"His Majesty has triumphed again!" "I did pale beside the radiance of His Majesty." "I didn't know she was interested in religion." "I wonder who His Majesty will favour today?" "." "What divine benevolence." " I haven't seen her at court before." " What some people will do." "Really." "Provincial bitch." "Encore!" "Encore!" "Encore!" "A most original conception, Your Majesty, the birth of Venus." "I pray that I may assist you in the birth of a new France, where Church and State are one." "Amen." "And may the Protestant be driven from the land." "Come on, you Protestant bastards!" "Come on, keep moving!" "Put your back into it!" "Move!" "Move!" "Get on!" "Come on, there!" "Move!" "I won't tell you again." "Pull, you Protestant pigs!" "Pull!" "Push it!" "The religious wars are over." "Catholic no longer fights with Protestant." "We have survived." "And we owe our survival to the wisdom and to the humanity of one man," "Georges de Sainte Marthe," "Governor of Loudun." "For it was he who prevailed upon all faiths alike to keep the peace." "And thus saved our city from self-destruction." "Other towns were less fortunate." "And now our friend has been killed by the plague." "People of Loudun, as often as you see our city walls standing, still proud and erect, no matter what your faith, then surely you must feel a need to build a temple in your hearts" "in remembrance of he who preserved them for you." " Amen." " Amen." " Oh, hurry up, it's my turn now!" " It's not!" "I haven't seen anything yet." "If they don't hurry, he'll be gone!" "Is he as handsome as they say?" "." "Oh, I can't see..." "Yes!" "I can see the procession." "It's coming up the steps!" "But I can't see whether he's handsome yet." "Yes!" "I can see him!" "He's the most beautiful man in the world!" "Sister Agnes!" "Sister Agnes!" "Sister Agnes!" "Sister Agnes!" "Sister Agnes!" "Why have you left your devotions?" "." "They were watching Father Grandier." "We wanted to see the funeral procession of Monsieur Sainte Marthe, Reverend Mother." "Satan is ever-ready to seduce us with sensual delights." "Your prayers for Sainte Marthe will be the more zealous for not seeing his funeral." "That is the strength of the enclosed order." "Yes, I know, Reverend Mother, but it was a solemn Requiem and the Cardinal would have given us a dispensation to attend." "The powers of your uncle the Cardinal are not in dispute, Sister Agnes." "You are not satisfied with the contemplative life." "You should have joined the Poor Clares, nursed the victims of the plague, scrubbed out their vermin-ridden hovels." " But Mother, I love our order." " Then you shall combine the two, scrub out the convent from top to bottom on your knees and pray for the soul of the dead man at the same time." "Every Tuesday afternoon, an hour in bed with the lace-maker's widow, then off to take confession." "I mean, the hypocrisy of it." "It's no worse than his penitents, the pretty ones, anyway." "They do it right there, in the sacristy, almost in front of the blessed sacrament." "Grandier could have me anywhere, even on the Holy Altar itself." " Shh!" "That's sacrilege!" " Look, there he is!" "Now, there's a man well worth going to Hell for, eh?" "." "Don't look at me!" "Don't look at me!" "Don't look at me!" "I'm beautiful!" "I'm beautiful!" "Take away my hump." "Take away my hump." "Take away my hump." "Christ, let me find a way to you." "Take me in your sacred arms." "Let the blood flow between us, uniting us." "Grandier." "Grandier." "Translate as you go, line by line." ""Pleasure in lust is nasty and short and sickness."" "Weariness." ""And weariness follows on desire."" "Go on." "Oh!" "I don't like it!" "I hate it." "Your father sends you here for instruction in Latin." "And we must not deceive him." ""But in everlasting leisure like this," ""lie still and kiss time away." ""No weariness and no shame." ""Now, then, and shall be all pleasure." ""No end to it." ""But an eternal beginning."" "Why are you crying?" "." "I'm pregnant." "And so it ends." "You must learn to bear your cross with Christian fortitude, my child." "I'm frightened." "Yes, of course." "How can I own the child?" "." "I am very frightened!" "And there was such bravery in love, wasn't there, Phillipe?" "." "All through those summer nights, how unafraid we were each time we huddled down together." "Remember?" "." "We laughed as we roused the animal." " And now, it's devoured us." " Help me." "And we were to have been each other's salvation." " Did I really believe it possible?" "." " I love you." "Yes, I did believe it." "I remember leaving you one day, you'd been unusually adroit." "I was full of that indecent confidence which comes after perfect coupling." "As I went, I thought..." "Honestly, I thought, the body can transcend its purpose." "It could become a thing of such purity that it could be worshipped to the limits of imagination." "Everything is allowed." "All is right." "And such perfection lends for an understanding of this hideous state of existence." "But what is it now?" "." "Hmm?" "." "An egg." "A thing of loneliness, weariness, sickness." "Where is love?" "." "Where indeed?" "." "Go to your father." "Tell him the truth." "Let him find some good man." "They exist." "Help me." "How can I help you?" "." "Hold my hand." "Like touching the dead, isn't it?" "." "Goodbye, Phillipe." "Don't be too long." " Up your end." " He's leaking." "Don't you dare." "Bring out your dead!" "They're all dead!" "They're all dying!" "Father!" "Father, please come quickly." "The chemist and the surgeon, it's no good, Mother is dying!" "A delicate dusting of pollen, nature's most fragrant balm, eucalyptus pollen." "From the Greek kaluptos, covered flower protected by a cap." "A trap for the heroic hornet." "Hymenopterous healer." "A poison to exorcise poison." "Kill or cure!" "Yesterday, powdered mistletoe." "Black cherry water." "It's a recognised cure!" "Nobody ever complains!" "Leeches!" "Dried vipers!" "Sarsaparilla and poppy heads, and now what?" "." "Hornets?" "." "Mother, please!" "And what fresh lunacy is this?" "." " A crocodile?" "." " Schoolgirls walking two by two." "Simian reptile, corpuscular circulation, invaluable aid." "Not the crocodile!" "Turn your face towards God, my daughter." "Be glad." "Be glad." "You stand on the threshold of everlasting life." "I envy you." "Bring out your dead!" " Bring out your dead!" " Bring out your dead!" " Bring out your dead!" " Bring out your dead!" "Let us pray for her together." "We commend to