1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:05,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim 2 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky listener discretion advised. In the 3 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: early eighteen hundreds, the specter of arsenic poisoning was everywhere. 4 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:26,480 Speaker 1: Arsenic was scary, and for good reason. It was a 5 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: deadly poison that could odorlessly be dissolved into food or drink, 6 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 1: and it was something with a number of legitimate uses 7 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 1: like rat poison, agriculture, even some medical treatments, which meant 8 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:46,240 Speaker 1: that arsenic was widely available in apothecaries. But something else 9 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 1: made arsenic uniquely frightening among the bourgeois salon class. Arsenic 10 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: was available from apothecaries, but it was only permitted to 11 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: be sold to quote, well known people, which meant it 12 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: wasn't being sold to quote indigence prostitutes, beggars, or visibly 13 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: destitute people end quote. Arsenic was being used for murder, then, 14 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: by the type of person that society didn't perceive to 15 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:23,000 Speaker 1: be a murderer. It's little wonder that the poison was 16 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: sometimes referred to by the morbid little nickname inheritance powder. 17 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: Another thing that made arsenic terrifying was there was no 18 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:37,679 Speaker 1: real way of testing for it, it killed someone with 19 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 1: vague symptoms that could be ascribed to a number of 20 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: fairly common diseases, and even as late as the eighteen thirties, 21 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: evidence that something contained arsenic could be as inexact as 22 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:57,280 Speaker 1: whether it emitted a garlic like smell when burned. People 23 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 1: were getting away with murder, and what made it scary? 24 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: Those people getting away with murder could look like anyone, 25 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: the nice young man with wealthy parents, the pretty widow 26 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: who always said hello to you at the apothecary. That 27 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: was the problem that faced Scottish chemist James Marsh when 28 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: he was trying to identify arsenic in the case of 29 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: a man named John Bottle, who was accused of killing 30 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:34,279 Speaker 1: his grandfather by stirring arsenic into his coffee. The procedure 31 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: Marsh was using to try to find arsenic in the 32 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: coffee and the grandfather's remains was using a hydrogen sulfide 33 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: to bubble through the material, and if the material contained arsenic, 34 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:52,920 Speaker 1: it would produce yellow arsinius sulfide, which could be reduced 35 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: into a yellow precipitate. But the method was more reliable 36 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: with liquid than it was with organic man and though 37 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:05,360 Speaker 1: Marsh was able to identify arsenic in the coffee that 38 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 1: Bottle's grandfather had drank. Marsh couldn't find arsenic in the 39 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 1: dead body's stomach, but even Marsh's coffee evidence was fairly insignificant. 40 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: In court, that yellow precipitate was inexact, and it decomposed 41 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: fairly quickly. The jury declared John Buddle innocent. It frustrated 42 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: James Marsh, and then it made him furious years later 43 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: when John Buddle confessed that he actually did kill his 44 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: grandfather with arsenic in his coffee, and so Marsh was 45 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: determined to make a better test, to find a way 46 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: so that arsenic poisoners could be held accountable to justice 47 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: with actual evidence. In eighteen thirty six, James Marsh created 48 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: the Marsh Test. I'm not a chemist, so forgive me 49 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 1: if I get any details wrong, but this is my 50 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: incredibly basic understanding of how the Marsh test works. If 51 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: arsenic is combined with hydrogen, it creates arsine gas, and 52 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: so a sample that possibly contains arsenic is combined with 53 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: zinc and sulfuric acid to make hydrogen, and then if 54 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,599 Speaker 1: arsenic is present, the arsine gas is led through a 55 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: heated glass tube which then decomposes into shiny arsenic metal. 56 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: That arsenic metal is collected on a thin porcelain plate, 57 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: and even the tiniest trace of arsenic becomes visible. The 58 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: Marsh test was nothing short of a breakthrough. The Pharmaceutical 59 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: Journal wrote that arsenic poisoning, that quote most excurrable of crimes, 60 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: was happily banished from the world. Marsh was honored by 61 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 1: the Society of Arts with their award of the quote 62 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 1: large Gold Medal capital L, capital G, capital M, which 63 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: I'm sure is a lovely and incredibly high honor, but 64 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,679 Speaker 1: does read to modern eyes as being awarded a large 65 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 1: gold star. In eighteen thirty seven, the Marsh Test was 66 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 1: translated into French and made its way onto the continent, 67 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: