The Slaves of Paris · Chapter
XIII: Husband and Wife explained
Count de Mussidan, tormented by Mascarin's blackmail, confesses to his wife that he committed a murder years ago and reveals his knowledge of her infidelity.
What happens
Count de Mussidan, tormented by Mascarin's blackmail, confesses to his wife that he committed a murder years ago and reveals his knowledge of her infidelity. The confrontation leaves both shattered, and the Count receives a letter from M. de Breulh-Faverlay breaking off the engagement to Sabine, followed by the maid's cry that Sabine is dying.
Themes in this chapter
Blackmail and Corruption
Mascarin's blackmail drives the Count's desperation and confession, revealing the corrosive power of hidden crimes.
Deception and Secrecy
Both the Count and Countess have harbored deadly secrets for decades, leading to a catastrophic confrontation.
Marriage as Transaction
The engagement of Sabine to Breulh-Faverlay is broken by letter, underscoring marriage as a social and financial arrangement subject to manipulation.
Characters to notice
- Count Octave de Mussidan
Paces the library in despair, confesses to murder and his wife's infidelity, receives Breulh-Faverlay's letter breaking the engagement.
- Countess de Mussidan
Confronted by her husband, learns of his murder and his knowledge of her unfaithfulness, retreats in horror.
- Sabine de Mussidan
Mentioned as the daughter whose engagement is broken; her maid reports she is dying.
- M. de Breulh-Faverlay
Sends a letter to the Count requesting release from his engagement to Sabine.
- Baptiste Mascarin
Referenced as the blackmailer whose visit plunged the Count into despair.
- Dr. Hortebise
Mentioned as having tasked the Countess with influencing the marriage situation.
Key passages
“For twenty-three years I have endured this hideous recollection and even now when I wake in the night I am bathed in cold sweat, for I fancy I can hear the last gasps of the unhappy man.”
For twenty-three years I have been haunted by this memory, waking in a cold sweat, imagining I hear the dying breaths of the man I killed.
The Count reveals the long-term psychological torment of his murder.
“Would it not be a cruel injustice, madame, to draw a comparison between you and this unhappy girl? Have you always been deaf to the whisperings of conscience? and have you never thought of the future punishment which most certainly awaits you? for you have failed in the duties of daughter, wife, and mother.”
Would it not be unfair to compare you to that poor girl? Have you never listened to your conscience or considered the punishment that awaits you for failing as a daughter, wife, and mother?
The Count accuses his wife of moral failure, contrasting her with a wronged shopgirl.