1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:03,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:12,160 Speaker 1: and Aaron Minky. Listener discretion is advised. Since it's the 3 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: week of Halloween, Let's start with a scary story. This 4 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: is one called The Leather Funnel, written by Sir Arthur 5 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:22,480 Speaker 1: Conan Doyle. It was written during one of the many 6 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: periods in his life he was exhausted with writing stories 7 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: about his famous detective Sherlock Holmes, and somewhat resentful of 8 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: how successful that one character had become. Like all good 9 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: scary stories, this one begins with a visitor coming to 10 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:43,160 Speaker 1: stay at the mysterious residence of a distant, eccentric friend. 11 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:49,199 Speaker 1: As soon as the guest arrives, Thost apologizes profusely he 12 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:52,360 Speaker 1: doesn't have a spare bedroom, but he does have a wide, 13 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: comfortable couch in his library. Our guest is, of course 14 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: enchanted by the idea of an evening company by a 15 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:06,320 Speaker 1: low crackling fireplace and the warm parchment smell of books, 16 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,320 Speaker 1: and he readily agrees. But as soon as the men 17 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:14,040 Speaker 1: enter the library, the guest realizes that there are more 18 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: than just books there. As it turns out, the host 19 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: is a collector and his library is where he displays 20 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:27,839 Speaker 1: his treasures, strange and maccabbre historical objects, most of which 21 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:32,320 Speaker 1: the guest can't even identify. One such object in particular, 22 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:38,200 Speaker 1: catches his interest a large, dark funnel constructed of leather 23 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 1: with brass accents, maybe a foot long at its widest diameter. 24 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,960 Speaker 1: At the tapered side, the tube had deep notches in it, 25 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: like it was whittled away by a very sharp knife. 26 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: The host catches the guests staring ah. He says, I 27 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: see you've noticed my funnel. I've been wondering about this thing. 28 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 1: I'll tell you what. Why don't you sleep with it 29 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: next your head and see if you can glean anything 30 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: about it from your dreams. Our host was not just 31 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:10,800 Speaker 1: a collector, but also a student of the occult and 32 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: the paranormal workings of the mystical arts. The guest agreed 33 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: and went to sleep on the couch in the library that, 34 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 1: for all of its strange objects, still did have a warm, 35 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: glowing fireplace and the familiar and wonderful smell of books. 36 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,639 Speaker 1: As it so happened, that night, the man had a dream. 37 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: He dreamt he was in a French prison cell where 38 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: a woman in a white night dress was being tortured. 39 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: The woman's body was bent over something that looked like 40 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: a wooden beam, just taller than her hip. She was 41 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:50,239 Speaker 1: pulled over it backwards, so that her head was pulled 42 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: down to the floor and her belly was thrust upwards. 43 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: Her ankles and wrists were chained to the ground while 44 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: a nervously murmuring pre east watched on. The prison guards 45 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: took a funnel, the same leather funnel, and forced it 46 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:11,640 Speaker 1: into her mouth. In his dream, the guests saw the 47 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: massive jugs of water set nearby. Surely they can't be 48 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: planning on forcing her to drink those. He thought, she'll drown, 49 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: her stomach will burst. But to his horror, the guards 50 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: in the dream picked up the first jug of water 51 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:32,919 Speaker 1: and poured it into the funnel. The woman flailed and recoiled, 52 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: rattling the chains and thrashing violently. The priest left the room, 53 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: horrified and seeing that there still remained another jug full 54 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,520 Speaker 1: of water to torture the woman with. The man awoke 55 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 1: from his dream with a start, soaked with sweat, as 56 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 1: though he had been the one doused with water in 57 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: the morning. The host asked if he had any dreams. Dutifully, 58 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: the man recount did everything he had seen the night before, 59 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: the woman, the wooden beam, the jugs of water, the priest. 