thee, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, Madame..." "De Brou." "De Brou." "De Brou." "And although to this world she is dead, to thee may she still live." "And the sins she has committed in this life through... through human frailty" "do thou in thy merciful goodness forgive." " Amen." " Amen." "Where are you?" "." "Hiding among the corpses, are you?" "." "Come out, you coward!" "The dead shall not save you now." " Where is he?" "." " Who?" "." "The priest!" "That desecrator of virtue, Grandier." "No woman in the entire town is safe from the lust of that man." "Not one!" " Neither mother nor daughter." " Living or dead." "Necrophilia interruptus." "Virga distracta." "Whores." "He stinks of sanctimonious whores." "Enough, sir." "You slander my daughter." " He's inside the house, Mr Magistrate." " He's upstairs, inside the house." "There he is!" "Despoiler of my child, my innocent lamb!" "Even the most innocent lamb is destined for the lustful ram, Monsieur Trincant." "Her lily-white purity is stained!" "Except in sermons, or in Heaven." "Even lilies decay into rottenness, sir." "Catch!" "I'll see you in Hell!" "Walking on a living pavement of aborted bastards, no doubt." "You foul, God-forsaken creature!" "He ought to be reported to the Pope." "He ought to be prosecuted as well, Mr Magistrate." "My cousin tells me his daughter is pregnant." "Well, you have your whores." "Why do you have to meddle with her?" "." " It seemed a way." " A way to what?" "." "I begin to understand at last that all worldly things have a single purpose for a man of my kind." "Power, politics, riches, women, pride, ambition." "I choose them with the same care that your cousin," "Monsieur Trincant, might select a weapon." "My intention is different." "You see," "I need to turn them against myself." "And bring about your own end?" "." "I have a great need to be united with God." "You're a blasphemy to your cloth." "I attend Mass daily." "I love God." "And now that both my parents are dead, I am free to serve Him." "I know I have a vocation, Reverend Mother." "You have the face of a virgin martyr in a picture book." "Very pious." "Respectful black weeds." "Very becoming." "That's such a pretty rosary." " It was my mother's." " What's this?" "." "Oh, yes, The Imitation of Christ." "Solid silver." "And downcast eyes." "Hiding what?" "." "Virtue or lechery?" "." "So you have one sin, at least." "The sin of pride." "Do you know why most of us are here?" "." "Because you love Our Lord, Jesus Christ and wish to serve Him." "Most of the nuns here are noble women who have embraced the monastic life because there was not enough money at home to provide them with dowries." "Or they were unmarriageable because ugly, a burden to the family." "Communities which ought to be furnaces where souls are forever on fire with the love of God are merely dead with the grey ashes of convenience." "Here is a book written by the founder of our order, Angela Merici." "When you've studied it, come back and I shall question you." "Thank you, Mother." "God bless you." "I'm not surprised that Angela Merici's book of sanctimonious claptrap confused you." "Most religions believe that by crying "Lord!" "Lord!"" "often enough they can contrive to enter the kingdom of Heaven." "A flock of trained parrots could just as readily cry the same thing with just as little chance of success." "You can do more good outside the cloister than you can within." "Among the Ursulines or the Carmelites, you'll be hiding your light under a bushel." "Your place is here, in Loudun." "And your vocation to give a shining example of wisdom to all those foolish virgins whose thoughts dwell on perishable vanities." "And now I must take confession." "Yes, Father, thank you." "Father, I have sinned." "And I have come to ask your forgiveness." "When did you last confess, my child?" "." "You should know!" "This is a church." "Not a marketplace." " You will speak with respect." " But you did love me, I mean I know." "I mean, all those hours we spent together in each other's arms..." "That's enough!" "You will not wallow complacently in your own filth!" "What about yours?" "." "What about your sins?" "." "To confess is to seek forgiveness, not to blame others." "Be quiet there!" "Oh, what shall I do?" "." "Your humiliation is nothing." "If God wants you to suffer, then you should want to suffer." "And accept that suffering gladly." "Go now." "Do not sin again." "And for your penance, fast for the rest of the day, on your knees, in front of God, praying for His forgiveness." "I absolve thee from thy sins." "Amen." "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned." " When did you last confess, child?" "." " A week ago, Father." "What have you to tell me?" "." "I have suffered from pride." "We must always be on guard." "I worked all of yesterday and all of the night nursing the victims of the plague and I was pleased with myself." "God allows us satisfaction in the work that we do." "I have also been guilty of anger." "Tell me." "Well, Sister Jeanne of the Angels provoked me and I wished her elsewhere." "You are absolved." "Is there anything else?" "." "Quickly, others are waiting." "I've had unclean thoughts." "Of what nature?" "." "About a man." " What is his name?" "." " l..." "I think of him in the early hours of the morning." "My bedroom is suffocatingly hot." "My thoughts are sinful, yet they are so tender." "My body, Father..." "My body, I wish to be touched." "Do you try to get these thoughts out of your mind?" "." " Or do you like them?" "." " I have prayed." "Do you wish to be saved from this?" "." " Answer." " No." "I wish to take... possess..." "Destroy me, I love you... him." "I love him." "In the convent, I would have been safe." "I love you." "Go to my house." "Wait for me there." "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned." "But you were here only yesterday." "Yes, Father, but since then I have been guilty of... guilty of..." "What was it now?" "." "If you have forgotten, perhaps God has also." "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me, a sinner." "Now and always, Amen." "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee." "Blessed are you among all women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me, a sinner." "I want to tell you." "Yes?" "." "You know the love-making?" "." "Yes." "I want to tell you, Madeleine, that amongst the clothes dropped on the floor" "and the groping and the sweating" "and the soiled sheets, amongst all that" "there is some love." "Human love?" "." "You