id of his corpse.
It was only after the turmoil had ended and the two walked out of the prison side by side, did Edith tentatively ask, "The surname that man mentioned earlier...?"
"He mistook me for someone else." Andre interrupted her icily.
-----------------------
"...We all know that Quenet was born to be a deathsman. When he gives speeches in the National Convention and the Jacobin Club, he often can''t control himself from clenching his five fingers and violently swinging his palm downward - it is hard for anyone with basic imagination not to associate it with the guillotine''s blade.
"This man is a disciple of the Marquis de Sade①. Blood and torture arouse his desires. Some have seen him interrogating prisoners, always bringing a woman to watch together: as he witnesses the most gruesome scenes imaginable, he becomes so excited that he cannot control himself. Then he indulges in carnal pleasure with the woman in the meantime, using lust to deepen this evil delight..."
"This is too much!" Edith could no longer continue reading and angrily crumpled the newspaper in her hand before storming out of the room.
As she passed through the living room, the girl overheard her aunt and sister talking.
"Please, Margot, ask Philippe to send that friend of his away from our house! I can no longer bear it with my nerves!" It was the kind of reedy, quavering voice of Aunt Adele''s, a sign of her nervous breakdown.
"Mother, you need to calm down. Those rumours are not true. It''s just that recent events have made you too anxious."
"How can I not be anxious? Every day, there are deaths, deaths! And a carpenter claimed that he saw Quenet licking the fresh blood from the guillotine at midnight! And I can''t help but think of his unchanging appearance for over a decade, it makes me even more fearful..."
"This is ridiculous, Aunt! How can you believe such filthy slanderous words?!" Edith burst into the room, waving her hand in indignation.
Since the revolution, Aunt Adele had always been a bit afraid of her little niece. At this moment, the old woman was involuntarily curling up in her chair.
"I have seen how soft-hearted he can be in Vendée. His heart is more merciful tha