Marchioness of Brinvilliers

“ A more perfect adept in all the arts of gallantry than Sainte-Croix never encountered a more passionate and more calculating woman than Marie de Brinvilliers.
‘Gaudin!’ said the Marchioness, in a low, sweet voice, ‘you love me—still?’
‘Ever—ever!’ murmured Sainte-Croix. And so far as passion is love, he spoke truly at that moment.
‘I cannot live without thee, Gaudin,’ continued Marie. ‘Antoine knows of our love. I saw it in his face to-night as we returned from the Place Maubert. He will kill thee, Gaudin; and, my father—’ Marie shuddered with well-feigned terror. ”

“ With a hasty shriek Marie flung her lover from her, and retreated as far as the couch would allow her, repeating, as if in a dream, ‘Die! my husband and my father!’
‘Ay,’ said Gaudin, uttering each word slowly and calmly, as if he would have had it sink into the heart and memory of her he was addressing. ‘Ay—die! if we are to give the rein to our attachment. I cannot brook the slow and secret arts of an intrigue with thee, Marie; my love must have full scope and open daylight. I repeat, your husband and father must be removed. Do you understand me?’
The Marchioness returned no answer. ”

“ As Maître Glazer recognised his visitor, he rose and saluted her respectfully, with a reverence due to her rank; for it was Marie-Marguerite d’Aubray, Marchioness of Brinvilliers.
‘I am paying you a late visit to-night, Maître Glazer,’ she said laughingly; ‘it is lucky your assistant is here, or we might furnish scandal for our good city of Paris.’
‘Your reputation would be safe with so old a man as myself, madame,’ replied the apothecary; ‘even with your most bitter enemy. ”

“ Without waiting for a return of the salutation, Gaudin left the door and hurried along the archway towards the staircase, evidently impelled by no ordinary excitement. He had called that evening upon Madame de Brinvilliers, at her hotel in the Rue des Cordeliers, to seek an interview with her upon the subject of her acquaintance made with Theria at the Jacobins, which since last evening had been rankling in his heart. For some of the busy tongues of Paris had long whispered of a liaison that passed the bounds of friendship, between Gaudin and the Marchioness ”

“ Chavagnac has promised me my revenge at De Lauzun’s.’
‘You have rich jewels, too, about you,’ continued Exili, peering at him with a fearful expression. ‘The carcanet, I see, has been redeemed, and becomes you well. That diamond clasp is a fortune in itself.’
The gaze of the physician grew every moment more peculiar, as he gazed at Gaudin’s rich attire.
‘Beware!’ cried Sainte-Croix; ‘if you touch one, I will hew you down as I would a dog. Not one of them is mine. They belong to the Marchioness of Brinvilliers.’
‘Nay,’ replied Exili, changing his tone, ‘I did but admire them. ”

“ One would imagine, if all were true, that the poisoners were in the very heart of the Hôtel Dieu.’
‘I must have taken some myself,’ said Maître Picard. ‘My spirits sink, and I have a constant thirst; my pulse flutters too, wonderfully, albeit my body does not waste.’
‘May not Spara’s disciples have got to the hospital?’ asked the bourgeois who had before spoken.
‘Pshaw!’ said Philippe; ‘the sisters of charity are the only persons who tend our sick, and we can trust them. The Marchioness of Brinvilliers is amongst them. ”

“ Be satisfied with the crime—by committing which both our souls are lost—as a sufficient safeguard of our future attachment; if you will take no more human assurance. Believe in me, if not from truth, from mutual guilt, and reign my sole, adored one.’
Subdued by his overcharged feelings, his head fell upon the lap of the Marchioness as he uttered the foregoing words with wild and impassioned energy, and he burst into tears. It is a strange sight, that of a man weeping: and when Marie saw a man like Gaudin de Sainte-Croix thus overcome and at her feet, she was for the moment affected. ”

“ Remember that we shall meet no more. O madame! for your own sake! as you valued Gaudin’s love! do not go forth to-morrow in enmity against one who, if she wronged you, did it innocently. What can I do to serve you?’
She uttered the last words with such truthful earnestness that Marie’s pride relaxed, and Pirot at the same instant rose from his prie-dieu and came towards them. As Louise extended her hand the Marchioness took it, and he saw, for the first time since he had been with her, that she was weeping. ”

