With that he let his great round head, with his bloated, purple face, fall upon his breast, and reflected magisterially.
"Whereas," he began, after meditating a few moments, raising his head, and lifting the index finger of his right hand,—"write, Master Clerk,—whereas Jacques Aubry, clerk of the Basoche, has pleaded guilty to the charge of seducing one Gervaise-Perrette Popinot by fine promises and simulated affection, we sentence said Jacques Aubry to pay a fine of twenty Paris sous, to support the child, if it is a boy, and to pay the costs."
"And the imprisonment?" cried Aubry.
"Imprisonment! what do you mean?" asked the judge.
"Why, I mean the imprisonment. For Heaven's sake, aren't you going to sentence me to prison?"
"No."
"You're not going to order me committed to the Châtelet as Ascanio was?"
"Who's Ascanio?"
"Ascanio is a pupil of Master Benvenuto Cellini."
"What did he do?"