Gabriel, however, had come to make one last supreme effort to save at least one of the condemned,--the one who was to suffer last, and whom he reproached himself for having involuntarily, by his well-meant advice, led into this fatal extremity,--the young and gallant Castelnau de Chalosses. Castelnau, we must remember, had surrendered only upon the written and subscribed assurance of the Duc de Nemours, who had guaranteed his life and liberty; whereas, immediately upon reaching Amboise he had been cast into prison, and to-day was to be beheaded,--last of all, as being the most guilty of all. We must, however, be just to the Duc de Nemours. When he saw his word and honor as a gentleman thus compromised, he was in despair, and indignant to the highest degree; and for three weeks he went ceaselessly from the Cardinal de Lorraine to the Duc de Guise, and from Mary Stuart to, the king, begging and demanding and imploring the release of him to whom he owed this debt of honor. But the Chancellor Olivier, to whom they referred the question, declared, according to Monsieur de Vieilleville, that "a king is in nowise bound by his word to a rebellious subject, nor by any promise whatsoever made to him on his [the king's] behalf." This almost broke the heart of the Duc de Nemours, "who," the chronicler naïvely adds, "was worried only about his signature; for as to his word, he would always have given the lie to any one without exception who dared to upbraid him for it, save his Majesty alone, so valiant and noble-hearted a prince was he!" Like Gabriel, the Duc de Nemours had been drawn to the place of execution--which was more terrible to him than to any other--by a secret hope of still saving Castelnau at the last moment. Meanwhile the Duc de Guise, on horseback, with his captains beneath the gallery, had given a signal to the executioners; and the punishments and singing of psalms began again after the brief interruption. In less than a quarter of an hour eight heads fell. The fair young queen was almost fainting. Only four conspirators remained at the foot of the scaffold. The clerk read in a loud voice,-- "Albert Edmond Roger, Comte de Mazères, guilty of heresy, of the crime of _lèse-majesté_, and of attacking with arms in his hand the person of the king." "'T is false!" cried the Comte de Mazères from the scaffold. Then, showing to the people his blackened arms and his breast all bruised by the torture, he continued: "See the condition to which I have been reduced in the king's name! But I know that he knows nothing of it; and so I still cry, _Vive le roi_!" His head fell. The last three Protestants who were awaiting their turns at the foot of the scaffold sang again the first verse of the psalm,-- "Dieu nous soit doux et favorable, Nous bénissant par sa bonté, Et de son visage adorable Nous fasse luire sa clarté."[6] The clerk's voice was heard once more,--