understand it that way?" "." "I think so." "Do I love you?" "." "I think so." "Then what else can I give you?" "." "I am a simple person." "I see the world as I have been taught." "I am a sinner, but I do not think that God has deserted me." "I would not be afraid to come before Him with you, even in our sin." "You shame me." "Go." "I've hurt you." "I've hurt you." "Forgive me." "Go!" "Oh, God, help me." "I love this woman." "Let us find a way to you together." "The fifth sorrowful mystery of the rosary," "Christ crucified." "As we say these Aves, Sisters," "Let us think of the pain that Christ suffered when they nailed him to the cross," "Left Him to hang there until he was dead." "Think of His most beautiful body, torn by the nails," "the blood oozing over his hands, which twitched with every hammer blow." "And He suffered all this for love." "For love." "Forgive us our sins!" "Forgive us our sins!" "Marriage?" "." "Marriage is a law of nature." "And therefore, a law of God." "I don't question whether marriage is a natural and holy thing, but whether it is a right and proper thing that a priest might marry." "If you care to read every law in the New Testament, you won't find anywhere that it's forbidden to marry." "In fact, marriage is exalted so high it becomes a sacrament, doesn't it?" "." "Virginity is also praised as a noble virtue." "St Paul says that he who marries does a good thing, but he who remains chaste does something better." "Then I am content merely to do a good thing and leave the best to those that can face it." "Christ never forbade the apostles to marry." "Most of them were married, with families." "They gave them all up, nevertheless, to follow Him." "Out of convenience, not obligation." "I mean, can you imagine all those wives and children traipsing across those endless deserts and up the mountainsides?" "." "Oh, no, they remained well and truly married until the end." "So there is no law of God compelling Grandier to be celibate?" "." "I... take the words of Our Creator as my gospel," ""it is not good for man to be alone."" "You've almost put my conscience at rest." "Who is responsible?" "." "Who is in charge here?" "." "Speak, you have tongues!" "Who is responsible for this?" "." "I ask again, who is responsible here?" "." "Baron de Laubardemont," "First President of the Court of Appeal," "Member of the Council for the State and now His Majesty's Special Commissioner for the demolition of the fortifications of Loudun, at your service, Father." "For what purpose has His Majesty authorised the destruction of our town, Baron de Laubardemont?" "." "I thought you would have been the first to guess the purpose, Father, and the first to condone it." "Loudun is a nest of dangerous Huguenots." "They outnumber we good Catholics two to one." "Every single Protestant in Loudun remained loyal to the King and to France throughout the religious wars." "Today's loyalty is no guarantee against tomorrow's rebellion." "I speak as I find." "Where is His Majesty's proclamation?" "." "Don't concern yourself with politics, Father, your penitents are waiting." "Grandier!" "Grandier!" "I ask you once again, where is His Majesty's proclamation authorising this demolition?" "." "For a common priest you act uncommonly like a governor, Father." " Where is your authority?" "." " Here!" "By the authority of our late Governor, Sainte Marthe." "Assuring me full powers until such time as a new election is held." "Here!" "His Majesty's proclamation has been delayed." "The matter of a few days, a mere formality." "Should one more stone be torn from our city walls, you will be dead before it touches the ground." "Stop!" "Work will cease from this moment, pending the arrival of the proclamation." " Well done, Father." " God bless you, Father." " Only you could have done that, Father." " Thank you." "Good, Father." "Good." "We'll always think of you, Father, for what you've done." " Well done, Grandier." " Well done." " God bless you." " Well done, Father." "It is a simple matter to understand, Your Majesty." "The self-government of the small, provincial towns of France must cease." "The first step is to pull down all kinds of fortifications." "Yes!" "So now it's the turn of our town." " Is everything to be torn down?" "." " That is what they want." "It is a trick, of course!" "Every time there's a so-called nationalist revival, it means one thing, somebody is trying to seize control of the entire country." "The significance of our walls is that we are self-governing!" "Yes!" "Richelieu hates this." "He deceives the King." "If France is to fulfill her own destiny, she must be free within herself." "Yes!" "Ignorant and crafty provincials like us cannot see beyond the city walls." "And so they are ordered to be torn down." "Will it broaden our view?" "." "Such men, sire, have little vision." "Their loyalties are to their cities, not to France." "Yes!" "When a man is intent on power, as Richelieu is, he can justify his actions with absurdities." "Fortifications provide opportunities for Protestant uprising." "Yes!" "With our walls gone, we shall be defenseless, at the mercy of any enemy, as weak and as helpless as a country village." "And with the security of our independence gone, our freedoms would go, too." "We must write to the King, declare our loyalty and trust in his wisdom and justice." "No!" "All the others if you like, Richelieu." "If you can manage it." "But not Loudun." "We once promised dear old Sainte Marthe, the late lamented Governor, that we would never touch one teeny-weeny stone of his precious city." "You would surely not expect us to go back on our word?" "." "No, Your Majesty." "Yes!" "Yes!" " Out you go, pretty little birdie." " Fly away." "Another Protestant bird for your bag, Richelieu." "Honourably done, Your Majesty." "Bye-bye, blackbird!" ""Father Moussault was a very good man." ""It was God's will, but his death leaves us with a problem." ""We need a new Father Confessor." ""I have never met you, Father Grandier," ""but God has often put you into my thoughts lately."" "Bless this ring, O Lord, which we bless in thy name." "May she who is to wear it be ever faithful to her husband." "May she enjoy the peace of mind docile to thy will," "Loving and being loved in thee, as long as life shall last." ""And so Father Grandier, I trust you will become our spiritual director" ""and provide us with the guidance we need." ""Yours in Christ."" "With this ring, I thee wed." "This gold and silver, I thee give." "With my body, I thee