Princes and Poisoners: Studies of the Court of Louis XIVFunck-Brentano, Frantz
History
Princes and Poisoners: Studies of the Court of Louis XIV
Funck-Brentano, Frantz
France -- Court and courtiers; France -- History -- Louis XIV, 1643-1715; Poisoners
She had been the wife of a wholesale tradesman in the city. Monsieur and
Madame Brunet entertained very largely, for they provided excellent
music. The fashionable flutist, Philibert Rébillé, musician to the king,
was constantly to be heard there. Brunet worshipped the flutist for his
delightful skill, and Madame Brunet for his charming person. As the
excellent people kept a good table, and the wife was charming, the
artiste responded with great enthusiasm to this double passion. It was
perfect bliss, which might have lasted for a long time to the melodious
sounds of the flute, if Brunet, with the idea of permanently attaching
to himself so pleasant a musician, had not taken it into his head to
offer him his daughter with a handsome dowry, and if Philibert,
delighted with the ducats and the daughter, had not accepted them with
alacrity. Madame Brunet uttered a cry of horror! Philibert explained to
her that he had consulted apostolic notaries, and that for a
consideration it would be possible to obtain canonical letters which
would set things right; and festivities were got up for the betrothal.
In desperation Madame Brunet confided in La Voisin: 'If she had to do
penance for ten years, it was necessary that God should carry off
Brunet, her husband, for she could not abide to see Philibert, whom she
loved passionately, in the arms of her daughter.' She even took her
lover to the sorceress. Philibert deposed at the trial that, under
pretext of showing him a garden, Madame Brunet took him to see a woman
who proceeded to look at his hand: 'I know not who she is, for the woman
was so drunk that she could not say a word.' La Voisin, on being
questioned, related the proceedings of Madame Brunet, adding: 'There are
other details which I would not tell for anything in the world, I would
rather have a dagger thrust into my heart: that is kept for confessors,
not for judges.' François Ravaisson, in publishing this dramatic
declaration, thus comments on it: 'These details were imparted by La
Voisin to La Reynie later; they did honour to Philibert's disposition.
The details given by the judges brought this flute-player into the
height of fashion, and ladies of the court and the city scrambled for
him when he came out of prison.'
Meanwhile, Marie Bosse undertook the operation, for 2000 livres--£400
to-day.
Brunet was poisoned in 1673, and Philibert married the widow.
'My friends advised me,' he declared naïvely before the judges, 'to wed
the mother rather than the daughter, which I did, under the good
pleasure of the king, who signed the contract.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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