sations were so glaringly improbable, that he had not felt
the least anxiety. But as the case went on it assumed such an important
aspect, and the hatred displayed by his enemies was so intense, that the
fate of the priest Gaufredi, referred to by Mignon, occurred to Urbain's
mind, and in order to be beforehand with his enemies he determined to
lodge a complaint against them. This complaint was founded on the fact
that Mignon had performed the rite of exorcism in the presence of the
civil lieutenant, the bailiff, and many other persons, and had caused
the nuns who were said to be possessed, in the hearing of all these
people, to name him, Urbain, as the author of their possession. This
being a falsehood and an attack upon his honour, he begged the bailiff,
in whose hands the conduct of the affair had been specially placed, to
order the nuns to be sequestered, apart from the rest of the sisterhood
and from each other, and then to have each separately examined. Should
there appear to be any evidence of possession, he hoped that the bailiff
would be pleased to appoint clerics of well-known rank and upright
character to perform whatever exorcisms were needful; such men having no
bias against him would be more impartial than Mignon and his adherents.
He also called upon the bailiff to have an exact report drawn up
of everything that took place at the exorcisms, in order that, if
necessary, he as petitioner might be able to lay it before anyone to
whose judgment he might appeal. The bailiff gave Grandier a statement of
the conclusions at which he had arrived, and told him that the exorcisms
had been performed that day by Barre, armed with the authority of the
Bishop of Poitiers himself. Being, as we have seen, a man of common
sense and entirely unprejudiced in the matter, the bailiff advised
Grandier to lay his complaint before his bishop; but unfortunately he
was under the authority of the Bishop of Poitiers, who was so prejudiced
against him that he had done everything in his power to induce the
Archbishop of Bordeaux to refuse to ratify the decision in favour of
Grandier, pronounced by the presidial court. Urbain could not hide from
the magistrate that he had nothing to hope for from this quarter, and
it was decided that he should wait and see what the morrow would bring
forth, before taking any further step.

The impatiently expected day dawned at last, and at eight o'clock in
the morning the bailiff, the king's attorney,