The Hunchback of Notre-Dame: Novel Summary: Book VII Chapter 5

Summary
Maitre Jacques, the King's attorney, enters with affected gentleness and Jehan apprehends that he has come for instruction. Frollo and Jacques discuss the torture being used to extract a confession from an accused sorcerer, a former butler of the Court, and Frollo inspects a parchment found in the man's home. When Jacques explains that the court is ready to apprehend the dancing gypsy girl and that her guilt is presupposed, Frollo turns pale and asks that the court wait until he has given his approval. The two men are about to leave when Frollo sees a spider taking a fly into its web. The attorney attempts to free the fly but the priest vehemently commands him to let fate take its course. The priest muses upon the lessons of the fly and the spider but his reverie is interrupted by the sound of Jehan chewing a stale piece of bread under the furnace. He tells Jacques that the noise is from a cat and the two depart.