But it wouldn't be until eighteen forty and the notorious 68 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: case of a woman named Marie LeFarge where it would 69 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: be put to the well test in its most public 70 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 1: and famous application. Marie Lafarge was a glamorous woman with 71 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: raven hair who was raised in all of the right 72 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: social circles in Paris, and she was accused of slipping 73 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:01,919 Speaker 1: arsenic into her husband's food. Her trial surely would have 74 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:05,600 Speaker 1: been a public spectacle no matter what. But for the 75 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:09,720 Speaker 1: first time in France, the Marsh test would be used 76 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: and used publicly to determine scientifically whether Marie's husband, Charles, 77 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: had had arsenic in his body when he died. Modern 78 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 1: forensic toxicology was being invented in real time. In eighteen 79 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: forty one, an English magazine wrote, we confess to having 80 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: been singularly interested in the trial of Madame LeFarge for 81 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,760 Speaker 1: the murder of her husband as a romance of real life. 82 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: It strongly exemplified the adage that truth is stranger than fiction. 83 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:51,200 Speaker 1: For certainly, no living dramatist could have invented such a plot, 84 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: or such characters, or such scenes as has occurred in 85 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: its progress. No extravagant German tale ever presented a wilder 86 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:07,280 Speaker 1: mixture of the revolting, the horrible and the ludicrous. It 87 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: resembled one of our own terrific melodramas end quote. In short, 88 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: a perfect episode of noble blood. The Marsh Test offered 89 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: the public a shiny new thrill, the promise that justice 90 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:31,360 Speaker 1: could be scientifically exact. But even today, with nearly two 91 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 1: centuries of scientific advancement since the trial of Madame LeFarge 92 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: court cases aren't simple matters of science, and finding the 93 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 1: truth in Marie Lefarge's guilt or her innocence was a 94 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: matter far more complicated than a chemical reaction. Chemistry might 95 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: be scientific, but plenty of other evidence is a matter 96 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:59,520 Speaker 1: of who you choose to believe. Justice is sometimes a 97 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: matter of perspective, a matter of a story that someone 98 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: tells you, I'm Danish warts and this is noble blood. 99 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 1: Marie LeFarge was born into the privileges of upper class 100 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: nineteenth century French society. Her grandmother was a baroness and 101 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: an illegitimate daughter of Louis Philippe, the Duke of Orleons. 102 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,800 Speaker 1: Marie LeFarge had an aunt married to a Prussian diplomat, 103 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: and another married to the Secretary General of the Bank 104 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:40,440 Speaker 1: of France. Her father was a military officer said to 105 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 1: be a favorite of Napoleon. All in all, Marie was 106 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:48,800 Speaker 1: on the path to a perfectly respectable life, rubbing elbows 107 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:52,800 Speaker 1: with the well healed and well connected. But then a 108 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 1: twist of fate, like the beginning of a tragic fairy tale. 109 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: Marie's father died in a hunting accident, and her mother 110 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: died a few years later when Marie was eighteen, which 111 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:07,920 Speaker 1: led her to being sent off to live under the 112 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:12,120 Speaker 1: supervision of one of her aunts. Though Marie went to 113 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:16,559 Speaker 1: the right schools and socialized in the right circles, she 114 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:19,320 Speaker 1: was all too aware that she was something of a 115 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: poor relation. 116 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:22,160 Speaker 2: I have not. 117 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:26,200 Speaker 1: She watched as one of her closest friends, a woman 118 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 1: also named Marie, married a viscount and became the Viscontesse 119 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 1: de lu Tout, while Marie LeFarge remained unmarried. Her dowry 120 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:41,440 Speaker 1: was ninety thousand francs, which all things considered, was very respectable, 121 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:46,079 Speaker 1: but was nothing compared to the heiresses in Marie's social circles, 122 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:50,840 Speaker 1: especially because, as Marie remarked of herself, she was no 123 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: great beauty. She was considered average, with an average dowry 124 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 1: that made her feel downright mediocre compared to her friends. 125 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:04,839 Speaker 1: Marie visited her friend, the Viscomtess, at her beautiful new 126 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: chateau and thought, how easy it must be. The Viscomtesse 127 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 1: had a drawer of diamond necklaces that she treated so 128 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:18,720 Speaker 1: casually she wouldn't even notice if they went missing. Marie, 129 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 1: at age twenty three, was already aware that she was 130 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 1: becoming a burden to her family. Marie's uncle, eager to 131 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 1: make a match for her, came home one day and 132 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:32,600 Speaker 1: announced that he had found her a husband, the son 133 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:33,719 Speaker 1: of a postmaster. 