1 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:06,320 Speaker 1: Hey, and happy holidays. Before we get started with this episode, 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 1: I just wanted to give a quick shout out to 3 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:11,920 Speaker 1: your miney that Noble Blood officially has merch. The link 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: to the merch store will be in the description of 5 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: the episode, and I also want to give a special 6 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: shout out. I'm trying something new and hopefully exciting, a 7 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: pamphlet club where if you subscribe, I send an annotated 8 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: script from one of my favorite Noble Blood episodes with 9 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: brand new context and information along once a month. But 10 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:31,280 Speaker 1: the thing with this club is if you want to 11 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: get in, you gotta sign up now. Once it starts, 12 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: you can't get in. You can always get up, but 13 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:39,560 Speaker 1: you can't get back in. That sounds like the Hotel California. Again, 14 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:41,919 Speaker 1: Happy holidays, and thank you so much to all of 15 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:45,159 Speaker 1: the support for Noble Blood. I hope you all stay 16 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: safe and healthy and keep your heads literally and metaphorically. 17 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 18 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:00,120 Speaker 1: and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Minky listener discretion as 19 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: advised from the outside. Henriette de Luzy de port Field 20 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:11,120 Speaker 1: had a lovely life. She and her husband, the Minister 21 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: Henry Field, were prominent figures in the high society of 22 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 1: nineteenth century New York in Massachusetts, Henriette had emigrated from 23 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 1: France before coming to America and working as the principal 24 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,119 Speaker 1: of a female art school. Her husband, Henry, was nine 25 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: years her junior, and by all accounts, they were wildly 26 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: in love. They were fixtures at parties and literary soirees. 27 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: Henriette became personal friends with Harriet Beecher Stowe. The Fields 28 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: were neighbors with Nathaniel Hawthorne. One evening, the Fields were 29 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: attending a party at the Century Club in New York 30 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: when Henriette heard someone hissing at her from across the room. Murderous, 31 00:01:55,160 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: the voice said, murderous. It was an old man from 32 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: the Continent, Count Garski, squinting at Henriette and hissing at 33 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: her through his loose false teeth. Murderous. He called, she's 34 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:15,119 Speaker 1: a murderous It was a small scandal. The elderly man 35 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,359 Speaker 1: was escorted out of the club with murmurs of apology 36 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 1: to Mr. And Mrs Field. The party continued, but with 37 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: a strange tension in the air. The polite smiles of 38 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 1: things not said most people in New York didn't know 39 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: the rumors attached to Henriette de Lucy deport Field, the 40 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: woman once known in France as Madame Delucy, But Count 41 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 1: Gorsky did. There was a generation of nobles in Europe 42 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:48,800 Speaker 1: who hadn't forgotten what had happened to the beautiful Duchess 43 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: de Proland, the only daughter of a noble family. Count 44 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: Gorsky hadn't forgotten the gruesome tragedy that befell her, and 45 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: there were pete that believed that Henriette de Lucy, the 46 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: woman who once worked as a governess to the Duchess's children, 47 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: got away with murder. I'm Dani Schwartz, and this is 48 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:22,639 Speaker 1: noble blood. The Duchess was having nightmares. She had been 49 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: having nightmares for months, the same one every night that 50 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 1: the devil, wearing a red brocade suit, was appearing to 51 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: her in her bedchamber. By the time she woke up, 52 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: he was gone. She told the servants about it and 53 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 1: her friends. Everyone looked at her with sympathy. You're going 54 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: through a challenging time, they reminded her. It's stress and worry. 