The story goes that her husband's
corpse, being thrown over, fell against hers and set it free, both
floating away together down the stream. Madeleine Briconnet, the widow
of Theobald of Yverni, disguised herself as a woman of the people, so
that she might save her life, but was betrayed by the fine petticoat
which hung below her coarse gown. As she would not recant, she was
allowed a few moments' prayer, and then tossed into the water. Her
son-in-law, the marquis Renel, escaping in his shirt, was chased by the
murderers to the bank of the river, where he succeeded in unfastening a
boat. He would have got away altogether but for his cousin Bussy
d'Amboise, who shot him down with a pistol. One Keny, who had been
stabbed and flung into the Seine, was revived by the reaction of the
cold water. Feeble as he was he swam to a boat and clung to it, but was
quickly pursued. One hand was soon cut off with a hatchet, and as he
still continued to steer the boat down the stream, he was "quieted" by a
musket-shot. One Puviaut, or Pluviaut, who met with a similar fate,
became the subject of a ballad.
Captain Moneins had been put into a safe hiding-place by his friend
Fervacques, who went and begged the King to spare the life of the
fugitive. Charles not only refused, but ordered him to kill Moneins if
he desired to save his own life.
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