134 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:35,719 Speaker 2: Marie recoiled. 135 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 1: She knew it was a marriage of convenience, but the 136 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: job was just so common. Was that all her aunt 137 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 1: and uncle thought of her. In her memoir, Marie writes 138 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:51,839 Speaker 1: a little heartbreakingly of the disillusionment in realizing her aunt 139 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:56,360 Speaker 1: actually did not harbor the maternal feelings for her that 140 00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:00,440 Speaker 1: she had so hoped for the postmaster's son. May marriage 141 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:04,640 Speaker 1: fell through, but soon enough Marie's uncle had another match, 142 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:09,640 Speaker 1: the owner of an iron forge. This time, both Marie 143 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:14,240 Speaker 1: and her aunt burst out laughing, where are you discovering 144 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:19,440 Speaker 1: this mine of husbands? Marie asked her uncle jokingly. Her 145 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:23,600 Speaker 1: uncle's face was stony. He had met the iron master 146 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 1: through a mutual friend, a rich merchant. Marie's uncle's reaction 147 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:33,680 Speaker 1: told her everything she needed to know. Her options were limited. 148 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 1: The iron master's name was Charles Lafarge. He was twenty 149 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 1: eight years old. Marie was told that he owned one 150 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 1: of the finest estates in the region of Limoisson, a 151 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 1: grand manner known as Le Glandier, and that in addition 152 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:53,440 Speaker 1: to the large income he brought in from his iron works, 153 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:57,400 Speaker 1: he had two hundred thousand francs in land and capital. 154 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 1: For a marriage of convenience, Marie could do a lot worse, 155 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: and so it was arranged for Marie and Charles LeFarge 156 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:10,400 Speaker 1: to meet at a private concert, where Marie's uncle would 157 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:16,440 Speaker 1: introduce Charles as a friend in the interest of social decorum. 158 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:21,439 Speaker 1: Charles didn't make a very good first impression, as Marie 159 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 1: wrote in her memoir Monsieur LeFarge was extremely ugly. His 160 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 1: form and features were the most business looking conceivable. He 161 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:35,280 Speaker 1: spoke to me a good deal, but the noisy harmony 162 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:37,200 Speaker 1: of the orchestra drowned. 163 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:37,920 Speaker 2: Out his words. 164 00:12:38,559 --> 00:12:42,439 Speaker 1: But still he was wealthy, and they said that his house, 165 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 1: Laglandier was a lovely place to live, in a large 166 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:50,560 Speaker 1: park with wonderful views. And so Marie and Charles were 167 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 1: married in a small ceremony, and Marie set off with 168 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: her new husband on a journey to return to his 169 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:02,079 Speaker 1: home and to Marie's new life. It didn't take long 170 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:05,600 Speaker 1: for any optimism Marie might have felt about her new 171 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:10,320 Speaker 1: marriage to dissolve the journey back to Limissant would take 172 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:13,600 Speaker 1: a few days by carriage, and they had stopped at 173 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 1: an inn for the night. Marie was taking a bath 174 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:21,520 Speaker 1: when her husband knocked hard on her door. Wait ten minutes, 175 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 1: Marie shouted, and I'll be dressed. Charles replied, it is 176 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:30,080 Speaker 1: precisely because you are undressed that I want to come in. 177 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:30,480 Speaker 2: Now. 178 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:33,200 Speaker 1: Do you take me for a fool or think I 179 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:37,160 Speaker 1: am to be driven off forever by your damned Parisian modesty. 180 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:42,640 Speaker 1: Marie was stunned, not by the marital act, which she 181 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: understood would take place eventually, but by the brutishness. 182 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 2: Of her new husband. 183 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 1: Now Marie's maid spoke up, Surely, monsieur will be polite 184 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:58,199 Speaker 1: the first day, The maid said, open the door. Charles said, 185 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: or I will break it open. Marie refused, and, according 186 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:08,439 Speaker 1: to her memoir, Charles responded with a storm of obscene 187 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:12,640 Speaker 1: imprecations that I should shudder to write, before departing in 188 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,440 Speaker 1: a furious mood without making good on that threat to 189 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 1: break the door down. But now Marie understood what sort 190 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:24,880 Speaker 1: of man her husband was. He wasn't the gentleman she 191 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: had dreamed of. This was a rough man from the 192 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 1: country who resented her wealthy Parisian upbringing, and their marriage 193 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:38,160 Speaker 1: was going to be a challenging one. The next morning, 194 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: Charles Lafarge greeted Marie more kindly, almost apologetically. He asked 195 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:47,560 Speaker 1: how she was feeling, and, as Marie wrote, he embraced 196 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: me and became kind and attentive as before. Still Marie 197 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: couldn't shake her unpleasant feeling, the misery she sensed was 198 00:14:56,840 --> 00:14:59,880 Speaker 1: awaiting her in a marriage she was now trapped in. 199 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:03,680 Speaker 1: I was unable to eat at dinner, she wrote, and 200 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:06,440 Speaker 1: having taken a cup of tea, I spent an hour 201 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:10,200 Speaker 1: in a balcony, feeling the horrors of the abyss yawning 202 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:14,240 Speaker 1: at my feet, but dreading the thoughts of coolly measuring 203 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: its depth. Even Marie couldn't have predicted what would be 204 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:22,480 Speaker 1: waiting for her at La Glandier when she finally arrived. 