60 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: The host's eyes lit up, and he raced back to 61 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: a bookshelf to pull out a book. After a few 62 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: moments of frantic flipping, he found what he had been 63 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:22,600 Speaker 1: looking for, a chapter about Madame de Brinvillier, a marquise 64 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,080 Speaker 1: who had been found guilty of poisoning her brothers and 65 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: her father, and who had been tortured into confession with 66 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:35,359 Speaker 1: what was ironically called the water cure. You see, the 67 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:39,720 Speaker 1: host explained, what you saw in your dream actually happened, 68 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:44,039 Speaker 1: and this is the very funnel they used to inflict 69 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: her torture. But what have the knife marks around the mouthpiece, 70 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: the guest asked, Ah, said the host, The Marquise fought 71 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: like a tiger. It seems like she had the teeth 72 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:01,040 Speaker 1: to match. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's st worry is fictional, 73 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: as is the power of dreams to reveal unknown truths, probably, 74 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:11,359 Speaker 1: but the story Doyle was referencing is absolutely true. The 75 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: Marquise de Brinvilliers is one of history's most famous poisoners, 76 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:20,240 Speaker 1: a woman who's often painted as either evil or beautifully 77 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: mad with love or both. It's impossible to know now 78 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 1: the full extent of her crimes. What we can know 79 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: is that she was a woman confident that she would 80 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,719 Speaker 1: get away with them, and the funny thing is she 81 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:41,279 Speaker 1: almost did. I'm danis sports and this is noble blood. 82 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 1: If you had to be born a girl in sixty 83 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: you couldn't hope to be born much better than Marie 84 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:57,719 Speaker 1: Meline Marguerite Debre, the future Marquise de Brinvilliers. Her father 85 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: was a prominent Parisian bureaucrat, himself the son of a 86 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 1: much respected treasurer. The family was incredibly well connected and 87 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: also very rich, which meant that Marie's two brothers would 88 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:13,320 Speaker 1: each come into a sizeable inheritance, and that there was 89 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:15,719 Speaker 1: no reason in the world to think that their sister 90 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: wouldn't marry extremely well and live in comfort for her 91 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: entire life. Marie was the family's eldest child. No one 92 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: would describe her as beautiful, maybe striking was a bit closer. 93 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 1: After meeting her, her general appearance would fade from your memory, 94 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: but specific features would be tattooed onto your brain. Extraordinarily thick, 95 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: brown hair, bone, white, nearly translucent skin, blue eyes. She 96 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: was better than her brothers at her letters, spelling words 97 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: easily and writing with thick, clean, bold, firm lines that 98 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,160 Speaker 1: made her tutors press their lips together in pleasure her 99 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,599 Speaker 1: and made her parents worry. Her siblings and playmates thought 100 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:07,839 Speaker 1: she came across as haughty and distant at best, or 101 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:10,760 Speaker 1: maybe slow in the head, even for her unwillingness to 102 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 1: join them in silly games. But the truth was Marie 103 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: was just uncommonly observant. She preferred to watch and to learn. 104 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:26,280 Speaker 1: Even as an adolescent, The future Marquise de Burunvillier was 105 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: shrewd and sharp as a fresh cut blade. Studious as 106 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: she was, she refused to learn her prayers or waste 107 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:39,679 Speaker 1: her mornings in church unless absolutely forced. She was bored 108 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: and disinterested by religion, which seemed in her youth as 109 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: just a minor defect of an aristocratic woman. But looking 110 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: back on the woman that she became, maybe it was 111 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 1: a sign from the beginning. Maybe there is always a 112 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: certain wickedness that lingered beneath her skin that repelled her 113 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: from studying the Holy scripture, the same way a demon 114 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 1: news to pull itself away from holy water at age 115 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:10,240 Speaker 1: twenty one. In sixteen fifty one, Marie got married to 116 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: a titled nobleman and twine, gou Blond de Brunevillier, a 117 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 1: marquis and a baron. Love might have been too much 118 