55 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 1: Things will get better soon. Recurring nightmares aside. Most people 56 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: envaded the Duchess, nown to her friends as Fanny, she 57 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: was the only daughter of a famous French general and politician, 58 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: Horace Sebastiani. Fanny's mother had died in childbirth, but she 59 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: was doated on by the rest of her family. She 60 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: was their beautiful, shining jewel, a bona fide heiress, niece 61 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: of the Duke of Colignier, and destined for a prominent 62 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:19,599 Speaker 1: place in French social circles. When Fanny was seventeen in 63 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty four, she married the dashing Charles Theobald, who 64 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 1: went on to become a chevalier Donner and the Duke 65 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: of Chasse Prelan and then a Peer of France. He 66 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:35,040 Speaker 1: was from an important family, related directly to the reigning 67 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: king in France, Louis Philippe, But even more important than 68 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:41,280 Speaker 1: that to Fanny was that it was a love match. 69 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: He was only two years older than her when they 70 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,799 Speaker 1: got married, and the pair went on to have ten children, 71 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 1: although not all of them survived childhood. Fanny adored her husband. 72 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:57,480 Speaker 1: She even tolerated them splitting their time between her family's 73 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: beautiful home in Paris and his fa his dank Ancestral 74 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: de Praulon Castle, a dreary property in Milan. The pair 75 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:10,480 Speaker 1: had been married for over twenty three years, but that's 76 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: when things were changing between them. It started with a governess. 77 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: While they were staying in Paris, the Duchess hired a 78 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: new governess for her brood of children, a pretty young 79 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:27,719 Speaker 1: woman named Henriette de Lucy. There were no complaints about 80 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: her services or her performance as a governess. The children 81 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:35,160 Speaker 1: absolutely adored her, and they had never been better behaved. 82 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,720 Speaker 1: But that was the problem. The children adored Henriette de 83 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: Lucy so much that they seemed to prefer her to 84 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: their own mother. And then there was the Duchess's husband, Charles, 85 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:52,359 Speaker 1: the Duc de Pralan. He was becoming distant, kissing the 86 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: Duchess on the cheek instead of the lips, rarely coming 87 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: to her bed, ignoring her for most of the day. 88 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: The pair lived in the same house like ghosts. The 89 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,040 Speaker 1: Duchess would hear him making a joke to Henriette from 90 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: across the house and then listened to their laughter. She 91 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: was nearing forty, it was true, and after ten children, 92 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: her body had changed. But her husband was pulling away 93 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: from her. Her children were pulling away from her. She 94 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: didn't know what she could do about it. This is 95 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 1: when the nightmares started. Fanny insisted that her husband fire 96 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: Henriette Lucy, who by this point had been working for 97 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:40,720 Speaker 1: their family for six years. The Duke played dumb. Was 98 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 1: there a problem with her service? The Duchess looked away. 99 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: The rumors had become a standard topic of conversation in 100 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: their social circles. Servants averted their eyes from the duchess 101 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:57,040 Speaker 1: and hallways. Everyone knew that the Duke and Henriette were 102 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: having an affair, including the duchess. So the Duchess doubled down. 103 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 1: She insisted that Charles fire the governess. Charles gave a 104 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: miserable little laugh, my dear, he said, if she goes, 105 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: then so do I. But the humiliation had become too 106 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:16,360 Speaker 1: much for the Duchess, and so she called her husband's 107 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: bluff fine. She replied, we'll divorce. Scandal be damned matches 108 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: for our daughters will suffer, but I don't care. I'll 109 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: take my inheritance and my money. I'll take the children. 110 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: The Duke backed down, all right, he said, I'll fire 111 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,120 Speaker 1: her for now. Why don't you and the children go 112 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: stay at the castle and maloon and I'll stay in 113 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: Paris to fire Henriette and make the appropriate arrangements. Pleased enough, 114 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: the Duchess agreed and went to the country with the children. 