“Then,” resumed he, “mad, desperate, determined to get rid of an existence from which she had stolen everything, honor and happiness, my poor brother returned to Lille, and learning the sentence which had condemned me in his place, surrendered himself, and hanged himself that same night from the iron bar of the loophole of his prison.
“To do justice to them who had condemned me, they kept their word. As soon as the identity of my brother was proved, I was set at liberty.
“That is the crime of which I accuse her; that is the cause for which she was branded.”
“Monsieur d’Artagnan,” said Athos, “what is the penalty you demand against this woman?”
“The punishment of