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:20,280 Speaker 1: to ask for from the much older man, who, even 119 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: from their wedding night, seemed to prefer the company of 120 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: mistresses to his new wife. But the Marquis treated Marie 121 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: with something even less than affection, less than mild interest, 122 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 1: something worse even than outright hatred, because at least hatred 123 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,760 Speaker 1: has a spark of passion to it. The Marquis treated 124 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: the Marquise with complete and utter indifference. He left his 125 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 1: wife alone while he spent evenings in smoke filled parlors, 126 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:55,679 Speaker 1: sipping champagne and tasting sweets and oranges, racking up gambling 127 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 1: debts and new women to take home. The Marquise, who had, 128 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 1: above all else in childhood hated boredom, was left to 129 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 1: fend for herself. Well, that's not entirely true. The Marquis 130 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:13,560 Speaker 1: did give his wife one kindness. He introduced her to 131 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 1: one of his young military friends, a tall and handsome 132 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 1: young officer the marquis own age named Gaudine de Saint Croix. 133 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: By any estimation, Sant Croix was not the sort of 134 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:30,679 Speaker 1: person a young, married aristocratic woman should be associating with. 135 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 1: He was an officer, yes, but just a simple captain 136 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 1: in the cavalry. His birth could virtuously be called dubious, 137 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: although everyone knew he was probably just a bastard. But 138 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:45,680 Speaker 1: Sant Croix had a winning habit of smiling when he 139 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:48,840 Speaker 1: talked to people, acting as if he was including them 140 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: in on a secret. He mirrored not only hand gestures 141 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:57,439 Speaker 1: back at people, but personalities. With vicars, he was pious 142 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:02,320 Speaker 1: and straight backed, with gamblers lush an indulgent, and with 143 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:08,240 Speaker 1: the Marquise de Burnevillier he was clever and patient and romantic. 144 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,079 Speaker 1: Far from being angry that his wife began in affair 145 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: with one of his oldest friends, the Marquis was delighted 146 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:19,439 Speaker 1: it gave him more time to spend with his mistresses. 147 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:26,560 Speaker 1: Weeks would go by before the Marquis and the Marquise 148 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:30,800 Speaker 1: slept under the same roof. Husband and wife would occasionally 149 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:34,479 Speaker 1: lock eyes from across the rooms of salons and parties. 150 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,480 Speaker 1: Parties were the Marquis gambled and the Marquise glittered like 151 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:43,839 Speaker 1: a jewel on the arm of her lover, Sancroix. Meanwhile, 152 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:48,320 Speaker 1: the marquise skill in picking up new mistresses was matched 153 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,960 Speaker 1: only by his skill in picking up new debts. And 154 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 1: when every creditor in town began to send out collection notices, 155 00:10:56,280 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: the nobleman ran, fleeing the country and leaving his wife 156 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 1: in the capable hands of his former friend. The Marquise 157 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: de Burnevilliers and Saint Croix were far from subtle. People 158 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 1: began talking about the way the woman behaved, flaunting her affair, 159 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 1: ignoring even the pretense of her marriage. It was almost disgraceful. 160 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:24,960 Speaker 1: And remember this was coming from people in France. Word 161 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:28,560 Speaker 1: got to Madame de Bernevillier's brothers about the way their 162 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:33,360 Speaker 1: sister was living in sin. They were outraged, and as 163 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 1: a pair they arrived on the doorstep of her Paris 164 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:40,920 Speaker 1: home unannounced, to beg her to abandon Saint Croix in 165 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:45,319 Speaker 1: order to preserve the honor of the family. When she refused, 166 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,319 Speaker 1: their pleads turned to threats. They swore they would get 167 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:54,679 Speaker 1: a magistrate. The Marquise de Bernevilliers laughed in their faces. 