115 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 1: But as you might have suspected, while the Duke did 116 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: dismiss the pretty Henriette de Lizzy, he also rented her 117 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: a luxurious apartment, and the pair of them spent a 118 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:00,480 Speaker 1: full month together that summer while the Duchess and children 119 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 1: were away. But at the end of that summer in August, 120 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 1: the rest of the family returned to Paris on their 121 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 1: way to spend the fall. Indeed, when the Duchess arrived 122 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: back at their Paris home, she called out, but her 123 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 1: husband wasn't there. Odd even otter, she noticed a few 124 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:24,400 Speaker 1: things wrong in her bed chamber. The hinges on her 125 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,680 Speaker 1: bedroom door were missing. No matter, she would tell the 126 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:32,320 Speaker 1: servant about it in the morning. Her husband returned that 127 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:35,920 Speaker 1: night before supper, and he reminded Fanny that he had 128 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: fired Henriette like she had asked, that everything would be 129 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: all right from then on. That night was the last 130 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: time anyone saw the Duchess de Prelant alive. A small 131 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 1: warning to younger listeners here, it's about now that the 132 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: episode gets a little well bloody. On the morning of 133 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:10,839 Speaker 1: August seventeenth, eighteen forty seven, around five am, strange noises 134 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:14,440 Speaker 1: woke two of the servants in the prelaw house. Emma 135 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 1: le Clerk was the Duchess's personal maid. She had served 136 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:21,960 Speaker 1: Fanny for over two decades since Fanny was sixteen and 137 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: newly engaged to the Duke, bright eyed over her exciting future. 138 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: That morning in August, Emma heard a crash and the 139 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,680 Speaker 1: sound of a struggle. There was an echo of a 140 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 1: screen in the air. She and the Duke's valet, who 141 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:41,160 Speaker 1: had also woken up, raced to Fanny's bedroom, but they 142 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 1: found that the door was locked from the inside. From 143 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:47,439 Speaker 1: the other side of the door, they could hear soft whimpering. 144 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,520 Speaker 1: The door to the Duchess's bathroom was also locked, as 145 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 1: was the door into the Duchess's room from the garden, 146 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,720 Speaker 1: but the valet broke a pane of glass and forced 147 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:00,560 Speaker 1: his way in, but by the time they got there, 148 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 1: the whimpering had stopped. Fanny, the Duchess de Proloan was dead. 149 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: The Duchess's bedroom had been designed as a copy of 150 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette's chamber from Versailles, with a four poster bed 151 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: on an elevated platform and furnishings in luxurious embroidered silk. 152 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 1: But now the entire room was splashed with blood. A 153 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:28,559 Speaker 1: giant stain of blood spread across the bed, The chair 154 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: was flipped over, blood trailed all over the room, like 155 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,439 Speaker 1: the duchess had been chased or tried to chase her attacker. 156 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:39,480 Speaker 1: But whatever had happened, the two servants could see the 157 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:43,560 Speaker 1: end result. The duchess was lying on the floor, her 158 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:47,680 Speaker 1: head resting on a couch. She had been stabbed over 159 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:51,960 Speaker 1: thirty times. Her skull had been bashed in, and her 160 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:56,599 Speaker 1: throat was slashed. Within moments, other servants of the household 161 00:10:56,679 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 1: filed into the room and gasped. But strange july enough, 162 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: it was another few minutes after that before the Duke 163 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:07,439 Speaker 1: himself appeared, even though his bedroom shared in the anti 164 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:11,640 Speaker 1: chamber with his wife's room. Hadn't he heard anything? Why 165 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 1: hadn't he sent out the alarm? The doorway from the 166 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:20,560 Speaker 1: Duchess's room to the anti chamber was unlocked. Oh my god, 167 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: the duke cried when he finally did come into the room. 168 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:27,520 Speaker 1: Oh my god, in heaven, some monster has murdered. Fanny 169 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 1: get a doctor. The valet tried to comfort his master. 170 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 1: It had probably been burglars after Fanny's famously valuable jewels. 