205 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:27,280 Speaker 1: Perhaps the reason Charles had been so aggressive at the 206 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,200 Speaker 1: inn was because he knew that if there was a 207 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 1: chance he was going to get to enjoy his wife, Carnalie, 208 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 1: it was going to be before they made it back 209 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: to his estate. When the couple finally made it back, 210 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:47,480 Speaker 1: things would go from merely unpleasant to abysmal. That abyss 211 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 1: Marie imagined was no longer just at her feet, It 212 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:56,880 Speaker 1: was about to swallow her whole. The town outside Laglandier 213 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:03,080 Speaker 1: was squalid, small and miserable, with dirty, narrow streets populated 214 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:09,160 Speaker 1: by suspicious and cruel faces. La Glandier itself was worse. 215 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: Charles Lafarge was not a wealthy iron master with a 216 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:20,000 Speaker 1: sizeable property and generous income. He was broke and heavily 217 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:25,040 Speaker 1: in debt, and his estate was a crumbling ruin, dripping 218 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 1: with damp and mold walls, wheezing with the cold, and 219 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:34,960 Speaker 1: squeaking with rats. And Marie was met upon their arrival 220 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 1: with a scene out of a Gothic horror novel, where 221 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:42,560 Speaker 1: she was welcomed into the crumbling estate by her new 222 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:45,880 Speaker 1: mother in law and sister in law, both of whom 223 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 1: viewed Charles's new bride with skepticism verging on derision. Who 224 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:57,680 Speaker 1: was this young privileged Parisian society girl who deigned to 225 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:03,240 Speaker 1: come out to their country home and judge them? Close 226 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:06,879 Speaker 1: to tears, Marie made some excuse to retire to her 227 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:09,960 Speaker 1: room with her maid, and she found that her bedroom 228 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:15,160 Speaker 1: was threadbare, barely furnished. When she asked for an inkstand 229 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 1: so that she might write a letter, she was given 230 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: a broken sweetmeat jar with gray water swirling inside. She 231 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:27,920 Speaker 1: had been tricked, deceived, and was now legally married and 232 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: stuck here for the rest of her life. In this 233 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 1: miserable place. Le Glandier was built on the ruins of 234 00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:38,960 Speaker 1: a former monastery, and Marie's mother in law would tell 235 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:41,920 Speaker 1: Marie that once she had forgotten to make the sign 236 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,560 Speaker 1: of the Cross in front of her daughter's cradle, and 237 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:49,000 Speaker 1: the devil himself had overturned the baby's basinet and left 238 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:53,280 Speaker 1: long blue scars the mark of his black nails on 239 00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:57,120 Speaker 1: the baby's neck. But Marie didn't need to be told 240 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:01,159 Speaker 1: that this place was haunted. She coul it, and the 241 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: fact that you would need to spend a single night here, 242 00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:10,359 Speaker 1: let alone the rest of her life, was almost beyond comprehension. 243 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:15,239 Speaker 1: The thought of writing to her friends in Paris, of 244 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:20,600 Speaker 1: telling them about her terrible deception, was humiliation. And even 245 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:23,359 Speaker 1: if she did write them, she was one hundred leagues 246 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:27,480 Speaker 1: away from Paris, from help from people who cared about her. 247 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:31,760 Speaker 1: Marie was all alone, the new lady of a house 248 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:34,760 Speaker 1: that came with a collection of in laws who resented 249 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 1: her supposed city heirs, and with a brutish husband who 250 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 1: was getting impatient to consummate their marriage. Marie articulated her 251 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: despair in her memoir, saying, quote, the gray color of 252 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:53,960 Speaker 1: the heavens darkening as night approached, added to the indignation 253 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 1: which filled me at the deceit. I suffered from the 254 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:01,760 Speaker 1: greater and more repugnant fear of the nocturnal tete, a 255 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:05,719 Speaker 1: tete which I dreaded so much and could no longer shun. 256 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:10,440 Speaker 1: I have never known hatred, But when my heart is wounded, 257 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:14,879 Speaker 1: I am powerless to master my indignation. At that moment, 258 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:18,679 Speaker 1: I should have sickened. If Monsieur LeFarge had kissed my 259 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:25,360 Speaker 1: hand in his arms, I should have perished, with her 260 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:29,520 Speaker 1: maid guarding the door and using the broken jar as 261 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:33,920 Speaker 1: an inkwell. Marie frantically wrote a note to her new husband, 262 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: begging him to release her from the marriage. Get two 263 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:40,840 Speaker 1: horses ready, I will ride to Bordeaux and then take 264 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:44,440 Speaker 1: the ship to Smyrna. I will leave you all my possessions. 