168 00:11:54,679 --> 00:11:57,640 Speaker 1: She wished them a good day, shut the door and 169 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:01,840 Speaker 1: returned to her lover in the foyer. Burning with humiliation, 170 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:06,679 Speaker 1: the marquise's brothers went to their father, the esteemed bureaucrat 171 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:10,760 Speaker 1: Drew d'lbrey. The pair told their father what their sister 172 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:13,319 Speaker 1: had been doing, how she had taken up with a 173 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:18,880 Speaker 1: common soldier, flaunting her disrespect of her marital vows. Their 174 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:23,240 Speaker 1: father took a deep breath, He rose and walked around 175 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 1: to his desk, where he carefully dipped his favorite pen 176 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:30,720 Speaker 1: and ink and began to write. In silence, The brothers 177 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: looked at one another, confused. For several silent moments, they 178 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:40,080 Speaker 1: watched their father write something on parchment, crossing out a 179 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:45,480 Speaker 1: word here there before Finally, he pursed his lips with satisfaction, 180 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:49,360 Speaker 1: dusted the ink to dry it, and sealed the letter 181 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:55,080 Speaker 1: with his personalized wax stamp. Finally, he spoke, I will 182 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: take care of your sister. On a brisk day at 183 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:01,960 Speaker 1: the end of March, police stopped a carriage on a 184 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: crowded street and pulled a man out. When the man 185 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:10,560 Speaker 1: demanded an explanation, the policeman brandished a letter from the 186 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:16,920 Speaker 1: King himself authorizing the arrest. Onlookers gawkeed the man agreed 187 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:20,800 Speaker 1: to go without struggle. But please, sir, he told the policeman, 188 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:23,959 Speaker 1: there's no need to scandalize the young woman. I'm riding 189 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 1: with the crowds. Don't need to see her face. Take me, 190 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: but please let the carriage continue its journey home safely. 191 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 1: The policeman agreed, and so, even as the Marquise de 192 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:41,240 Speaker 1: Bourunevillier shouted from its window in protest and anger, the 193 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 1: carriage continued on further and further away, until the sight 194 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:51,679 Speaker 1: of Sant Croix, her lover, being arrested and pulled to prison, 195 00:13:52,440 --> 00:14:03,600 Speaker 1: disappeared in the chaos of the peristree. In between Notre 196 00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:06,680 Speaker 1: Dame and the Palace of Justice on the Ille de 197 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:10,000 Speaker 1: la Cite, in the heart of Paris lies the city's 198 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:14,960 Speaker 1: oldest hospital, the Hotel Dieu. It was a grotesque place 199 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:20,560 Speaker 1: where nuns and priest doctors patrolled filthy hallways, three thousand 200 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:25,160 Speaker 1: patients waiting in varying proximity to death. The patients with 201 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: skin diseases and contagious viruses lay next to mothers in 202 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: labor beds contained six patients, three with their heads at 203 00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:35,960 Speaker 1: one end and three with their heads at the other. 204 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:40,360 Speaker 1: Operations happened in the middle of wards, in the full 205 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:44,160 Speaker 1: view of other patients, and all of the wards were 206 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,600 Speaker 1: just feet from the hospital's dead house and dissecting rooms. 207 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: The stench of death never left the place. Even so, 208 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:58,120 Speaker 1: the noble ladies of Paris came regularly to bestow their 209 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:03,000 Speaker 1: largesse upon the less fortune it. They arrived in small groups, 210 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: clutching handkerchiefs to their noses to ward off the stench. 211 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 1: Among the most dedicated visitors was the Marquise to Brunevilliers. 212 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:16,120 Speaker 1: Nearly every day, the Marquise arrived at the hospital bearing 213 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 1: suits and wine and biscuits, treats that she distributed among 214 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:23,360 Speaker 1: the grateful and lonely sick who had been waiting in 215 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:27,760 Speaker 1: boredom and misery. The Marquise gave each a treat and 216 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 1: a winning smile and a flick of her extraordinarily thick hair, 217 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:36,800 Speaker 1: and they wondered if she was an angel. Brinvillier's lover, 218 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:40,280 Speaker 1: San Croix, had been released from prison at the Bastille 219 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: after three months, and since he returned home, the pair 220 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:49,040 Speaker 1: acted as the very models of Christian virtue. Brun Villiers 221 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: made her daily hospital visits. Sant Croix went to confession 222 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:58,760 Speaker 1: and the two were never seen at clubs or parties together. Instead, 223 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,240 Speaker 1: they were staying home and working together side by side 224 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 1: in the new laboratory the Marquise de Briunflier had paid for. 225 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:12,480 Speaker 1: In prison. Sant Crois roommate was a man named Exili, 226 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: a mysterious Italian who had been arrested for coming into 227 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:19,080 Speaker 1: France while he was in the service of the eccentric 228 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 1: Queen