The Nymph of Versailles

Chapter 30

"Why did we think it would be a good idea to watch an execution?" Athénaïs eyed the crowd. She already stood as close to her sister as possible, but people pressed in all around them. The smell of sweat and unwashed bodies filled the Place de Grève.

"With all the fear and gossip going around court, I want to know how serious this whole poison matter is." Gabrielle shuffled away from an unkept man moving through the crowd, his hair matted with dirt and grease.

Marquise de Brinvilliers had poisoned her father for the inheritance, and then attempted to poison her siblings to have it all to herself. Her brothers died around the same time as Princess Henrietta. Her lover, a man named Sainte-Croix, outed her crimes when his handwritten accusations were found after his death. Brinvilliers' family hadn't been her only victims. She'd tested her poisons on the impoverished unfortunates seeking help at the Hôtel-Dieu hospital. Whispers at court claimed she'd poisoned fifty people.

"I doubt anyone at court would be stupid enough to use poison." Athénaïs wrapped an arm around her sister's to keep from losing her in the thick crowd. Sweat trickled down her forehead and chest. In the crush of the crowd the air felt hot.

"Desperation makes people do stupid things and Brinvilliers is a marquise, don't forget. Henrietta's death started the paranoia. And now with this execution its proof to everyone that poison is a threat. It might even give people ideas. More specifically, it may give your enemies ideas." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "I hear the investigation has led to one of your own maids. She could be arrested any day now. Be careful."

She nervously picked at her nails. She hadn't known about the maid. Which one was it? The king had slept with more than one of them. They could be looking to replace her or worse, target the king. "I'll be careful about what I eat and drink." She wouldn't be able to get the powder to increase the king's affections either. Not that they did much good when he left her.

"Look at this crowd," Gabrielle said with disgust lacing her words. "There must be thousands of people out hoping to see her. They are so excited to watch someone die."

"Can you blame them? She poisoned her family and tried to kill her husband and a maid. Not to mention the confessions of incest. Public execution is dreadful, but at least they gave her mercy in taking her to Notre Dame for a chance to save her soul."

"You left adultery off the list, but I suppose we aren't ones capable of judging that."

Athénaïs shrugged. "Her husband allowed it. He had lovers too. It's not nearly as concerning as the murder charges."

Cheers went up from the crowd down the road. Everyone craned their heads to get a look at Brinvilliers as the cart made its slow sojourn to the scaffold. Brinvilliers laid inside with a priest on one side and the executioner on her other side. Both men wore somber looks. A loose noose hung around her neck as a symbol of her sentence. The priest prayed as the cart halted beside the scaffold. The crowd continued to cheer and boo.

"She doesn't look like a murderess. She looks harmless," Athénaïs commented. Brinvilliers was tiny in every way, frail. She lacked strength and with proper clothes on, would have looked like a common woman. But perhaps that was what made her case so terrifying. If a woman like Brinvilliers could employ poison, then who couldn't?

The executioner helped Brinvilliers out of the cart. She wore nothing but a long shirt and hood. Even her feet were barefoot. She walked with an odd shuffling gait. Her figure appeared thin and wiry beneath the shirt. From their spot in the crowd Athénaïs couldn't get a good look at her face, Brinvilliers's hunched shoulders made it hard to see her front.

The image Athénaïs had developed of a spoiled woman in silk clothes disappeared.

"She looks pitiful. If I met her at a party I wouldn't think to fear her," Athénaïs said.