265 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 1: May God turn them to your advantage. Let no one 266 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 1: know I have ever existed. I will take arsenic, I 267 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:55,160 Speaker 1: have some spare me be the guardian angel of a 268 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: poor orphan girl, or if you choose, slay me and 269 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 1: say I have killed myself. To his credit, it seems 270 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:09,000 Speaker 1: that Charles responded pretty well to the distraught young woman 271 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:14,200 Speaker 1: dericading herself in her room and threatening suicide. He read 272 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:18,199 Speaker 1: the note Marie shoved beneath the door without anger or defensiveness, 273 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,639 Speaker 1: and when Marie was well enough to come out, he 274 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:26,359 Speaker 1: kissed her hand and began weeping himself. He told Marie, 275 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 1: unfortunately he could not release her from the marriage, one 276 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 1: because he needed her dowry, and two because she actually 277 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:38,840 Speaker 1: wasn't permitted to dispose of her own dowry without the 278 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:43,359 Speaker 1: permission of her family. But wait a few days, he promised. 279 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:47,359 Speaker 1: Please let me show you how much I adore you, 280 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 1: and in the meantime live here merely as my sister, 281 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:55,400 Speaker 1: without sharing a bed until I can prove my love 282 00:20:55,520 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: and make you happy. Charles apologized profusely for the state 283 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:04,000 Speaker 1: of the house and assured Marie that he would do 284 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:07,679 Speaker 1: everything in his power to begin to repair Le Glandier 285 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 1: until it became a place up to her standards. From 286 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 1: that point on, while I don't think Marie fell madly 287 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:21,000 Speaker 1: in love with Charles, but things started to get much better. 288 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: The two seemed to get along. Marie began using her 289 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 1: money and her connections to help Charles get ahead in business. 290 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:32,520 Speaker 1: She had some money that she invested in the Forge, 291 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,320 Speaker 1: and she put Charles in touch with some of her 292 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:38,880 Speaker 1: contacts who might be able to get him loans. And 293 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:43,280 Speaker 1: though things remained frosty with Marie's mother in law, Marie 294 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:47,840 Speaker 1: and Charles began to have a pretty decent marital relationship. 295 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,280 Speaker 1: In a letter to a friend, Murray wrote, I have 296 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:55,040 Speaker 1: accepted my position, although it is difficult. But with a 297 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:58,720 Speaker 1: little strength of mind, with patience and my husband's love, 298 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 1: I may grow contended. Charles adores me, and I cannot 299 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 1: but be touched by the caresses lavished on me. Again, 300 00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:11,520 Speaker 1: it's worth remembering she is writing that in a letter 301 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:15,520 Speaker 1: to a friend, her pride had already been wounded by 302 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:18,359 Speaker 1: the fact that she was sent away to endure the 303 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:22,159 Speaker 1: situation in the first place, and her letter might be 304 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:28,080 Speaker 1: read as the nineteenth century equivalent of carefully curating photos 305 00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:31,560 Speaker 1: to post on Instagram so that your life looks more 306 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:36,200 Speaker 1: enviable to your friends than it actually is, But according 307 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:39,120 Speaker 1: to Marie and the way she writes in her memoir, 308 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:44,160 Speaker 1: her relationship with Charles continued to develop from a genuine 309 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:48,360 Speaker 1: friendship to a slowly blossoming romance, to the point that 310 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 1: in autumn, when Charles was taking a business trip to 311 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:56,040 Speaker 1: Paris to try to make arrangements for loans, Marie thought 312 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:59,760 Speaker 1: it would be romantic to send along a miniature. 313 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:00,480 Speaker 2: Portrait of herself. 314 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 1: It's a pretty funny section in Marie's memoir. The portrait 315 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 1: comes back and Marie is horrified at how ugly it looks, 316 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,159 Speaker 1: and her mother in law and their housekeeper, Mademoiselle Braun, 317 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:18,480 Speaker 1: do an incredibly passive, aggressive, classic mean girl move. What 318 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:22,240 Speaker 1: a perfect like this? She really captured you. In the 319 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:27,359 Speaker 1: memoir quote, Madame Lafarge, mother in law, was so enthusiastic 320 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:31,000 Speaker 1: at the sight of my portrait, and Mademoiselle Brun regarded 321 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:34,560 Speaker 1: it near and at distance with a smile of such 322 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:38,480 Speaker 1: proud satisfaction that I believed, with a sigh, that my 323 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,160 Speaker 1: vanity had deluded me, and that I was quite as 324 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:46,919 Speaker 1: ugly as my picture. In the package to Paris, Marie 325 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 1: also included some small local chestnuts and some little cakes. 