of Sweden. He was being detained while the French 229 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 1: government figured out exactly what he was there to do 230 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: and which of the stories from his past were true 231 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: and which were mere rumors. People said that Axily was 232 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 1: a magician and a poisoner, and that he had worked 233 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:41,120 Speaker 1: in Rome under the illustrious Madam Olympia, and that he 234 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 1: had been responsible for the deaths of over one hundred 235 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:48,320 Speaker 1: and fifty people with the strange tonics and waters that 236 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 1: he brewed. San Croix had always been a smart man, 237 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,240 Speaker 1: always knowledgeable about the clear, colorless liquids that could be 238 00:16:56,280 --> 00:17:00,440 Speaker 1: tipped into a cup of wine, or the inheritance powder, 239 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 1: as they called it, that could be sprinkled over a 240 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,600 Speaker 1: stew to haste in a wealthy relative's demise. But in 241 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 1: his time in a cell with exili he became an expert. 242 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:17,200 Speaker 1: He learned about arsenic and belladonna, and vitriol, and aquato fauna, 243 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:22,399 Speaker 1: and in particularly noxious poison venen de cropas, or toad venom, 244 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:26,199 Speaker 1: which was brewed by boiling down the liquids of a 245 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:31,200 Speaker 1: dead toad and carefully distilling its essence. And when Saint 246 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:35,119 Speaker 1: Croix returned from prison, the Marquise de Burunevilier was still 247 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:38,760 Speaker 1: bubbling with anger towards her brothers and towards her father, 248 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: the men in her life who had sold her to 249 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:45,560 Speaker 1: an indifferent husband and then denied her the only happiness 250 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:49,240 Speaker 1: she had ever known. What could she take from the 251 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:52,800 Speaker 1: men who had tried to take everything from her? With 252 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:57,000 Speaker 1: her brother's gone, the Marquise would inherit her father's vast estate. 253 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:03,159 Speaker 1: She could take their fortunes, but the Marquise thought she 254 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:16,399 Speaker 1: could also take their lives, And so the Marquise and 255 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:20,199 Speaker 1: Saint Croix set to work mixing their own variation on 256 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:24,119 Speaker 1: the poison aquaitot fauna, which was already famous in the 257 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:27,440 Speaker 1: back alleys of Europe among women who want to taste 258 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 1: in their widowhood. All the while, the pair behaved pious 259 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:35,520 Speaker 1: as Saints Saint Croix with his church going and confessions, 260 00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:40,160 Speaker 1: and the Marquise de Burunevilliers with her regular hospital visits. 261 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 1: And the Marquise had also been transformed into a dutiful daughter. 262 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 1: Three years after Saint Croix had been sent to prison, 263 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:53,200 Speaker 1: the Marquise's father visited Paris. His daughter called on him, 264 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:57,800 Speaker 1: begging for his forgiveness for her youthful scandal and assuring 265 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:00,680 Speaker 1: him that she had all but forgot in his letter 266 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: to the king. The two became so close that when 267 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,240 Speaker 1: her father began to feel ill and decided to retire 268 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:10,760 Speaker 1: to his country estate for some clean air, he invited 269 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:14,120 Speaker 1: his daughter to come be at his bedside. His mood 270 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:17,800 Speaker 1: lifted as soon as she arrived, and he jokingly chastised 271 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:23,480 Speaker 1: her for not coming sooner. But then her father's condition deteriorated. 272 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:28,720 Speaker 1: It was slow at first and then suddenly quicker. He 273 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 1: called upon the best doctors, but in the end it 274 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: was of no use. It was his daughter, the Marquise 275 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 1: de Burnevillier, cooing at his bedside and wiping his forehead 276 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:41,320 Speaker 1: with a wet cloth to soothe him in his final 277 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:45,800 Speaker 1: moments before he died, and a similar fate befell the 278 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: Marquise's two brothers. Strangely, their health began to worsen soon after. 279 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 1: They hired a servant on their sister's recommendation. She assured 280 00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:59,719 Speaker 1: them that there was absolutely no servant in Paris more loyal, 281 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 1: and there wasn't. The servant filled their wine glasses with 282 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,639 Speaker 1: the dedication and precision of a man at the top 283 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,720 Speaker 1: of his profession, and as they became sicker, he never 284 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:15,359 Speaker 1: left their sides. He was at their bedsides day and 285 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:19,480 Speaker 1: night as they died, first one and then the other. 