“ I have come in all good feeling—if you will but receive me.’
‘What would you do?’ asked Marie; ‘am I to believe you?’
‘By all that one who is not utterly lost can call to strengthen her asseverations, you may,’ replied the Languedocian. ‘By the memory of him whom we both loved—in the name of Gaudin de Sainte-Croix, do not believe my nature to be so base.’
The Marchioness gazed at the girl for a minute with a glance of most intense scrutiny. ”

“ An expression passed across her face of mingled triumph and satisfaction, whilst the fingers of her hand were quickly working one over the other.
‘And who is that, Marie?’ asked Gaudin, his curiosity aroused by the manner of the Marchioness.
‘The pale-faced girl, whose acquaintance with yourself I became so unluckily acquainted with in the Grotto of Thetis—your Languedocian leman—Louise Gauthier.’
‘She must not be injured!’ exclaimed Sainte-Croix hurriedly.
‘She must die!’ replied the Marchioness, with cold but determined meaning. ‘She loves you, and you may still care for her. ”

“ There is still time to make amends for all that has occurred. I do not speak for myself, for all those feelings have passed; but for you alone. Repent, and be happy,—for happy now you are not.’
The Good and Evil Angels
Gaudin made no reply, but his bosom heaved rapidly, betraying his internal emotion. Once he turned towards Louise Gauthier as if to speak: the words died on his tongue.
‘This is idle talk,’ said the Marchioness, as she drew Sainte-Croix to her side. ‘If you would not be taken for our accomplice, girl, you will keep silent as to what you have heard. ”

“ This was addressed to the Abbe Dubois, whose name as a gallant, either on his own part or that of the King, was pretty well established.
‘Where she should be—quietly at home,’ replied the abbe. ‘Brinvilliers is on his travels. He is another man since she left him, or he left her, or they left one another. How is it, M. de Sainte-Croix?—you ought to know.’
‘By the mass!’ cried Gaudin angrily, ‘my sword can answer the curiosity of any one better than my tongue.’
‘It is the more innocent weapon of the two in Paris just at present,’ said Marotte. ”

“ The crowd had thronged round the escort so densely that now neither party could move. The delay to Marie was fearful, and the terror of the moment was wrought to its extreme pitch by the curses and horrible salutations of the people, some of whom were close to the tumbrel.
‘Ho! ho! the capital meeting!’ cried a fellow on the bridge, applauding with his hands for joy. ‘Two poisoners at a time; Madame de Brinvilliers and the Physician Exili. What a pity they are not going to keep company out of the world.’
‘Down with the Italian!’ shouted another man, who was leaning from one of the windows. ”

“ Pirot had expected a terrible outburst of malediction when the cortege arrived here, and feared also that the courage of the Marchioness would entirely fail her upon getting the first sight of the scaffold. But on both points he was mistaken. As the tumbrel advanced, after the first murmur of recognition a dead silence reigned; amidst this vast mass of many thousands not a sound was audible but the bell of the Tour d’Horloge, which kept tolling hoarsely at protracted intervals. Marie herself betrayed but little emotion. ”

“ A strange slow smile crept over Marie’s face, which had by this time recovered its usual stony impassiveness, as she said—
‘We are rivals!’
But as Louise’s eyes were fixed on her with a look of wonderment, at that moment a sudden burst of laughter from the room on the opposite side of the landing, in which François and Henri d’Aubray, with their companions, were carousing, arrested the attention of the Marchioness. ”

“ The ghastly toilette of the scaffold was to be made at this place. She was about to surrender herself to the operation when a door at the other side of the lodge was opened, and a large concourse of people—so many that they nearly filled the apartment—entered eagerly. They were chiefly females—women holding high rank in Paris, who had met the Marchioness frequently in society. Amongst them were the Countess of Soissons and Mademoiselle de Scudery.
The shock given to Marie by this unexpected sight was too great, and she would have fallen but for the support of Pirot. ”