326 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:57,159 Speaker 1: Baked by Charles's mother, quote whose reputation for pastry was colossal, 327 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:00,800 Speaker 1: and who was not accustomed to concede to anyone the 328 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:05,240 Speaker 1: grand work of making side dishes. I imagine it's the 329 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 1: same type of situation as your mother in law being 330 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,040 Speaker 1: famous for making pie. So it would be an insult 331 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:16,639 Speaker 1: come Thanksgiving for anyone else to Deiane make dessert. And 332 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 1: so the package with the portrait, the chestnuts and the 333 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:23,920 Speaker 1: little cakes was tied with cording and sent to Paris, 334 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:28,040 Speaker 1: along with the note Marie sent telling her husband that 335 00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:30,880 Speaker 1: it might be romantic if he ate a cake at 336 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:33,960 Speaker 1: midnight in Paris and she ate a cake at midnight 337 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,920 Speaker 1: in La Glandier, so that even though they were distant, 338 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,080 Speaker 1: they would both be eating cake at. 339 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:39,960 Speaker 2: The same time. 340 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:45,600 Speaker 1: A sweet thought. Two days earlier, Marie had written to 341 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:50,520 Speaker 1: an apothecary, I am devoured by rats. I have tried 342 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 1: plaster and nux vomica to rid myself of them, but 343 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:58,880 Speaker 1: they do know good will you, and can you let 344 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:02,960 Speaker 1: me have a little You can rely upon my prudence, 345 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 1: It is to put in a closet where I keep 346 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:11,000 Speaker 1: my linen. Charles received his care package in Paris, but 347 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:16,440 Speaker 1: here is where some unverified sources spend a slightly different story. 348 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:21,520 Speaker 1: The problem with this particular podcast episode is that the 349 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:26,520 Speaker 1: Lfarge case had become such a media sensation that magazines 350 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:31,240 Speaker 1: and newspapers wrote about it with a, let's say, tabloid 351 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:36,040 Speaker 1: esque sense of abandon and so sometimes we get contemporary 352 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:41,600 Speaker 1: sources making conflicting claims, and sometimes aspects of the case 353 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: are adopted into the story, repeated over and over again 354 00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: without ever having been really verified, or at least verified 355 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:53,399 Speaker 1: in a way that I can trace in the first place. 356 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:57,960 Speaker 1: And so one of those aspects of the story is 357 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 1: that when Charles received his care package, it wasn't secured 358 00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:03,840 Speaker 1: with cords the way it had. 359 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:04,960 Speaker 2: Been when it was sent off. 360 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:08,960 Speaker 1: It was tied with ropes, and there weren't a number 361 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:13,760 Speaker 1: of small cakes inside, but rather one large cake. Well, 362 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:17,399 Speaker 1: no matter, Charles thought. He cut himself a slice and 363 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:22,000 Speaker 1: went about his evening. It wasn't long though, before Charles 364 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:27,159 Speaker 1: became incredibly ill, too sick to leave his bed. A 365 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:30,359 Speaker 1: doctor saw him in Paris and said that based on 366 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:35,560 Speaker 1: his symptoms, he was suffering from cholera. Eventually, in January 367 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:39,240 Speaker 1: of eighteen forty, Charles was well enough to come back 368 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,200 Speaker 1: home to La Glandier, where he would be cared for 369 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:47,120 Speaker 1: by his mother, his sister, the housekeeper Mademoiselle Broun Marie, 370 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:51,920 Speaker 1: and a cousin named Emma. The family doctor was brought 371 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,639 Speaker 1: around at once, and he corroborated what the doctor in 372 00:26:55,720 --> 00:27:00,600 Speaker 1: Paris had thought cholera. What Charles needed was bed rest, 373 00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:05,280 Speaker 1: lots of good food, and good sleep. Marie was at 374 00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:09,560 Speaker 1: her husband's bedside every day, and he often complained about 375 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 1: the scurrying of rats in the walls, in the floors, 376 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 1: in the ceilings, making noise that made it hard for 377 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:19,880 Speaker 1: him to sleep. The bit of arsenic that she had 378 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:24,320 Speaker 1: bought the month prior hadn't worked, evidently, and the rats 379 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 1: had expanded their territory, making their way into Marie's closet 380 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:34,119 Speaker 1: and chewing at her linen's. Marie asked her husband's clerk, 381 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:37,639 Speaker 1: a Monsieur Denis, to go to the apothecary with a 382 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:41,720 Speaker 1: note Marie wrote, and bring home rat traps and arsenic. 383 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:45,280 Speaker 1: Marie showed what Deni had brought back to her husband. 