286 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 1: The poisons had been masterfully brewed, slow acting and subtle, 287 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:29,119 Speaker 1: so that even to a well trained eye, it seemed 288 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:32,320 Speaker 1: as though the victims had merely taken ill and died 289 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:37,240 Speaker 1: of natural causes. Brinevilliers had become an expert. She had 290 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:41,920 Speaker 1: tested the doses dutifully. People didn't tend to pay attention 291 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: to the noble woman making a charitable visit to a hospital, 292 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,560 Speaker 1: and people paid even less attention to the impoverished sick 293 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:53,439 Speaker 1: when they got even sicker. Who could have noticed the 294 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,080 Speaker 1: way that the patients all seemed to take a turn 295 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 1: for the worse After the Marquise de Brinvilliers had come 296 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 1: by to drop off one of her little treats. You see, 297 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:06,199 Speaker 1: it took years of trial and error to perfect the 298 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 1: dosage of her poisons, but fortunately for the Marquise, she 299 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: had found the perfect test subjects. For a decade, the 300 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 1: Marquise de Brinvillier lived a quiet life. Her affair with 301 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: Saint Croix had dampened as affairs are wont to do 302 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,720 Speaker 1: in the aftermath of homicide, and the two drifted out 303 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:36,920 Speaker 1: of touch, although Brinvilliers continued to pay for Saint croix laboratory, 304 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:41,400 Speaker 1: where he continued his experiments with poisons. That's where Saint 305 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:45,800 Speaker 1: Croix was found dead in sixteen seventy two, collapsed on 306 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:49,800 Speaker 1: the floor of his laboratory, next to the broken fragments 307 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:52,680 Speaker 1: of the glass mask that had been meant to protect 308 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:55,400 Speaker 1: him from the deadly fumes with which he was working. 309 00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:59,560 Speaker 1: Saint Croix was no longer content with poisons made from 310 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:03,360 Speaker 1: liquid or powder. He was chasing the idea that an 311 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:07,120 Speaker 1: item could be so poisonous that merely touching it would 312 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:10,919 Speaker 1: kill someone. There were rumors that the elder brother of 313 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:14,439 Speaker 1: Charles the seventh had died after wiping his face with 314 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:17,880 Speaker 1: a poisoned napkin at a tennis match, and that Catherine 315 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,920 Speaker 1: de Medici had designed gloves that would kill the wearer. 316 00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:26,000 Speaker 1: As san Croix worked on his own formula, his glass 317 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 1: mask protected him from the fumes. At least it had 318 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 1: until it fell off and broke. Sancroix died heavily in debt. 319 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:40,080 Speaker 1: Like the Marquise de Burnevillier's long disappeared husband, her former 320 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:43,720 Speaker 1: lover was addicted to the rush of gambling. When the 321 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:47,440 Speaker 1: financiers examined his home, claiming whatever looked like it could 322 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:52,560 Speaker 1: be sold, they came across a strange locked box. It 323 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:56,080 Speaker 1: was eighteen inches long, seemed to be wrapped in red 324 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,440 Speaker 1: dyed leather, and there was a letter across the top. 325 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:03,679 Speaker 1: I very humbly beg those persons in whose hands this 326 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 1: casket may fall into, to be good enough to return 327 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:11,240 Speaker 1: to Madame the Marquise de Burnevilliers, as all that it 328 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:14,919 Speaker 1: contains concerns her alone, and in case she should have 329 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:19,639 Speaker 1: predeceased me, everything in it is to be burnt without examination. 330 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:25,119 Speaker 1: But unable to resist temptation, the magistrate pried open the 331 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:30,719 Speaker 1: lid and piqued inside. When word reached the Marquise de Burnevilliers, 332 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,199 Speaker 1: that Saint Croix was dead, and that the police had 333 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:37,120 Speaker 1: found in his possession a small red casket. The Marquise 334 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:48,000 Speaker 1: de Burnevilliers fled the country with whatever money she could gather. 335 00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:52,480 Speaker 1: In a few hours, Burnevilliers escaped to London, then to Holland, 336 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:56,200 Speaker 1: and finally to Antwerp, where she found refuge in a convent. 