worship." "And with all my worldly gifts, I thee endow." "In the name of the Father and of the Son" "and of the Holy Ghost." "Amen." "Grandier." "Grandier." "We should step out into the sunlight." "Bells should tell the world about us." "It shouldn't be night and as quiet as this." "Dear God, my husband, kiss me." "Son of a lawyer." "Nephew of the learned Canon Grandier of Sainte." "Educated for 10 years at the Jesuit College of Bordeaux as undergraduate, theological student, and after his ordination in 1615 as Jesuit novice." "At 27, after two years of advanced theology and philosophy, presented by the Jesuits with the important living at St Peter's in Loudun." " Made Canon of..." " Cha!" "With a progressive Jesuit upbringing, it's not surprising your priest is bold and wilful." "If he were allowed to become governor of Loudun, he would defend Catholic and Protestant alike." "And have command of the most heavily fortified town in all Poitou, Your Eminence." "As long as Loudun stands, we will never gain control of the Southwest." "Its fortifications must be demolished." "With the masonry, we could use to build your new town of Richelieu." "Except the rebel priest will not allow one stone to be touched." " And neither will the King." " That is a whim!" "But in the fullness of time, he will see that it is God's will." "And what of the militant Father Grandier, Your Eminence?" "." "He is far from whimsical." "If only for the sake of his immortal soul, the priest must be humbled and his pride crushed." "But with that Jesuit background, it will not be easy." "You know what they say, "Give us the first seven years" ""of a man's life and you can have the rest." " "You'll never break him."" " I, too, have a maxim, Eminence." "Give me three lines of a man's handwriting and I will hang him." "Doors!" "I want to marry Grandier!" "You're already married to Jesus!" "Silence!" "And do you, Madeleine de Brou, take me, Urbain Grandier, for your unlawfully wedded husband?" "." "I do, most un-reverend Father." "Then I now pronounce us man and wife!" "And they shall be one flesh!" "Sister Agnes, please stop this shameful mockery!" "But it's true." "The butcher told me and he heard it from the surgeon." "It happened last week." "I feel that I no longer have a true vocation, Reverend Mother." "And my confessor has advised me that I can be of more use out here in the city." "Whore, strumpet, hypocrite!" "Tell me you have no vocation!" "Of course you have a vocation!" "Fornicator!" "Fornicator, sacrilegious bitch, seducer of priests." "That's your calling!" "Your place is in a brothel." "You filthy whore!" "Get back to the gutter where you belong!" "If only he'd seen me first." "My face under its coif," "Like an angel's face peeping through a cloud." "And my eyes..." "Excuse me, Reverend Mother, but our new spiritual director is here, in the chapel." "He wishes to see you." "Grandier!" "Oh, Grandier." "Grandier, it's not too late, you'll see." "Where is Father Grandier?" "." "My name is Father Mignon." "My letter was to Father Grandier." "Father Grandier regrets he cannot accept the invitation to become director of your house." "I am to be your new confessor." "Father Grandier hasn't the time." "He has very pressing duties in the town." ""Pressing duties in the town."" "I must address myself to God in this matter." "Habit." "Habit." "It will never do." "It must be demured." "He speaks to me of love." "Lewd, wanton." "He plies me with caresses, lustful, obscene." "He enters my bed at night and takes from me that which is consecrated to my divine bridegroom, Jesus Christ." "And what form does this incubus take?" "." "Cock!" "Grandier." "What?" "." "Grandier." "Are you aware, my dear, of the seriousness of what you are saying?" "." "Yes." "Help me, Father." "But of course I can prove nothing." "This Mother Superior may be little more than a hysterical nun." "Exactly." "Mere conjecture." "Now, my daughter's pregnancy." "Is that not evidence enough?" "." "Evidence of fornication, certainly." "Yes, but whether lay or clerical, it might be rather difficult to prove." "As you should well know, Mr Magistrate." "He has a point there." "His Excellency has a point." "I told you." "Take her out!" "Surely our evidence is damning enough on its own." "A blasphemous nuptial Mass." "Observed from the back of the church in total darkness." "And fornication." "I've heard it, through the keyhole." "I have it documented. 10:00, 4:00 and half past eight yesterday." "Your patriotism does you proud, gentlemen, but it is not enough." "Father Mignon's evidence holds the most promise." "It must be substantiated, of course." "But if it is a genuine case of possession by devils and if Grandier himself was proved to be involved, yes, I think it bears investigation, gentlemen." "I shall be only too happy to supply you with any medical advice, Baron." "And I will comment on any chemical or biological manifestations." "May I attend as a disinterested party?" "." "Father?" "." "Certainly." "If this is a genuine case, then the more the merrier..." "She's already complaining of spasmodic swelling of the belly." "Fascinating!" "Not unusual." "Sense of false pregnancy." " Known it before." " Nothing to do with the devil." "Wind." "Conjecture is useless." "We need a professional witch-hunter." "We must send for Father Barre." "Good morning, Sister." "My name is Father Barre." "Are you well?" "." "I'm very well, thank you, Father." "Excellent." "Are you there?" "." "Are you there?" "." "Come now, declare yourself in the name of Our Lord, Jesus Christ." "Dear Sister in Christ, I must question you." "Will you kneel down?" "." "Do you remember the first time your thoughts were turned to evil things?" "." "Yes, Father." "I had a vision." "I saw a man walking across the waters of a lake." "I dried his person with my hair." "I had a great knowledge of love, which persisted throughout my prayers." "I could not rid my mind of this man for several days." "Who was this man?" "." "There was a mist." "I couldn't see him." "This is nothing." "This public exorcism was a mistake." "Let's stop it now before we become the laughing-stock of the entire town." "We are unconvinced, my dear Sister." "And if our conviction remains untouched," "I do not have to remind you that you face eternal damnation." "Poor Reverend Mother, what are they going to do now?" "." "Speak." "Speak." "It was night." "He came into my room, smiling." "Name him." " I cannot." "It was dark." " Was he alone?" "." "No, six of his creatures were with