Lord Tony’s Wife · Chapter
VI explained
The chapter details the aftermath of the peasant revolt at Kernogan, focusing on the duc's harsh reprisals, the imprisonment and execution of Jean Adet as a hostage for his son Pierre, the intervention of King Louis XVI to grant clemency to
What happens
The chapter details the aftermath of the peasant revolt at Kernogan, focusing on the duc's harsh reprisals, the imprisonment and execution of Jean Adet as a hostage for his son Pierre, the intervention of King Louis XVI to grant clemency to most rioters, and the continued search for the missing Pierre Adet.
Themes in this chapter
Revenge and Betrayal
The duc's relentless vengeance against the Adet family, punishing the father for the son's perceived crime.
Class Conflict and Revolution
The brutal suppression of the peasant revolt and the growing revolutionary fervor that the duc's tyranny fuels.
Suffering and Endurance
The peasant women's desperate pleas for mercy and the general atmosphere of grief and oppression in Nantes.
Characters to notice
- Martin-Roget
As M. le duc de Kernogan, he presides over the court and orders severe punishments, including the hanging of Jean Adet.
- Yvonne de Kernogan
She is ill and traumatized after the events of the revolt, refusing to corroborate or deny statements about Pierre Adet.
- Jean Adet
The miller is dragged from his home, imprisoned, and hanged as a hostage for his son Pierre, protesting his innocence.
- Pierre Adet
He disappears after the revolt; a search fails to find him, and he is sentenced to death in absentia.
Key passages
“Thus was Jean Adet the miller dragged from his home and cast into prison. Was he not implicated himself in the riots? Camille the bailiff had seen and heard him among the insurgents on the hillock that night.”
Jean Adet was arrested because the bailiff claimed he was part of the revolt, even though he was actually being punished for his son's actions.
Illustrates the duc's unjust use of collective punishment.
“He sent a personal letter to M. le duc, not only asking him, but commanding him, to show grace and mercy to a lot of misguided peasant lads whose loyalty and adherence—he urged—might be won by a gracious and unexpected act of clemency.”
King Louis XVI ordered the duc to pardon the young peasants, hoping to win their loyalty through mercy.
Shows the King's attempt to moderate the duc's harshness.