337 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:00,359 Speaker 1: She lived in exile for almost three years, but the 338 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:04,600 Speaker 1: French police had not stopped looking for her. Inside that 339 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:08,920 Speaker 1: little red casket, the police had found tiny vials containing 340 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:12,520 Speaker 1: a white powder that, when thrown on a fire, made 341 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:19,359 Speaker 1: it burn blue arsenic. Also inside the casket, perfectly preserved, 342 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:24,159 Speaker 1: were letters detailing the exact formula for poison that the 343 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:28,800 Speaker 1: Marquise and her lover had spent years concocting. Letters written 344 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:34,200 Speaker 1: in the clean, bold, firm handwriting of the Marquise de Brinevilliers. 345 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:39,360 Speaker 1: She was found finally in that nunnery in Antwerp by 346 00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:43,120 Speaker 1: a magistrate who disguised himself as a priest. As soon 347 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:45,600 Speaker 1: as she was caught, she broke a glass and tried 348 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,840 Speaker 1: to swallow the pieces to end her life. When they 349 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:52,080 Speaker 1: no longer allowed her glass, she tried to swallow a pin, 350 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:56,960 Speaker 1: but unable to kill herself. The Marquise de Brinvilliers was 351 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:00,840 Speaker 1: brought to Paris to be tortured into confession. Her body 352 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,040 Speaker 1: was bent backwards across a wooden beam, with her arms 353 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:07,280 Speaker 1: and legs chained to the floor. A funnel was shoved 354 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,919 Speaker 1: into her mouth, and the torturers forced down a full 355 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:15,639 Speaker 1: gallon of water. You're killing me, Brunevilliers sputtered. When the 356 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:19,800 Speaker 1: gallon was finished, they demanded that she name her accomplices. 357 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:24,560 Speaker 1: She claimed that she had none left. The torture continued. 358 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:29,720 Speaker 1: The Marquise de Burunevilier was carried off to her execution 359 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:33,760 Speaker 1: in a cart meant for livestock. Her hair was still 360 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:39,000 Speaker 1: brown and extraordinarily thick. Her eyes were blue. Her skin 361 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: was bone white and almost translucent, and everyone could see 362 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:47,840 Speaker 1: her from the back of the cart. When she reached 363 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:51,440 Speaker 1: the execution platform a rough knife, sheared off her hair 364 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:53,640 Speaker 1: to give the blade a clear path to her neck. 365 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:57,359 Speaker 1: She was facing the sun when the executioner lowered a 366 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:01,880 Speaker 1: mask over her eyes. The marquis peace began to pray, 367 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:07,080 Speaker 1: but the axe cut her off mid sentence. Usually after executions, 368 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:11,560 Speaker 1: the corpses were stripped, but the Marquise's body remained clothed. 369 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 1: A distant relative had bribed some one or another to 370 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:19,239 Speaker 1: preserve her dignity or the reputation of their family. In 371 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:24,920 Speaker 1: that one small, final way, the corpse, still fully clothed, 372 00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:29,800 Speaker 1: was placed on a pyre and burned to ash. History, 373 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:34,280 Speaker 1: especially modern history, tends to have a problem with glamorizing 374 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:38,439 Speaker 1: female murderesses. Allow me to make it clear that I 375 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,560 Speaker 1: think the Marquise is a villain, But perhaps you'll also 376 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:45,159 Speaker 1: allow me to tell you the story, maybe apocryphal, of 377 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:48,639 Speaker 1: what supposedly happened when the magistrate had finally caught her 378 00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: in that nunnery, and Marquise immediately tried to swallow glass. 379 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:56,359 Speaker 1: You wretched, The policeman shouted at her, you want to 380 00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:59,720 Speaker 1: kill yourself. You already poisoned your father and your brothers, 381 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:04,160 Speaker 1: And the Marquise responded with a bon mo. So beautifully 382 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 1: modern it seems impossible to believe, like it should be 383 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:12,000 Speaker 1: the final line in a Billy Wilder film. Supposedly, the 384 00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:16,320 Speaker 1: magistrate confronted her with her murders, and the Marquise looked 385 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,760 Speaker 1: back at him, and she said, we all have our 386 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:29,160 Speaker 1: bad moments. That's the end of the Marquise de brine 387 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:31,600 Speaker 1: Villier's life. But it's not the end of the story. 388 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:35,200 Speaker 1: Keep listening after a brief ad break to hear how heard. 