# IX: A Marriage in High Life explained — The Trail of the Serpent

> Chapter companion for The Trail of the Serpent by M. E. Braddon.

## What happens

The chapter describes the lavish wedding of Valerie de Cevennes and Raymond Marolles in Paris, attended by high society. Despite the outward splendor, the marriage is a sham: Valerie is forced into it to protect a dark family secret, and she openly expresses her hatred and contempt for Raymond, threatening to expose their shared crime if he ever touches her. Raymond remains cold and calculating, indifferent to her rage, and the chapter reflects on the profanation of the marriage sacrament.

## Themes in this chapter

### Duality and Deception

The marriage is a public spectacle of happiness and grandeur, but privately it is a union built on lies, coercion, and mutual hatred.

### Family and Secrets

Valerie's marriage is driven by a hidden family secret that she swears to protect, even at the cost of her own happiness.

### Revenge and Redemption

Valerie's threat to publicly expose the crime suggests a desire for revenge against Raymond, while her own role as a 'murderess' hints at a need for redemption.

## Character check-ins

### Valerie de Cevennes

The bride, forced into marriage to protect her family's honor; she is cold, haughty, and secretly furious, threatening to expose the crime she shares with Raymond.

### Raymond Marolles

The bridegroom, a mysterious man of unknown origins; he is calculating, unemotional, and views the marriage as a successful financial speculation.

### Marquis de Cevennes

Valerie's uncle, who initially opposed the marriage but relented after Valerie hinted at a dreadful secret.

## Key lines

> The niece and heiress of the Marquis de Cevennes is about to marry a gentleman of whom the Faubourg St. Germain knows very little.

Valerie, the marquis's niece and heir, is set to wed a man unknown to Parisian high society.

_Introduces the central event of the chapter and the mystery surrounding Raymond._

> You are the incarnation of misery and crime. As such you can perhaps understand how deeply I hate you.

Valerie tells Raymond that he embodies misery and crime, and that she hates him profoundly.

_Reveals the true nature of their relationship and Valerie's intense loathing._

> I wonder whether this thrice-sacred sacrament, ordained by an Almighty Power for the glory and the happiness of the earth, is ever, by any chance, profaned and changed into a bitter mockery or a wicked lie?

The narrator questions whether the holy institution of marriage can be corrupted into a sham or a lie.

_Reflects the chapter's thematic concern with the desecration of marriage._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se/chapters/ix-a-marriage-in-high-life
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se/chapters