History records how Gaudin de St. Croix, the disciple of Exili,
while working in his secret laboratory at the sublimation of the
deadly poison, accidentally dropped the mask of glass which
protected his face. He inhaled the noxious fumes and fell dead by
the side of his crucibles. This event gave Desgrais, captain of the
police of Paris, a clue to the horrors which had so long baffled his
pursuit.
The correspondence of St. Croix was seized. His connection with the
Marchioness de Brinvilliers and his relations with Exili were
discovered. Exili was thrown a second time into the Bastile. The
Marchioness was arrested, and put upon her trial before the Chambre
Ardente, where, as recorded in the narrative of her confessor,
Pirol, her ravishing beauty of feature, blue eyes, snow-white skin,
and gentle demeanor won a strong sympathy from the fickle populace
of Paris, in whose eyes her charms of person and manner pleaded hard
to extenuate her unparalleled crimes.
But no power of beauty or fascination of look could move the stern
La Regnie from his judgment.
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