There was a pause; all eyes turned to Brain de Bois-Guilbert. He was silent.

“Speak,” she said, “if thou art a man⁠—if thou art a Christian, speak!⁠—I conjure thee, by the habit which thou dost wear, by the name thou dost inherit⁠—by the knighthood thou dost vaunt⁠—by the honour of thy mother⁠—by the tomb and the bones of thy father⁠—I conjure thee to say, are these things true?”

“Answer her, brother,” said the Grand Master, “if the Enemy with whom thou dost wrestle will give thee power.”

In fact, Bois-Guilbert seemed agitated by contending passions, which almost convulsed his features, and it was with a constrained voice that at last he replied, looking to Rebecca⁠—“The scroll!⁠—the scroll!”

“Ay,” said Beaumanoir, “this is indeed testimony! The victim of her witcheries can only name the fatal scroll, the spell inscribed on which is, doubtless, the cause of his silence.”