Pope Clément VI died in his sleep in the Palais des Papes one fine morning in the year 1352 but not before he had sent for Marius to attend his deathbed.
The Magistrate knelt and placed an ear to the Pontiff’s face to better hear his fading voice.
“Marius, my Magistrate and, I hope, my friend.” He held the Justice’s hand. “My time is at an end, but I am not afraid to meet my Maker. There is one last confession… I have held an enduring rancour…vengeance for a deed your father perpetrated when we were mere children. Any need for retribution, I wish you to know, is satisfied forever. Please forgive me, Marius…you are a credit to his memory…”
With that, Clément breathed his last. His soul was finally at rest.
The End
The EndJohn Bentley
John BentleyHeckington, November 2019
Heckington,