“ I should be sorry to come in upon an old attachment. This lady can still be yours.’
‘Heed her not, Marie,’ cried Sainte-Croix, after a powerful effort to master his feelings. ‘I had no other motive in concealing this from you than the wish to spare you. Believe in me still. This has been madness—infatuation—call it what name you will, but you are the only one I ever loved.’
And he advanced towards the Marchioness; whilst Louise, pale as death, gasped forth hurriedly—
‘This is indeed cruel; but even now you have yet to learn what woman can put up with from affection. ”

“ They advanced at once to the foot of the staircase, where Theria, Gaudin, and Marie were stationed; their bright cressets shedding a vivid light over every part of the interior. Some young men, who had come up with the guard, as they were returning from their orgies, pressed forward with curiosity to ascertain the cause of the tumult.
But from one of them a fearful cry of surprise was heard as he recognised the persons before him. Sainte-Croix raised his eyes, and found that he was standing face to face with Antoine, Marquis of Brinvilliers! ”

“ Sainte-Croix gazed at her with a gloomy and meaning smile. ‘This time,’ he said, ‘the suggestion is yours. Be it so: there will be no blood spilled, at all events; and we may rid ourselves of one who, whilst he lives, must ever be a serpent in our path. Is Henri with him?’
‘He is,’ answered Marie.
‘There is enough for two,’ muttered Sainte-Croix, who had taken a phial from its compartment, and was holding it up to the light of the candle.
‘Must Henri die too?’ said the Marchioness. ‘He is so young—so gay—has been so kind to me. ”

“ I imagined—fool—idiot that I was!—that I was more to you than aught beside in the world; I now see how we stand towards each other. Farewell!’ he added, with studied unconcern; ‘Paris is wide, and its beauties at present require but little courting. I release you from all ties—our liaison is over.’
He advanced towards the window as he spoke. The Marchioness started forward, and caught him by the arm, exclaiming—
‘Oh! this is cruel, Sainte-Croix! Stop—but an instant. We have arrived at the brink of a fearful precipice—a dark gulf is yawning at our feet, whose depth we may not penetrate. ”

“ The Marchioness retired from the window, pale, and tottering in her step, and had scarcely gained her seat by the fire when Gervais, her father’s attendant, entered the apartment.
‘M. d’Aubray has rung for his wine, madame,’ said the man. ‘You have the tankard in the chiffonier.’
‘I will give it to him myself, Gervais,’ replied the Marchioness, with an assumption of indifference that was almost spasmodic. ‘You can go to bed. Nothing more will be wanted.’
‘I have told Michel to watch the terrain to-night, madame,’ continued the man. ”

“ My brothers think they are ruling me as they would a wayward girl: how terrible will be my retribution!’
‘I have much to tell you, Marie, of my own plans,’ said Gaudin; ‘but it cannot be here. If those whom you have alluded to fall, others must go with them. We cannot pause in our career.’
‘There is one that I have marked as the earliest,’ returned the Marchioness. ”

“ Chafed by the wine they had drunk, the mirth of the party waxed wilder and louder. Songs were sung; games at tennis and ombre arranged; bets settled; parties de chasses organised. The revelry was at its highest pitch, when a series of loud and sudden shrieks was heard from the staircase. It was a woman’s voice that uttered them, and a rush was directly made by the guests in the direction of the sound.
They found Louise Gauthier struggling in the hands of some of the valets on the landing-place. The room into which she had been hurried by the Marchioness had another exit, which was unlocked. ”

“ He started back for a moment as he perceived the room was occupied, and then, with some commonplace salutation, to which Marie only replied with a bow, advanced towards the fireplace. The Marchioness perceived that he was scrutinising her with sidelong glances, and again became somewhat alarmed; when the stranger divested himself of a travelling-cloak, and threw it on the table, previously to kicking the embers on the hearth carelessly together with his foot. As he did this the fire burnt up, and Marie caught a glimpse of his face. ”

“ As he quitted the room, with some forethought Philippe blew out the candles and collected the pieces; for the night would be long and dark; there were seven or eight hours of obscurity yet before them. When they got to the court where the horse and tumbrel were, the former evidently in no hurry to depart, young Glazer fastened the lantern he had borrowed from the guard to the side of the vehicle, and then assisted the Marchioness to mount and take her seat upon some straw. ”