He and his companions were driven out of Toulouse, Narbonne, and several other towns by the heretics. There were others who worked with him through the long and difficult years in Toulouse, but these were the ones who died in the martyrdom of Avignonet. In a short time it regained possession of Toulouse and several armed strongholds nearby. When William Arnaud and his companions came into the vicinity, they found every gate closed against them.
They took refuge in a farmhouse outside of Avignonet and preached around the countryside for some time. Because they had some measure of success, the heretics intensified their efforts to entrap and kill the inquisitors. The members of the commission realized that they were only one step from death. They might have escaped and gone safely to some other part of the country had they chosen to do so.
Instead, they remained where obedience had assigned them, and at the end of May , they were given a heavenly warning that they were about to receive the crown of martyrdom. William was absent from the rest of the group when the plot was formed to kill them. Being told of a vision of martyrdom by one of the brothers, he hurried back to rejoin his group.
The heretics completed their plans to massacre the entire party. Scheming carefully, they set the scene at the country castle of one of the wealthy members of their group.
In order to make sure of getting the inquisitors into the trap, they sent word to William that a confirmed heretic of his acquaintance wished to abjure his heresy and return to the faith. Knowing well that it was a trap, William still could not refuse to go.