him." "Then?" "." "Then?" "." "He took me gently in his arms, he carried me into the chapel." "Each of his creatures took one of my beloved Sisters with them." "Come here." "What?" "." "She says she and her Sisters were compelled to form themselves into an obscene altar." " Shh!" " And were worshipped." "Again." "And then my love and I, in a naked embrace ascended into Heaven and bathed in a sea of stars." "I have found peace." "The woman's mad." " Morning." " Morning." " Where shall I put it?" "." " Down your end." " A bit chilly this morning." " Still, we mustn't complain." "That was no devil." "She spoke with her own voice." "The voice of a frustrated woman." "That's enough!" "Do not be so easily deceived." "Her very innocence is a sham, a mask of deceit devised by the cunning of Satan." "Be assured, the fiend is silently lurking in some hidden recess of her body." "This medical examination will reveal him and then we shall do battle." "This is a fiasco." "We shall need more evidence." "Find out when Grandier is away." "His room must be searched." "And your daughter may have to give testimony after all." "Yes, Excellency." "Yes." "Well?" "." " Well, as a professional man..." " He speaks for me." " I don't like to commit myself." " Even so." "Well, let's put it this way, there's been hanky-panky." "Don't mince words." "There's been fornication?" "." " Lust!" "She's been had, hmm?" "." " I'll say." "Thank you, gentlemen." "That's all I need." "Prepare for the exorcism." " My beloved Sister." " Yes?" "." " It must be extreme measures." " What do you mean, Father?" "." "The fiend must be forced from you." "Consecrate the water, please, Father Mignon." "Through that instrument, my child, lies your salvation." "Christ, no!" " Do you hear me, Asmodée?" "." " Mercy!" "Mercy!" "Unhand me, you Christ-loving runts!" "You are within." "The Antichrist has spoken!" "Forgive me." "I didn't mean it." "Mercy now after your blasphemy invoked against Our Lord?" "." "But Father Barre, it is I speaking to you now," "Sister Jeanne of the Angels." "You speak with many voices." "Christ protect me from the fangs of Satan!" "Silence, beast!" "No!" "Are you ready, Ibert?" "." " We are ready." " Then drive out the fiend." " Hold her steady!" " No, Father!" "No, Father!" "I exorcise thee, most vile spirit," " the very embodiment of our enemy..." " Oh, Jesus!" "Dear loving Jesus the entire stricture, the whole legion," " in the name of Jesus Christ." " No!" "These priests are depraved!" "It is they who are guilty of sacrilege." "Sister Jeanne is innocent!" "She has been deliberately provoked by the priests." " They have desecrated God's house." " Oh, shut up!" " Stop with this spectacle." " You're blind, all of you!" "This is an offence against the Holy Spirit!" "Who are these dissenters?" "." "The smaller one is Legrand, the baker." "The other one is Rangier, owns the largest hotel." "I think we might soon acquire an interest in the catering trade, my friend." "Excellent, it looks as if business will be brisk." "The tourist season will start early this year." "We need a larger theatre." "The Devil, it seems, departed from the Mother Superior at 10:45 precisely." "Who is responsible for this evil possession," "Sister Jeanne of the Angels?" "." " Priest." " A priest?" "." "Of what church?" "." " Peter's..." " St Peter's." "Tell his name." "Grandier." "Grandier!" "Don't go tomorrow." "Hmm?" "." "I must go." "If the city's to be saved, I must go." "Stay here and crush these slanders, then see the King." "And lose the chance of a royal audience for the sake of a crazy nun?" "." "While I'm away, the whole ridiculous affair will be forgotten." "Now go to sleep, will you?" "." "Have you offended this woman in any way?" "." "I have never seen her." "Then why has she picked on you?" "." "Oh, I don't know." "Secluded women." "They give themselves to God, but something remains which cries out to be given to man." "I mean, can you imagine being wakened in the night by a dream?" "." "A dream of your childhood or your lover" "or even the vision of a good meal." "Now, this is sin." "And so you must take up your little whip and start scourging your body." "This is discipline." "But pain is sensuality." "And in its vortex spin images of horror and lust." "My beloved Sister in Jesus seems to have set her mind on me." "There's no reason, a piece of gossip perhaps, overheard, magnified." "Anything found in the desert of a frustrated life can bring hope." "And with hope comes love." "And with love comes hate." "So I possess this woman." "May God help her in her misery and unhappiness." "And may God bless" "and cherish you while I am away." "You're accused of being in league with the devil!" "And in obstructing Father Barre's cure of Sister Jeanne." "You have rebelled against the will of the Church, the will of Christ and the will of his most holy representative, Cardinal Richelieu!" "And in resisting officers of the Crown in the passions of their duty, you are also guilty of treason!" "You are unrepentant heretics!" "There is no act more vile." "You're traitors!" "You'll be executed." "Now!" "Please, leave us!" "We love God!" "Stop!" "God has revealed to me that these good Sisters are addled with the fever that torments the body of Sister Jeanne." "The evil in her flesh has infected the young and innocent bodies of her charges." "Sin can be caught as easily as the plague!" "If Father Barre is right, my good Sisters, you may save yourselves yet." "You would not be the first to see the light." "You are tainted!" "The Devil is in your flesh!" "The evil spirit of Grandier has taken possession of your souls." "Now you resist him, but soon he will have his way!" "You will scream." "Yes." " You will blaspheme." " Yes." "You will no longer be responsible for your actions." "Denounce your devilish master Grandier!" "And we will save you!" "A quick word before I leave for home." "The King was very sympathetic." "After reading our petition, he dictated a letter ordering Laubardemont to leave our walls intact." "I could hardly believe that so important a thing could be settled so easily." "The more I think about it, the more it seems that the King's heart was moved by something more than usual good sense and understanding." "Each morning I wake up with a feeling of optimism so strong as to be almost absurd." "The truth of the matter is that Richelieu rules the King." "At the moment the King is smiling on us, but that may not last too long." "We will need help and courage." "Strange thoughts come to me." "I