384 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,360 Speaker 1: Surely this amount of arsenic will take. 385 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 2: Care of the rats, she said. 386 00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:55,359 Speaker 1: Charles agreed, but try as the women around Charles Lafarge did. 387 00:27:55,800 --> 00:28:01,240 Speaker 1: The Ironmaster's condition did not improve. One morning, Mademoiselle Brun 388 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:07,000 Speaker 1: noticed Marie stirring something into Charles's chicken broth. Before Marie 389 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:10,560 Speaker 1: could feed it to Charles, Brun stole the bowl and 390 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:14,879 Speaker 1: secretly hid it until the doctor came by. See, Brun said, 391 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:18,320 Speaker 1: showing the chicken broth to the doctor, there were white 392 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 1: flecks undissolved on the surface. Doesn't this look like arsenic? 393 00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:27,480 Speaker 1: The doctor shrugged. He said it looked like a bit 394 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,520 Speaker 1: of sealing plaster had fallen into the bowl, and to 395 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,200 Speaker 1: be fair, that was the type of thing that happened 396 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:38,520 Speaker 1: at Le Glandier. But Brun's suspicions weren't abated, and neither 397 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:41,920 Speaker 1: were the suspicions of Marie's mother and sister in law. 398 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:46,000 Speaker 1: They were convinced it was arsenic, and they tried, in 399 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:50,479 Speaker 1: their unscientific ways to prove it. They boiled samples of 400 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: the food over small flames and leaned in close to 401 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:55,800 Speaker 1: see if they could smell garlic. 402 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:59,640 Speaker 2: Do you smell that? They asked each other. Garlic right. 403 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:04,280 Speaker 1: They kept Marie away from Charles and from his food, 404 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: closing doors if she passed by, and avoiding her glances. 405 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:14,800 Speaker 1: When Charles's condition was still not improved, the family called 406 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:19,240 Speaker 1: yet another doctor to Laglandier to examine him. The doctor 407 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:22,960 Speaker 1: was Enroot, but he arrived too late. Just a few 408 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:28,040 Speaker 1: hours after the doctor was called, Charles died. It was Emma, 409 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 1: the cousin, the only one in the family still loyal 410 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,479 Speaker 1: to Marie at all, who approached her with a pale 411 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 1: face and trembling voice. Marie, she said, they say you 412 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:43,160 Speaker 1: have poisoned him. They say you have killed Charles to 413 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 1: wed another. Marie was aghast, at least according to her memoir, 414 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:54,440 Speaker 1: she was genuinely shocked by the accusation. Emma continued, they 415 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 1: say you put arsenic into his chicken broth, that they 416 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 1: saw white powder floating in his soup. Marie blinked. She 417 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:07,360 Speaker 1: had put something in his soup, gum arabic. She kept 418 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:09,680 Speaker 1: it in this small malachite box here. 419 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:10,280 Speaker 2: See. 420 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:13,920 Speaker 1: She herself took it often. It was good for you. 421 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 1: But it was too late for explanations. Charles's family was 422 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:23,360 Speaker 1: convinced that Marie was a murderer, and the local magistrate 423 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 1: was summoned. The Justice of the peace was a man 424 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:31,720 Speaker 1: named Moran, and he arrived to le Glandier on January fifteenth. 425 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:36,240 Speaker 1: He listened patiently to Charles's family as they told him 426 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:40,239 Speaker 1: how Marie had poisoned her husband, and Maran accepted the 427 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:44,600 Speaker 1: samples of soup and various drinks that Charles's family had 428 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:49,440 Speaker 1: set aside, convinced Marie had tampered with them. A gardener 429 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:53,800 Speaker 1: pointed out the various spots around the house that Marie 430 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:57,960 Speaker 1: had set up arsenic paste to poison the rats. Rats 431 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:01,440 Speaker 1: haven't touched it, he said, shrugging. Maybe she used the 432 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:05,480 Speaker 1: real arsenic for something else. The Justice of the Peace 433 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:09,200 Speaker 1: had his men searched the house. They took Marie's letters 434 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,200 Speaker 1: and her malekite box of powder that she claimed was 435 00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:16,720 Speaker 1: gum Arabic. They questioned the servants, and that was how. 436 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:21,280 Speaker 1: Under interrogation, one of the servants told the men that 437 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:24,320 Speaker 1: he had buried a stash of arsenic in the garden. 438 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:28,720 Speaker 1: Marie told him to the servant, said, the Justice of 439 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:31,920 Speaker 1: the Peace dug and just as the servant boy had said, 440 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:36,080 Speaker 1: there was a bag of arsenic hidden away, presumably so 441 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:40,120 Speaker 1: the magistrates wouldn't have been able to find it. The 442 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:44,840 Speaker 1: alleged murder of Charles LeFarge by his rich Parisian wife 443 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:49,680 Speaker 1: made the newspapers, and when the Vicomte de Leotteau read them, 444 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:53,720 Speaker 1: he turned to his wife. Wasn't this the woman you 445 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:56,880 Speaker 1: were friends with, the woman we had visit our home. 446 00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:00,240 Speaker 1: Come to think of it, wasn't it right after sure 447 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:06,520 Speaker 1: she visited that your diamonds went missing. The viscomtesse concurred, yes, 448 00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:10,160 Speaker 1: that was her old friend, Marie, and yes her diamond 449 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:14,000 Speaker 1: had gone missing, but she hadn't thought to accuse her friend, 450 