171 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:40,480 Speaker 1: The duchess had a set of diamonds that had been 172 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:46,160 Speaker 1: gifted to her mother by Napoleon and Josephine themselves. Later, however, 173 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:50,440 Speaker 1: the police would discover that nothing was taken. It wasn't 174 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 1: a robbery. Alas, alas, my poor Fanny, the duke shouted 175 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:58,840 Speaker 1: after his valet politely slipped away to get help. Would 176 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:02,679 Speaker 1: monster has done the thing? The Duke threw himself onto 177 00:12:02,679 --> 00:12:08,000 Speaker 1: the blood stained bed, alas my motherless children. When the 178 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:12,600 Speaker 1: policeman arrived, he examined the scene carefully. The room was 179 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 1: covered in blood, and it was also covered in strands 180 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:18,199 Speaker 1: of the Duchess's hair that seemed to have been ripped 181 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:22,440 Speaker 1: out of her head. The Duchess's fingernails were bloody, like 182 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: there had been a struggle. The bell she could have 183 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:28,920 Speaker 1: used next to her bed to alert her servants had 184 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:33,359 Speaker 1: had its rope cut from underneath the divan. The policeman 185 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 1: found a gun, but upon examining it, he found that 186 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:40,560 Speaker 1: it hadn't been fired. Instead, the gun was covered in 187 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:44,360 Speaker 1: blood and in Fanny's hair it looked as though it 188 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: had been used to bashen her head. Sir, do you 189 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 1: know who this weapon belongs to, the policeman asked the Duke. 190 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:56,679 Speaker 1: I do. The Duke replied, it's mine. The duke explained 191 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 1: to the policeman that he actually had heard this struggle 192 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:03,960 Speaker 1: in his wife's chamber earlier in the morning, before even 193 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 1: the servants came in, and he the duke had brought 194 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:09,560 Speaker 1: the gun to try to fight off his wife's attacker, 195 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: but by the time he came in, the attacker was 196 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:16,200 Speaker 1: already gone, and when he went to hug his wife's 197 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:20,320 Speaker 1: dead body, he became covered in blood. So he had 198 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 1: returned back to his room to change out of his 199 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 1: bloody clothes so that he wouldn't frighten the children. That's 200 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:30,000 Speaker 1: when he came back into the room to find the 201 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:38,079 Speaker 1: servants there. The police didn't exactly buy it. The police 202 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:42,320 Speaker 1: searched charles room and found the bloody handle of a dagger, 203 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: although the blade would never be found. They also found 204 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:50,360 Speaker 1: a bloodstained bathrobe that someone had tried to wash with soap, 205 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:54,840 Speaker 1: a leather sheets, and an assortment of other items that 206 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:59,320 Speaker 1: would be unidentifiable. Because someone had thrown them into the 207 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:03,200 Speaker 1: fire and tried to burn them. The Duke's sink was 208 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:08,360 Speaker 1: splattered with blood. The policeman politely asked if the Duke 209 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: might undergo a physical examination. The Duke coughed and protested 210 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: he was a peer of the realm, but eventually he agreed, 211 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:23,400 Speaker 1: and the police found him covered in scratches and bite marks. 212 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:27,920 Speaker 1: The Duke was also limping, and when the policeman asked 213 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:31,560 Speaker 1: what had happened to his leg, that's when the Duke exploded. 214 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: I have no further explanations to make to you, he said. 215 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,080 Speaker 1: I am a peer of France and I do not 216 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 1: need to account for myself to police officers. Arresting a 217 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:48,400 Speaker 1: duke would be incredibly controversial and politically dangerous for the policeman, 218 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 1: but he had no choice. He sent all of the 219 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:55,680 Speaker 1: evidence he had to King Louis Philippe, who had to 220 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:59,840 Speaker 1: sign off personally on the orders for the Duke to arrest, 221 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 1: which the King did reluctantly. The press and wealthy establishment 222 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:10,080 Speaker 1: power slandered the policeman, but his report was so meticulous 223 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:13,520 Speaker 1: that it was difficult to challenge him, especially once they 224 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:18,520 Speaker 1: all found Fanny's diaries which detailed her husband's violent temper 225 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:24,119 Speaker 1: and frequent threats. A trial, though, would be a scandal. 226 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:28,120 Speaker 1: The Duke was a member of the King's court. A 227 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,720 Speaker 1: trial would reflect terribly, not only on the King himself 228 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:35,480 Speaker 1: but on all of French nobility. But with all of 229 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:38,760 Speaker 1: this evidence, there would be no way of avoiding trial. 