The sole immediate step taken by the Inquisitors in consequence of these
revelations was the secret execution of Spinosa, a Neapolitan, whom
Pierre described as an emissary of the Duke d'Ossuna; and whom he
appears to have regarded with jealousy as a spy upon his own conduct.
For the rest, the magistrates contented themselves, as it, seems, by
awaiting the maturity of the plot with silent vigilance. Ten months
elapsed during which Pierre communicated on the one hand with the Duke
d'Ossuna, unsuspicious of his treachery, and on the other with the
Inquisitors; till at the expiration of that term he was seized by an
order of the X, while employed on his duties with the Fleet, and drowned
without the grant of sufficient delay even for previous religious
confession. More, perhaps many more, than three hundred French and
Spaniards engaged in various naval and military capacities were at the
same time delivered to the executioner; and Renault, after undergoing
numerous interrogatories, and being placed seven times on the cord, was
hanged by one foot on a gibbet on the _Piazzetta_, which day after day
presented similar exhibitions of horror.
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