am like a man who has been lost, who has always been lost." "Now, for all kinds of reasons, I have a vague sense of meaning and can think of myself as a small part of God's abundance, which includes everything." "And I know I want to serve it." "I want to serve the people of Loudun." "I want to serve you." "Pray for us all." "Especially me." "Tell me, tell me." " That's a left ventricle." " It's part of a heart of a child." "Sacrificed at a witches' Sabbath, no doubt." " Look, a consecrated wafer." " Yeah." "Thick blood." "Blood of a man." "Grandier." "Grandier?" "." "That slimy substance could only be semen." " And what's that?" "." " That's a carrot." "Make way for His Excellency, the Duke de Condé." "Make way!" "I don't wish, my dear Father, to disturb your devotions and I would never suggest a member of the Royal Family, albeit one so close to the King, should take precedence over God all the same." " Love me!" "Love me!" " I am at your service, sire." "These raving women are possessed of devils, I take it?" "." "Oh, you lovely man." "Acting on the instigation of a priest, sire." "So I understand." "Oh!" "Most amusing." "Pray proceed." "Kiss me!" "Kiss me!" "Those are women, my darling." "Look well." "Vomit, if you wish." "No, don't touch them." "Man is born of them." "Gross things, nasty." "Breeding ground." "Eggs hatched out in hot dung." "No, don't wrinkle your little nose, my pet." "Here." "Take this scent." "Some men love them." "This poor deluded priest, Grandier, for example, he deserves all he gets." "With your permission, sire, I'll begin." "Please do so." "But first I have a declaration to make." "This, sire, contains the Holy Eucharist." "Heavenly Father, I pray that I may be confounded and that the maledictions of Dathan and Abiram may fall upon me if I have sinned or been at fault in any way in this affair." "A very commendable gesture." "Bravo!" "Leviathan!" "Leviathan!" "Rouse yourself." "Rouse yourself in the name of Our Lord, Jesus Christ!" "Reverend Father, I notice that you don't speak to these creatures in Latin, as is usual." "Why is that?" "." "They're not conversant with the language." "You understand, sire, that there are uneducated as well as educated devils." "I am a travelling monkey." "Quite." "Listen, filth, I'm going to speak a name to you." "Grandier!" "Grandier!" "Father, may I try this?" "." "What is in the casket, sire?" "." "A holy relic from the King's own chapel." "A phial of the blood of Our Lord, Jesus Christ." "Tell me, Father, what effect would the close proximity of this relic have on devils such as these?" "It would put them to flight." " At once?" "." " Immediately!" "Of course, I couldn't guarantee that when the relic was removed they wouldn't return." "Of course not." "That would be asking too much." "Would you care to try?" "." "In the name of Our Heavenly Father, I conjure thee, most frightful beings, by this most sacred substance, to depart!" "I am free." " I'm free." " You are most welcome, my child." "You see?" "." "You see, Father?" "." "What sort of a trick have you played on us?" "." "Oh, Reverend, sir, what sort of a trick are you playing on us?" "." "Have fun." "Goodbye, ladies." "I am very pleased to have been of some service." "Come along, my darlings." "...so is the Lord within thee." "Te Deum!" "I know I am a weak, bad man." "But after this journey, I may find the strength to change, to summon towards myself the goodwill and wisdom that lies in the people of Loudun." "The King has secured our stones." "Now we have to show him that the city is the strength that lives in the hearts of men, that greed and dissension will never destroy her." "And with God's help, we will change her walls to terraces that have the colour of stars." "Save yourself, my daughter, save us all!" "Dispel your evil seducer forever, reclaim his guilt to the world." "Give us peace!" "Give us peace!" "Yield not to me but to the minister of Christ, of His power urges thee, who subjugated thee to..." "You have turned the house of the Lord into a circus!" "And its servants into clowns." "You have seduced the people in order to destroy them!" "You have perverted the innocent." "And was not that innocent child, Madame de Brou perverted by your blasphemous nuptial Mass?" "." "It wasn't blasphemy!" "We were married without guilt in the eyes of God!" "He is witness to our love." "I have prostituted myself!" "For Grandier." "I have prostituted myself." "He promised to make me a princess in the Devil's court." "He took me to the witches' Sabbath." "He defiled my body." "He was naked." "He bears the five marks of the Evil One, the first mark is on the shoulder." "The second on the tongue, the third on the rump, the fourth, the fifth on his right testicle and his left testicle." "If no blood flows when these areas are cut or pricked, this is the true sign of the Devil!" "No!" "Call me vain and proud, the greatest sinner ever to walk on God's earth." "But Satan's boy I could never be!" "I haven't the humility." "I know what I have sown and I am prepared for what I shall reap." "But do you, Reverend Mother, know what you must give to have your wish about me fulfilled?" "." "I will tell you." "Your immortal soul to eternal damnation." "May God have mercy on you." "Seize him!" " On what charge?" "." " Heresy!" "Grandier is innocent!" "This inquisition has been designed to implicate an innocent man!" " Arrest those men!" " Evil!" "Evil!" "He is the Devil's filth." "He is a fornicator of women!" "This is a plot." "Stop!" "We must stop them!" "A scheme to take him from us!" "And when he's gone, to take our city!" "Our freedom!" "For the sake of Christ, don't stand there." "Help him!" "Forgive her!" "Forgive her!" "She has been broken by the priests!" "No blood where the tongue was pricked." "True sign of the Devil." "Ladies!" "Please." ""This said priest, Urbain Grandier, did debauch and defile my person" ""six times between midnight and dawn" ""on the night of May the 13th, in the year of our Lord, 1634."" "And remember, Sister, any attempt to retract all or part of this statement at any time will result in you being condemned, not only in the next world, but also in this one, as well." "Cut her down!" "Cut her down!" "Is she dead?" "." "Is she dead?" "." "She's still breathing." "This is Grandier's work, my child." "You'll never be free of him until we've brought him to justice." "Oh, Christ..." "Oh, Christ..." "I want..." "Oh, God, I need..." "I thought I had found you." "And now you have forsaken me." "The Baron Laubardemont