Derues

A >> Alexandre Dumas, Pere >> Derues


"First, in signing, or causing to be signed, the names of the above Dame
de Lamotte to a deed of private contract between the said Derues and his
wife on one side and the aforesaid Dame de Lamotte by right of a power of
attorney given by her husband on the other (the which deed is dated the
twelfth day of February, and was therefore written after the decease of
the said Dame de Lamotte); by which deed the said Dame de Lamotte appears
to change the previous conventions agreed on in the first deed of the
twenty-second of December in the year 1775, and acknowledges receipt from
the said Derues of a sum of one hundred thousand livres, as being the
price of the estate of Buisson;

"Secondly, in signing before a notary, the ninth day of February last, a
feigned acknowledgment for a third part of a hundred thousand livres, in
order to give credence to the pretended payment made by him;

"Thirdly, in announcing and publishing, and attesting even by oath at the
time of an examination before the commissioner Mutel, that he had really
paid in cash to the aforesaid Dame de Lamotte the aforesaid hundred
thousand livres, and that she, being provided with this money, had fled
with her son and a certain person unknown;

"Fourthly, in depositing with a notary the deed of private contract
bearing the pretended receipt for the above sum of one hundred thousand
livres, end pursuing at law the execution of this deed and of his claim
to the possession of the said estate;

"Fifthly, in signing or causing to be signed by another person, before
the notaries of the town of Lyons, whither he had gone for this purpose,
a deed dated the twelfth day of March, by which the supposed Dame de
Lamotte appeared to accept the payment of the hundred thousand livres,
and to give authority to the Sieur de Lamotte, her husband, to receive
the arrears of the remainder of the price of the said estate, the which
deed he produced as a proof of the existence of the said Dame de Lamotte;

"Sixthly, in causing to be sent, by other hands, under the name of the
aforesaid Dame de Lamotte, to a lawyer, on the eighth day o f April 1777
(at a time when he was in prison, and had been compelled to abandon the
fable that he had paid the aforesaid sum of one hundred thousand livres
in hard cash, and had substituted a pretended payment made in notes), the
notes pretended to have been given by him in payment to the said Dame de
Lamotte;

"Seventh, and finally, in maintaining constantly, until the discovery of
the body of the aforesaid Dame de Lamotte, that the said Dame was still
alive, and that he had seen her at the town of Lyons, as has been stated
above.

"In atonement has been condemned, etc. etc. etc.

"His goods are hereby declared acquired and confiscated to the King, or
to whomsoever His Majesty shall appoint, first deducting the sum of two
hundred livres as fine for the King, in case the confiscation is not to
the sole profit of His Majesty; and also the sum of six hundred livres
for masses to be said for the repose of the souls of the aforesaid Dame
de Lamotte and her son. And, before being executed, the said
Antoine-Francois Derues shall suffer the question ordinary and
extraordinary, in order that from his mouth may be learned the truth of
these facts, and also the names of his accomplices. And the decision of
the judges in the proceedings with regard to the above-mentioned
Marie-Louise Nicolais, wife of Derues, is delayed until after the
execution of the above sentence. It is also decreed that the mortuary
act of the aforesaid de Lamotte the younger, dated the sixteenth day of
February last, in the register of deaths belonging to the parish church
of Saint-Louis at Versailles, be amended, and his correct names be
substituted, in order that the said Sieur de Lamotte, the father, and
other persons interested, may produce said names before the magistrates
if required. And it is also decreed that this sentence be printed and
published by the deputy of the Attorney-General at the Chatelet, and
affixed to the walls in the usual places and cross roads of the town,
provostship and viscounty of Paris, and wherever else requisite.

"With regard to the petition of Pierre-Etienne de Saint-Faust de Lamotte,
a Royal Equerry, Sieur de Grange-Flandre, Buisson-Souef, Valperfond, and
other places, widower and inheritor of Marie Francois Perier, his wife,
according to their marriage contract signed before Baron and partner,
notaries at Paris, the fifth day of September 1762, whereby he desires to
intervene in the action brought against Derues and his accomplices,
concerning the assassination and poisoning committed on the persons of
the wife and son of the said Sieur de Saint-Faust de Lamotte, on the
accusation made by him to the Deputy Attorney-General of the King at the
Chatelet at present pending in the Court, on the report of the final
judgment given in the said action the 30th of April last, and which
allowed the intervention; it is decreed that there shall be levied on the
goods left by the condemned, before the rights of the Treasury, and
separate from them, the sum of six thousand livres, or such other sum as
it shall please the Court to award; from which sum the said Saint-Faust
de Lamotte shall consent to deduct the sum of two thousand seven hundred
and forty-eight livres, which he acknowledges has been sent or remitted
to him by the said Derues and his wife at different times; which first
sum of six thousand livres, or such other, shall be employed by the said
Sieur de Saint-Faust de Lamotte, who is authorised to found therewith, in
the parish church of Saint Nicholas de Villeneuve-le-Roy, in which parish
the estate of Buisson-Souef is situate, and which is mentioned in the
action, an annual and perpetual service for the repose of the souls of
the wife and son of the said Sieur de Saint-Faust de Lamotte, of which an
act shall be inserted in the decree of intervention, and a copy of this
act or decree shall be inscribed upon a stone which shall be set in the
wall of the said church of Saint Nicholas de Villeneuve-le-Roy, in such
place as is expedient. And the deed of contract for private sale, made
between the late spouse of the said Sieur de Saint-Faust de Lamotte and
the above-named Derues and his wife, is hereby declared null and void, as
having had no value in absence of any payment or realisation of contract
before a notary; and the pretended agreement of the twelfth day of
February last, as also all other deeds fabricated by the said Derues or
others, named in the above action, as also any which may hereafter be
presented, are hereby declared to be null and void.