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:17,880 Speaker 1: even though, yes, her friend was poorer than they were 451 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:23,200 Speaker 1: and did probably covet her diamonds. The Vicomte wrote to 452 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:26,240 Speaker 1: the Justice of the Peace and had him search Marie's 453 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 1: room at La Glandier. Sure enough, there they were the 454 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:35,880 Speaker 1: exact diamond that had gone missing from the vicomtesse. So 455 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:40,880 Speaker 1: Marie LeFarge wasn't just a murderess, but a thief as well. 456 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 1: In the meantime, the local experts in Brieve attempted to 457 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:51,280 Speaker 1: analyze the food samples and Charles's stomach for arsenic They 458 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:54,640 Speaker 1: had never heard of the marsh test, but they knew 459 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:57,960 Speaker 1: the old fashioned method, and though there were a few 460 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:03,200 Speaker 1: minor snaphoos with the equipment, they identified the distinct yellow 461 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:09,920 Speaker 1: precipitate as it formed. They knew what that yellow precipitate meant, arsenic. 462 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:14,640 Speaker 1: A lot of arsenic in the chicken broth, and in 463 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:21,560 Speaker 1: Marie's small box and in Charles LaFarge's digestive track. Crowds 464 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:26,080 Speaker 1: of people were already gathered outside the prison where Marie 465 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:30,320 Speaker 1: LeFarge would be kept before her trial. They jeered and 466 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:33,920 Speaker 1: shouted at her as she was escorted from her carriage 467 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:38,760 Speaker 1: and into the prison. Marie LeFarge stepped over the threshold 468 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:42,600 Speaker 1: and the door was bolted behind her with a loud, 469 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:54,000 Speaker 1: echoing thud. That's the end of part one of the 470 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:58,440 Speaker 1: story of Marie LeFarge. Next week we'll get into her trial, 471 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:02,320 Speaker 1: but keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear 472 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:05,720 Speaker 1: a little bit about how the legacy of Murray LeFarge 473 00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:19,400 Speaker 1: inspired literature. Earlier this summer, on August fourth, twenty twenty three, 474 00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:23,440 Speaker 1: there was a final jeopardy question that stumped all three 475 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:28,480 Speaker 1: very smart contestants. It was a really hard one, even 476 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:32,879 Speaker 1: in a category nineteenth century literature characters that I would 477 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:36,439 Speaker 1: have thought I would have nailed the question, or rather, 478 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:41,279 Speaker 1: the answer was this character from an eighteen fifty nine 479 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:45,960 Speaker 1: novel symbolizes the fates who, in mythology, spin the web 480 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:50,440 Speaker 1: of life, measure it and cut it off, give up. 481 00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:56,799 Speaker 1: The correct response was who is Madame Defarge, the villainess 482 00:34:56,960 --> 00:35:01,280 Speaker 1: from Charles Dickens's Tale of Two Cities. In the book, 483 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:05,640 Speaker 1: Madame Defarge is an ardent supporter of the radical Jacobeans 484 00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:09,759 Speaker 1: and the reign of terror during the French Revolution, And 485 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:12,800 Speaker 1: as the noblemen and women are going to their deaths 486 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:18,320 Speaker 1: at the guillotine, Madame Defarge is there placidly knitting. Hence 487 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:23,000 Speaker 1: the web of life fates symbolism connection. But to me, 488 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:28,240 Speaker 1: the name Defarge seems an echo of another famous woman 489 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:32,880 Speaker 1: from the middle of the nineteenth century, Marie Lafarge, a 490 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:36,960 Speaker 1: woman who Charles Dickens certainly would have been very familiar with, 491 00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:41,960 Speaker 1: A woman who became famous in tabloids and newspapers for 492 00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:45,280 Speaker 1: the question of whether she was a murderous a woman 493 00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:48,799 Speaker 1: who controlled life and death in her hands with the 494 00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:52,880 Speaker 1: flick of her wrist and the sprinkle of powder. The 495 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:57,399 Speaker 1: fictional Madame Defarge, I want to say, did absolutely take 496 00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:00,280 Speaker 1: things a little far. But if you've read a Tale 497 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:04,040 Speaker 1: of Two Cities, I think you can agree that misguided 498 00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:08,440 Speaker 1: and vengeful as she was, she did have a pretty 499 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:13,080 Speaker 1: good reason to want revenge in the first place. Come 500 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:32,120 Speaker 1: back next week for the conclusion of Madame Lefarge's episode. 501 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:36,920 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm and 502 00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:41,320 Speaker 1: Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is created and hosted 503 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:46,040 Speaker 1: by me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and researching by 504 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:51,640 Speaker 1: Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender, and Lori Goodman. 505 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:55,920 Speaker 1: The show is edited and produced by Noemi Griffin and 506 00:36:56,160 --> 00:37:01,840 Speaker 1: rima il Kaali, with supervising producer Josh Thane and executive 507 00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:06,560 Speaker 1: producers Aaron Manke, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more 508 00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:12,440 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 509 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:14,600 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.