230 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: But with all of this evidence that the police had 231 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:45,640 Speaker 1: seemed like there would be no way to avoid a trial, 232 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:53,840 Speaker 1: or was there. Charles the Duc de Preulant was put 233 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 1: under house arrest and then transferred to the prison at 234 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: Luxembourg Palace, where they scrambled to put together a jury 235 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,200 Speaker 1: of peers of the realm who could try such a 236 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:07,040 Speaker 1: high ranking nobleman. Basically, the only people they could get 237 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 1: were childhood friends of the Duke. He had to be 238 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,120 Speaker 1: tried in the Court of Peers, which was a court 239 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 1: exclusively for noblemen and pretty much known for its lenient 240 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:23,840 Speaker 1: sentencing when it had to convict. But before the trial 241 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 1: took place, before any more scandal could be made of 242 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: the death of the Duchess de Prelance, the Duke drank 243 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: a vial of arsenic. The common people, when they heard 244 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:39,720 Speaker 1: about his death were outraged. Had there been no guards 245 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:42,640 Speaker 1: watching him. How did he get the poison to begin with. 246 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:46,600 Speaker 1: The common theory at the time was that the nobleman 247 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:50,080 Speaker 1: imprisoning him had actually given the arsenic to the Duke 248 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:54,240 Speaker 1: as a way of protecting their image, having him die 249 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 1: before having to be scandalous. Lee found guilty. There was 250 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:00,960 Speaker 1: even a rumor that the King had self had sent 251 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:04,359 Speaker 1: the Duke the poison, along with a note saying that 252 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: he should do the honorable thing. However he got it. 253 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:13,119 Speaker 1: After Charles drank the poison, he smashed the bottle and 254 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:17,399 Speaker 1: swallowed the shards of broken glass to leave no evidence. 255 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:23,680 Speaker 1: He died six days later in excruciating agony. For those 256 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 1: six days, the Duke was repeatedly questioned interrogated, but he 257 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 1: continued to maintain his innocence. You know the awful crime 258 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:35,560 Speaker 1: of which you are accused, the Lord Chancellor of the 259 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:39,040 Speaker 1: Kingdom said at Charles's bedside. You know all of the 260 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:42,880 Speaker 1: circumstances which have led to this accusation, and beg of you. 261 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 1: I implore of you, Duke, do not tell a lie. 262 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:51,960 Speaker 1: Charles replied, I have not the strength to say anything. 263 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:54,480 Speaker 1: It would take a long time for me to tell 264 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 1: you the truth. And nothing but the truth. What strength? 265 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:02,200 Speaker 1: Said the Lord Chancellor, clearly frustrated. We want a yes 266 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:06,720 Speaker 1: or no. It requires great strength of mind to be 267 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:10,280 Speaker 1: able to say yes or no to certain questions, and 268 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:13,400 Speaker 1: it is a strength which I do not now possess, 269 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:17,960 Speaker 1: the Duke said. The interrogation continued that way, with the 270 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: Duke never confessing for the murder of his wife. The 271 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:26,200 Speaker 1: closest the Duke came to remorse was when the Duke said, quote, 272 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,400 Speaker 1: I wished to say how much I regret I cannot 273 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: see my children before I die. I implore my family 274 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:43,040 Speaker 1: to be kind to them. Henriette de Lucy, the prey 275 00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:47,679 Speaker 1: Law's former governess, was also imprisoned. She was arrested and 276 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:51,760 Speaker 1: kept for three months while she was interrogated, but there 277 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 1: was no evidence that she had anything to do with 278 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:58,400 Speaker 1: the murder of the Duchess, and so the charges against 279 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 1: her were dismissed. No trial continued against the Duke posthumously. 280 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: Though his suicide had been an attempt to save face 281 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 1: for the peers of the realm, public opinion rose up 282 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:15,520 Speaker 1: in a fury against the nobles. Here was a man 283 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 1: who faced no justice, they believed, because he was rich 284 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 1: and powerful nobles would rather have a murderer commit suicide 285 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: rather than force them to have to condemn othellow elite. 