tells me you're ready to confess again, my dear Sister." "Yes, I want to make amends." "Grandier." "I've wronged an innocent man, Father." "My poor deluded child." "It is not you speaking, but the devils within you, trying to protect Grandier." "The exorcisms have failed." "We must resort to other measures." "Did you sleep well?" "." "With all this noise?" "." "There are thousands out there, where would you expect them to get the beds from?" "." "Besides, they're all too excited." "About what?" "." "Oh, your execution." "I have not been tried yet." "All right." "Have it your own way." "Your trial, then." "You are going to be tortured." "How is Madeleine?" "." "I'm told she's putting the last touches to her confession of your mutual sins." "Good." "Then I shall confirm her accusations." "Have you thought of the pain to come?" "." "It cannot be different to the pain I have seen." "True." "Except of course, in its location." "It will be in you rather than your congregation." "I dread pain." "Well, perhaps the judges will think it unnecessary." "Or perhaps, as one who has sustained so much pleasure, you will take to pain, its ugly sister, without the usual noises of complaint." "I shall scream and admit to everything." "Oh, come, Grandier." "A man like you?" "." "All the more for that." "Why don't you offer up your pain to God?" "." "You've lived by your senses, obviously you can die by them." "I will try, Baron." "I hope you will pray for me." "Oh, I will, Father." "I will." "And I will pray for you." "You have one consolation." "Hell will hold no surprises for you." "May God have mercy on us both." "The evidence against you is irrefutable." "Your house has been searched." "Various manuscripts have been found." "Amongst them is this pamphlet, directed against His Eminence, Cardinal Richelieu." "You have also roused the temper of the populace against His Eminence by denouncing him in a public place." "Notebooks and letters of a more personal kind were also discovered." "A treatise on celibacy in the priesthood was found." "The man appears to have been in love when this was written." "We have also the written confession of his wife." "What have you done with her?" "." "Too distressed by realisation of her guilt to give personal testimony that she went through a mock marriage ceremony with the accused in his own church of St Peter's." "It was a real ceremony." "A simple act of committal done with my heart in the hope of coming to God" "through the love of a woman." "We have also letters from women who he did not marry." "One of which appears to suggest that he committed sexual intercourse under the very roof of the church itself!" "For the love of Jesus Christ!" "If you wish to destroy me, then destroy me." "Accuse me of exposing political chicanery and the evils of the State and I will plead guilty." "But what man can face arraignments on the idiocy of youth?" "." "Old love letters and other pathetic objects stuffed in drawers or in the bottom of cupboards." "Things kept for a day when he would need to be reminded that he was once loved." "To continue the evidence, my lords," "we have heard testimony from sober citizens, saying how they were bewitched by you into attending a black Mass." "We have heard real devils speaking through the mouths of Ursuline nuns, swearing again and again that the accused is a sorcerer!" "And since, when duly constrained by Holy Exorcist, the Devil is bound to tell the truth, it follows that..." "Lies!" "Lies and heresy!" "The Devil is a liar and the father of lies." "If the Devil's evidence is to be accepted, the virtuous people are in the greatest of danger." "For it is against these that Satan rages most violently." "I had never set eyes on Sister Jeanne of the Angels until the day of my arrest." "But the Devil has spoken!" "And to doubt his word is sacrilege." "You have totally perverted Christ's own teaching." "This new doctrine," "Laubardemont's new doctrine, Barre's new doctrine, especially invented for this occasion, is the work of men who are not concerned with fact or with law or with theology" "but a political experiment to show how the will of one man can be pushed into destroying not only one man or one city but one nation!" "This is not a political trial." "Remove the prisoner." "The court will retire to consider its verdict." "Good morning, Mr Surgeon." "Good morning to you." "Good morning, Mr Chemist." "What have you got there?" "." "It's a razor." " Must it be this way?" "." " Yes, order of the court." "Well, Mr Surgeon, have all your studies and training brought you only this, to be a barber?" "." "You're in no position to judge others." "Get on with it." "The court is waiting to pass sentence." "Just a minute." " Have you got a mirror?" "." " No, of course not." "Wait." "There's this." "Harken all good people to me" "For I've a tale of devils free" "The first was in the soul of a priest" "For he did bear the mark of a beast" "The next was in the heart of a nun" "And she was doomed as she begun" "The third kept in a love they wear" "Inside of a maid so young and fair" "O harken all good people to me..." "Silence in court." "Urbain Grandier, you have been found guilty of commerce with the Devil." "And that you used this unholy alliance to possess, seduce and debauch certain Sisters of the Holy Order of St Ursula." "You have also been found guilty of obscenity, blasphemy and sacrilege." "It is ordered that you proceed and kneel at the doors of St Peter's and Saint Ursula's and there, with a rope round your neck and a two-pound taper in your hand, ask pardon of God, the King and justice." "Next, it is ordered that you be taken to the marketplace, tied to a stake and burned alive, after which your ashes will be scattered to the four winds." "It has been decided that a commemorative plaque shall be set up in the Ursulines' chapel." "The cost of this, yet to be ascertained, will be chargeable to your confiscated estate." "Lastly, before sentence is carried out, you will be subjected to the question, both ordinary and extraordinary." "Pronounced at Loudun, the 18th of August, 1634, and executed the same day." "Have you anything to say?" "." "My lords, I am innocent of the charges." "And I am afraid." "But I have the hope in my heart that before this day ends," "Almighty God will glance aside and let my suffering atone for my vain and disordered life." "Amen." "Amen." "Come." "Confess your guilt." "Tell us the names of your accomplices!" "Then perhaps my lords the judges will show mercy." "I have no