389 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:47,919 Speaker 1: Case shook the French aristocracy to its core. Enthralling as 390 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,560 Speaker 1: the Marquise de brine Villiers murders and gruesome as her 391 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:56,199 Speaker 1: torture and execution were, her life was nothing compared to 392 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: the chaos that was about to hit the French court 393 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:03,359 Speaker 1: of Louis the four teeth, Because while Brinvillier was being tortured, 394 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:07,280 Speaker 1: she didn't give up the names of any co conspirators, 395 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:10,600 Speaker 1: but she did say something that left law enforcement reeling. 396 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:14,880 Speaker 1: Between bouts of water torture, while choking on the funnel 397 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:18,720 Speaker 1: they pulled from her mouth, Brinvillier managed to say something 398 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:22,960 Speaker 1: truly chilling. So many of us are doing it, she remarked, 399 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:27,399 Speaker 1: But only I get caught. The terrifying thing was she 400 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: was right. The Affair of the Poisons, as this frenzy 401 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:34,880 Speaker 1: of enforcement would come to be known, led to three 402 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:41,560 Speaker 1: hundred and nineteen arrests and thirty six individuals sentenced to death. Poisoning, 403 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 1: especially among the upper class, had become modus operandi for 404 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:50,760 Speaker 1: eliminating enemies and rival airs. Self styled witches ran back 405 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:55,400 Speaker 1: alley apothecaries where they made tonics and powders and potions 406 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:59,800 Speaker 1: to sell to women willing to pay any price. Once 407 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:04,240 Speaker 1: to woman, it seemed, was Madame de Montespa, the official 408 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:09,280 Speaker 1: mistress of King Louis. It isn't known for sure if 409 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:13,360 Speaker 1: Montespan bought poisons, although there are rumors that she attempted 410 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 1: to do in the newer younger women that threatened to 411 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:20,120 Speaker 1: steal King louise attention away. What we do know is 412 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:23,719 Speaker 1: Madame de Montespan did almost everything else in her power 413 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:26,800 Speaker 1: to make sure that the King's attention didn't leave her. 414 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:31,520 Speaker 1: After all, losing her position as official mistress meant losing 415 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 1: everything in the world. Montespas snuck love potions into the 416 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:40,320 Speaker 1: King's food and wine, drops of menstrual blood and sperm, 417 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:44,720 Speaker 1: iron filings, and the iridescent green wings of the Spanish 418 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:49,840 Speaker 1: fly beetles ground into fine powder, and, according to the 419 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:54,400 Speaker 1: most damning rumors against her, she engaged in black mass. 420 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:58,280 Speaker 1: They say she watched a baby butchered before her in 421 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:02,800 Speaker 1: a dim palace basement, and then extended her tongue to 422 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:07,200 Speaker 1: accept a communion waper dotted with the dead infants blood. 423 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:11,520 Speaker 1: When the affair of the poisons reached Madame de montespan 424 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:16,360 Speaker 1: Louis the fourteenth cooled down proceedings. He spared her a 425 00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:20,600 Speaker 1: criminal investigation, but from that point on her position diminished, 426 00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:25,480 Speaker 1: then dwindled, until she was left with nothing. For most 427 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:30,120 Speaker 1: of recorded history, women have been excluded from overt, mainstream 428 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:34,959 Speaker 1: political participation. They're shoved into drawing rooms and forced to 429 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,840 Speaker 1: steal whatever shreds of power they can with restrained smiles 430 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:43,280 Speaker 1: and unrestrained cunning. And it's no secret that people become 431 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:47,080 Speaker 1: desperate when they have no control, when their spectators to 432 00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:52,000 Speaker 1: their own lives, seeing themselves becoming boxed in like human prey. 433 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,200 Speaker 1: For the cost of a small vial of powder and 434 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,800 Speaker 1: her soul, a woman could become the architect of her 435 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:05,400 Speaker 1: own life, or at least she could try to be temporarily. 436 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:12,400 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is a production of I Heart Radio and 437 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:15,440 Speaker 1: Aaron Mankey. The show is written and hosted by Dana 438 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:20,040 Speaker 1: Schwartz and produced by Aaron Mankey, Matt Frederick, Alex Williams, 439 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:23,520 Speaker 1: and Trevor Young. Noble Blood is on social media at 440 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,120 Speaker 1: Noble Blood Tales, and you can learn more about the 441 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:29,200 Speaker 1: show over at Noble Blood Tales dot com. For more 442 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:32,520 Speaker 1: podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 443 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:36,000 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.