This deposition of Briancourt constitutes one of the most curious documents in our possession. This man was well disposed and at heart upright, but lacked backbone. His terrible mistress ruled and awed him. Yet he had flashes of that boldness into which feeble natures are occasionally drawn. After having poisoned her father and brothers the marquise had still to get rid of her sister, Thérèse d'Aubray, and her sister-in-law, Marie Thérèse Mangot, widow of the civil lieutenant. That is what 'remained to be done.' 'Seeing the imminent peril of Mademoiselle d'Aubray and even of Madame d'Aubray (though the widow's danger was not so near as the younger lady's), and because La Chaussée had not yet entered the house of Madame d'Aubray, and Madame de Brinvilliers said that she wished the widow's business to be managed in two months or not at all, he (Briancourt) begged the marquise to take care what she was at, said that she had cruelly put her father and brothers to death and wished to do the same with her sister; that he had never come upon an example of such cruelty in all the annals of antiquity, and that she was the cruelest and wickedest woman that ever had been or would be; that he begged her to reflect on what she meant to do, and to remember how that wretch Sainte-Croix had ruined her and her family; that he saw no safety for her, but sooner or later she would perish; that he himself would never allow the murder of Mademoiselle d'Aubray, even though she had once written to Madame de Brinvilliers a letter in which she accused him of being a rogue and rake.' It was unquestionably Briancourt's attitude which saved the lives of Madame de Brinvilliers' sister and sister-in-law; he had further warned Mademoiselle d'Aubray, through the marquise's maid Mademoiselle de Villeray, to be on her guard. In her confession the marquise declared that if she had thought of poisoning her sister it was out of hatred, by way of revenge for remarks she had made to her about her conduct. Briancourt had only succeeded in diverting the peril upon himself. Madame de Brinvilliers resolved to rid herself of a lover who responded to her confidences by playing the censor. The customary means, poison, was obviously the first to suggest itself. 'Sainte-Croix,' says Briancourt, 'had introduced into the Brinvilliers household a porter related to La Chaussée, and a lackey named Bazile, who was extraordinarily assiduous in serving me with food and drink; but seeing these attentions and, further, some sign of roguery in this fellow, I handled him so roughly that Madame de Brinvilliers had to dismiss him.' There followed a remarkably romantic scene, as Briancourt described it before the court.