accomplices." "These crimes are not my crimes." "Please stop this foolishness." "We both know why I have been brought to trial." "And we both know why I have been found guilty." "Devil!" "Witch!" "Heretic!" "Ignore him!" "What you see is not dignity but pride, unrepentant pride." "His calm is nothing but the brazen insolence of Hell!" "Clear the court." "We humbly beg of thee, Almighty God, in thy goodness, bless these instruments which thou has created and given to us for our sacred use." "Devils in pieces of wood now, Barre?" "." "If they are not driven out, your devils might, by their infernal arts, prevent the torture from being as excruciating as it should be." "Then you would never confess and your soul would be damned for eternity." "Are you ready to confess?" "." "I have been a man." "I have loved women." "I have enjoyed power." "That's not what we want." "You've been a magician." "You've had commerce with devils." "I exorcise thee and command spirits," "In the name of Almighty God, to depart from this man." "Confess." "Confess!" "Do you believe in your conscience that a man should confess to crimes that he has not committed" "simply to ease his pain?" "." "Hit!" "Tremble not to think human weakness is miserable." "Oh, God!" "More wedges." "Please, God, don't let this pain make me forget you." "Any confession?" "." "He called on God to give him strength." "His god is the Devil and its own." "Made him insensible to pain." "Pay no attention to these tears." " They are the Devil's tears." " Confess?" "." "There are 6,000 Christian souls waiting for you in the marketplace." "Tell me, do you love the Church?" "." "Not today." "Do you want to see it grow more powerful?" "." "More benevolent, until it embraces every human soul on this earth?" "." "Then help us to achieve this great purpose." "Go to the marketplace a penitent man." "Confess." "And by confessing, proclaim to those thousands that you have returned to the Church's arms." "By going to the stake unrepentant, you do God a disservice." "You give hope to unbelievers." "Such an act can mine the very foundations of the Church." "You are no longer important." "Well, think." "Are you any longer important?" "." "I was never important." "Then make a last supreme gesture for the Catholic faith." "Go away, Laubardemont." "You are becoming tedious." "Do you know that the King has gone back on his word because of your crimes?" "." "The walls will come down, the city will be destroyed." "We have won." " You have lost!" " Won!" "Sign it!" "You will sign." "Get up." "What is this place?" "." "The convent of St Ursula." "The place you have defiled." "Do what must be done." "Ask forgiveness of Sister Jeanne and these good women you have wronged." "I have done no such thing." "I could only ask." "God will forgive them." "He always spoke of your beauty." "Now I see it with my own eyes and know it's true." "Look at this thing that I am and learn the meaning of love." "Devil." "Devil!" "Devil!" "Devil!" "Forgive us, O God, who condemned thee and Judas Iscariot, the traitor." "For he presses on thee with perpetual flame, who shall see the end of time to the wicked, cursed into everlasting fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his angels." "For thee, this one and the angels are prepared worms which never die." "Thou art the chief of accursed murder, thou are the author of incest, the head of sacrilege, the master of the worst actions, the teacher of heretics." "I must ask your forgiveness, priest, for what I must do." "But you can make a speech if you like." "And before the fire is lit, I shall strangle you." "It will be quick, I promise you." "I exorcise thee, creatures..." "Confess!" "Confess!" "Beg forgiveness." "Forgive me for defending your city so badly!" "Confess!" "Confess!" "See how he flinches, see how he denies his Redeemer." "Confess!" "I have finished confessing." "Give me the kiss of peace and let me die." "Kiss the Devil?" "." "Kiss the evil fiend?" "." "The Antichrist, the sink of all iniquity, all evil?" "." "Never!" "Kiss!" "Kiss!" "Kiss!" "Kiss!" "The impious one and thy angels has prepared the unquenchable fire." "Kiss him." "Because thou, the chief of accursed murder..." "Kiss him." "Kiss him." "...the head of sacrilege, the master of the worst actions, the teacher of heretics, the inventor of all obscenities, the foul, impious one..." "Don't!" "Judas!" "Judas!" "Judas!" "Confess you are the Devil's servant." "Renounce your master!" "I am about to meet the God who is my witness and I have spoken the truth." "Confess!" "Confess!" "You have only a moment to live." "Only a moment." "And then I go to that just and fearful judgment to which you, too, Reverend Father will soon be called." "May your body be consumed by eternal fire!" "Away, priest!" "He's to be strangled." "I promised he was to be strangled!" "Strangled!" "Strangled!" "Strangled!" "Is this what you promised me?" "." "Where is the noose?" "." "Where is the noose?" "." "No!" "I need a noose!" "The flames!" "I can't, the flames!" "Sorry, priest." "Sorry!" "Burn, burn, burn!" " Burn!" "Burn!" " Watch, bastard." "See how your mother's honour was avenged." "Lucky little bastard." "It's not every day baby sees Daddy burned to death." "Don't look at me!" "Look at your city!" "If your city is destroyed, your freedom is destroyed also!" "Unrepentant to the last!" "The fiend still speaks." "Confess!" "Confess!" "If you would remain free men, fight!" "Fight them or become their slaves!" "I'm purging my own devils." "What devils?" "." "Isacaaron, Balaam..." "They say they can stand up to the Church, but they can't stand up to this bitch." "Jeanne, you're being hysterical." "Where's Father Barre?" "." "I was expecting him." "He's off to Poitiers." "A nun is reported to be having commerce with your lsacaaron, in the form of a three-legged dog." "But there was going to be a public exorcism tomorrow in St Peter's." "Father Mignon could manage." "Father Mignon has been put away." "He's quite demented." "He keeps babbling that we've destroyed an innocent man." "And with no signed confession to prove otherwise, everyone has the same opinion." "Pity, that." "No, with Grandier gone, you are no longer possessed." " It's simple." " What shall I do?" "." "Pray for your salvation." "Do penance." "Stay here quietly, of course." "What else?" "." "Well, there'll be a few tourists occasionally to brighten things up." "But that won't last long." "Soon the town will die, you will be left in peace and oblivion." "Oh, I almost forgot." "Souvenir."