The Branding Needle, or The Monastery of Charolles

"for whom do you intend the one of the t

eally

, ma

powers of penetration-perhaps I may ha

ase explain

present dullness that seems

am at a loss to

died assassinated by Fredegonde, leave me the guardianship

ng of the two female slaves

my grandson The

a big price. I still see her wild looks, as uncommon as her style of beauty. For the rest, she had a nymph's waist,

in a fatal ascendency over my grandson Theudebert, de

old story, madam, that is dead and should be forgotten, together with the principal actors in it. Bilichilde is no more; she was last year strangled to death by your grandson, the savage idiot Theudebert himself, who passed from love to hatred; afterwards, beaten at

rvives death itself, as the dagger survives th

To hate beyond the grave

yet enlightened by w

to the two ha

ard to the two

annot yet fatho

e so obtuse. Tell me, what was the nature of Theud

leven years he already felt the proud ardor of his royal blood. H

the green eyes and curly hair, whom you so judiciously chose for hi

alcons, a woman's amusement; the hunt of wild animals he could not think of, it was too tiring. I was not at all surprised at the change. From being robust, pert and loving noisy games since his early childhood, h

unnerves the soul as much as it does the body. Accordingly Th

dren-but what else could be expected fro

Theudebert used to say haughtily: 'I a

being King, the boy would regularly answer you in his languid voice and with his eyes half shut: 'Grandmother, I am King o

eudebert until the day when that vile slave Bilichilde, availing herself of he

to death upon your orders. What more can you wish? Besides, in exchange for the Austrasia that you lost, did you not gain a Burgundy? If Theudebert drove you from Metz, did you not take refuge here, in Chalon, near your other grandson Thierry? Enervated and besotted through overindulgence with the women that we furnished him with, did you not drive him to undertake a merciless war against his own brother, whom he overcame at Toul and Tolbiac, and who, after the

childe-they killed him-they

se among the handsomest, the youngest, the most appetizing nobles of the court. Moreover, madam, without meaning to

e did not me

n, upon whom he reckoned in order to evict you and, by means of her, to rule Thierry and through Thierry Burgundy, that Spanish woman has been repudiated by your grandson, she went back to her own country only six months after her wedding, and we have appropriated her dower. Finally, Thierry died this year of a dysentery," added the hag with a horrid smile, "and so you now are absolute mistress and sovereign Queen of this country

hilde, the review leads u

hat m

ormerly so quick to grasp my purposes, it is now fully a quarter of an hour

ma

uel's slaves, you would have guessed on the spot. I have been able to convince m

t deign to explain yourself, I pra

eat-grandchildren, and yet you stupidly ask me what I propose

; but yet your reproaches were unmerited.

e debauch will begi

a horrid peal of laughter. "That is true; all th

edals on the ivory stand; it never once as much as winked, nor did its metal mouth utter a cry

between the two m

at-grandson, Sigebert," said Chrotechilde to

de makes me pause: I do not know which of the two slaves t

is mild, candid, and stupid as a sheep. There is no fear that the s

ems to me rather too bold a piece. The impudent thing never once lowered he

s; besides, he is quiet and timid, a veritable lamb. Now, then, if the tall silly thing associates with him like a sheep-you understand me, madam? On the other hand, the little gay imp might set our lamb afire. I always remember the fear of Theudebert at the sight of the g

cure a slave girl for Sigebert, seeing that I fear Warnachaire may have gained some influence over him during this journey into

ust the duke, why did you

German tribes on the other side of the Rhine whose alliance Warnachaire was to secure for me. Their troops will double my army. Oh, in this last supreme effort, in th

l governors of the people, I fear me that these mayors of the palaces will end by swallowing up the kings, if the kings do not suppress them. These able folks say to the princes: 'Keep concubines, drink, play, hunt, sleep, squander the money that we fill your treasuries with, enjoy your lives, bother not with matters of government, we shall take charge of that burden.' These are dangerous and wicked proceedings, madam. That a mother, a gran

I recently wrote to Aimoin, who returns wit

you not say so before! I woul

iled to carry out my orders.

d he no

w; I may learn th

chaire is back at Chalon, in this castle, his fate, madam, will be in the hollow of your hand-and you should not hesitate to strike. Oh, these mayors of the palaces, these mayors of the palaces! I l

tribes on the other side of the Rhine have responded to our call; they will join our army. Thanks to their reinforcements, the troops of Clotaire will be crushed, and the son of Fredegonde will fall into my power! Oh! To inflict upon the son a slow death under the protracted tortures that I prepared for h

e a hundred y

hese countries, from the nearest to the most distant, belong to me! I wish to concentrate the forces of all nations into my own hands and to cause all the peoples of the earth to bend under my yoke! I wish to raise in all parts of Gaul the marvels of art that now cover Burgundy-fortified castles, magnificent palaces, gold-naved basilicas, wide and interminable highways, prodigious monuments, all of which will in all the centuries to come re-echo the name of Brunhild

and bishops, who besiege you with applications fo

rd against the priests; it is t

is rathe

Moreover, they will aid me in restoring the imposts formerly decreed by the emperors, and thereby to replenish my coffers.

it is,

the hand of the representative of God on

. Peter, as he claims, he who holds in his hands the

ed those keys of paradise? Read over a

your Excellency, virtues that must be praised and that are pleasing to God. You did not content yourself with leaving intact to your son the glory of temporal th