midnight
The friar who occupied the cell above and who was my jailer was the only person I ever saw except when tortured . `` At the end of a week Ser Nuto came into the cell and , calling down through the grating , said ; ` Climb up ; you are to go before the holy tribunal . ' The grating was opened , a ladder let down and I climbed up and was led across the open court through a long hall into a large room , where twelve men , laymen and ecclesiastics , sat , the prelate acting as presiding officer . It must have been near midnight . I remember when I crossed the court how brilliantly the stars shone . `` When I came into the room , the prelate said ; ` You are charged with the heinous sin of sacrilegious utterances against the holy church , which you will confess and for which you will be tortured even after confession . Your torturing , because of your insults to the church and its high officials , will be a compound of duty and pleasure to us .