answer for them. I mark this cross of

blood upon you, as a sign that I do it. In the days when all

these things are to be answered for, I summon your brother, the

worst of the bad race, to answer for them separately. I mark this

cross of blood upon him, as a sign that I do it.'