_"
So they chanted in their white robes in the Chapel of the Holy
Innocents in the Castle of Machecoul near by the Atlantic shore.
The chamber of Gilles de Retz testified to the extraordinary
advancement of that great man in knowledge which has been claimed as
peculiar to much later centuries. The window casements were so
arranged that in a moment the place could either be made as dark as
midnight or flooded with bright light. The walls were always freshly
whitewashed, and the lime was constantly renewed. The stone floor was
stained a deep brick red, and that, too, would often be applied
freshly during the night. At a time when the very word "sanitation"
was unknown, Gilles had properly constructed conduits leading from an
adjoining apartment to the castle ditch. The chimney was wide as a
peasant's whole house, and the vast fireplace could hold on its iron
dogs an entire waggon-load of faggots. Indeed, that amount was
regularly consumed every day when the marshal deigned to abide at
Machecoul for his health and in pursuance of his wonderful studies
into the deep things of the universe.
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