286 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,760 Speaker 1: And that's if the Duke did kill himself. There were 287 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:37,359 Speaker 1: also rumors that the Duke managed to get away, that 288 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:40,399 Speaker 1: with the help of his powerful friends, he was able 289 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:44,520 Speaker 1: to fake his own death and escape to Nicaragua. One 290 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,199 Speaker 1: historian in Nicaragua alleged that Charles made his way across 291 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,160 Speaker 1: the Atlantic and lived out the rest of his life 292 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:56,120 Speaker 1: in Matagalpa, marrying another woman, fathering five children, growing out 293 00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:59,240 Speaker 1: a beard to disguise his appearance, and keeping away from 294 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:04,440 Speaker 1: any French frigates containing people that might recognize him. The 295 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 1: escape is actually a real possibility. There is even a 296 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: paper trail, but a little more likely if a lot 297 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:16,720 Speaker 1: less exciting a servant probably stole some of the Duke's 298 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,800 Speaker 1: clothing and money and papers so that he could start 299 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 1: a new life in Central America. As for Henriette, she 300 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:29,399 Speaker 1: escaped the scandal by moving to New York, where she 301 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:32,159 Speaker 1: became the principal of a girls school and married a 302 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:37,160 Speaker 1: prominent minister. When Henriette died, she was old and beloved 303 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:41,440 Speaker 1: by the literary community. Two of her casket bearers were 304 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:45,280 Speaker 1: the poet and journalist William Cullen Bryant and Peter Cooper 305 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:49,000 Speaker 1: of Cooper Union. The day of her funeral was marked 306 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:53,320 Speaker 1: by the famous diarist George Templeton Strong, who wrote, quote 307 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:57,480 Speaker 1: died Mrs Henry Field. I knew her at one time 308 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:01,960 Speaker 1: quite well, and she was universally like being uncommonly clever 309 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:06,560 Speaker 1: and cultivated. Her plainness made it incredible that the Duke 310 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:10,919 Speaker 1: d'aprell law should have been in love with her. A 311 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: more glowing legacy, or at least a more romantic one, 312 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 1: would come later. Henriette's grand niece became a writer named 313 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 1: Rachel Field, and she wrote a novel based on her 314 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:28,000 Speaker 1: great aunt's life called All This and Heaven Too. It's 315 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:32,040 Speaker 1: a romantic story about a governess falling in love with 316 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:35,200 Speaker 1: a duke in a miserable marriage, who then must kill 317 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 1: himself in order to protect his true love from the 318 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:42,879 Speaker 1: other nobles blaming her for the duchess's murder. It was 319 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:46,399 Speaker 1: made into a film starring Betty Davis and Charles Boyer. 320 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:50,600 Speaker 1: It really is all about perspective. When he tried to 321 00:21:50,640 --> 00:22:03,879 Speaker 1: decide who the heroes are in any given story, that's 322 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:06,159 Speaker 1: the story of the murder of the Duchess de Prelan, 323 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,120 Speaker 1: but stick around after a brief sponsor break to hear 324 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,879 Speaker 1: a little bit more about the skeletons lurking in the 325 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:25,200 Speaker 1: Duke's closet. It was months later that the children of 326 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:28,240 Speaker 1: the Duke and Duchess de Prela were clearing out their 327 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:31,600 Speaker 1: father's rooms at their parents home when they found a 328 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:36,360 Speaker 1: hidden trunk. It was stuck underneath a few shirts at 329 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:40,720 Speaker 1: the back of their father's closet. Inside the trunk was 330 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,840 Speaker 1: a bright red costume that they had never seen before. 331 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: In red brocade, the type of costume that someone would 332 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:54,119 Speaker 1: wear two a masked ball. It was a Mephistopheles costume, 333 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:59,400 Speaker 1: a costume to look like the devil. If rumors are 334 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:03,159 Speaker 1: to be leaved, The Duke had put the costume on 335 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:07,320 Speaker 1: to sneak into his wife's room at night in the 336 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:13,480 Speaker 1: hopes of frightening her into insanity. In the century, an 337 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:17,040 Speaker 1: insane wife would have been easy enough to dispose of 338 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:26,960 Speaker 1: without having to resort to murder. Noble Blood is a 339 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:29,680 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio and Grimm and Mild from 340 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,680 Speaker 1: Aaron Monkey. The show was written and hosted by Dani 341 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:37,200 Speaker 1: Schwartz and produced by Aaron Mankey, Matt Frederick, Alex Williams, 342 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,640 Speaker 1: and Trevor Young. Noble Blood is on social media at 343 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:43,119 Speaker 1: Noble Blood Tales, and you can learn more about the 344 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:46,120 Speaker 1: show over at Noble blood tails dot com. For more 345 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:49,359 Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 346 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.