"The Court declares the judgment pronounced by the magistrates of the
Chatelet against the above named Derues to be good and right, and his
appeal against the same to be bad and ill-founded.

"It is decreed that the sentence shall lose its full and entire effect
with regard to Marie-Louise Nicolais, who is condemned to the ordinary
fine of twelve livres. The necessary relief granted on the petition of
Pierre-Etienne de Saint-Faust de Lamotte, the second day of May this
present month, and delay accorded until after the suspended judgment
pronounced with regard to the said Marie-Louise Nicolais.

"(Signed) De Gourgues, President.

"OUTREMONT, Councillor."


Derues' assurance and calmness never deserted him for one moment. For
three-quarters of an hour he harangued the Parliament, and his defence
was remarkable both for its presence of mind and the art with which he
made the most of any circumstances likely to suggest doubts to the
magistrates and soften the severity of the first sentence. Found guilty
on every point, he yet protested that he was innocent of poisoning.
Remorse, which often merely means fear of punishment, had no place in his
soul, and torture he seemed not to dread. As strong in will as he was
weak in body, he desired to die like a martyr in the faith of his
religion, which was hypocrisy, and the God whom he gloried on the
scaffold was the god of lies.

On May 6th, at seven in the morning, the sentence of execution was read
to him. He listened calmly, and when it was finished, remarked:

"I had not anticipated so severe a sentence."

A few hours later the instruments of torture were got ready. He was told
that this part of his punishment would be remitted if he would confess
his crimes and the names of his accomplices. He replied:

"I have no more to say. I know what terrible torture awaits me, I know I
must die to-day, but I have nothing to confess."

He made no resistance when his knees and legs were bound, and endured the
torture courageously. Only, in a moment of agony, he exclaimed:

"Accursed money! has thou reduced me to this?"

Thinking that pain would overcome his resolution, the presiding
magistrate bent towards him, and said:

"Unhappy man! confess thy crime, since death is near at hand."

He recovered his firmness, and, looking at the magistrate, replied:

"I know it, monseigneur; I have perhaps not three hours to live."

Thinking that his apparently feeble frame could not endure the last
wedges, the executioner was ordered to stop. He was unbound and laid on
a mattress, and a glass of wine was brought, of which he only drank a few
drops; after this, he made his confession to the priest. For, dinner,
they brought him soup and stew, which he ate eagerly, and inquiring of
the gaoler if he could have something more, an entree was brought in
addition. One might have thought that this final repast heralded, not
death but deliverance. At length three o'clock struck the hour appointed
for leaving the prison.

According to the report of credible persons whom we have consulted, Paris
on this occasion presented a remarkable appearance, which those who saw
it were never able to forget. The great anthill was troubled to its very
lowest depth. Whether by accident or design, the same day had been fixed
for a function which ought to have proved a considerable counter
attraction. A great festival in honour of a German prince was given on
the Plaine de Grenelle, at which all the court was present; and probably
more than one great lady regretted missing the emotions of the Place de
Greve, abandoned to the rabble and the bourgeoisie. The rest of the city
was deserted, the streets silent, the houses closed. A stranger
transported suddenly into such a solitude might have reasonably thought
that during the night the town had been smitten by the Angel of Death,
and that only a labyrinth of vacant buildings remained, testifying to the
life and turmoil of the preceding day. A dark and dense atmosphere hung
over the abandoned town; lightning furrowed the heavy motionless clouds;
in the distance the occasional rumble of thunder was heard, answered by
the cannon of the royal fete. The crowd was divided between the powers
of heaven and earth: the terrible majesty of the Eternal on one side, on
the other the frivolous pomp of royalty--eternal punishment and transient
grandeur in opposition. Like the waters of a flood leaving dry the
fields which they have covered, so the waves of the multitude forsook
their usual course. Thousands of men and women crowded together along
the route which the death-cart would take; an ocean of heads undulated
like the ears in a wheatfield. The old houses, hired at high rates,
quivered under the weight of eager spectators, and the window sashes had
been removed to afford a better view.

Attired in the shirt worn by condemned criminals, and bearing a placard
both in front and behind, with the words "Wilful Poisoner," Derues
descended the great staircase of the Chatelet with a firm step. It was
at this moment, on seeing the crucifix, that he exclaimed, "O Christ, I
shall suffer like Thee!" He mounted the tumbril, looking right and left
amongst the crowd. During the progress he recognised and bowed to
several of his old associates, and bade adieu in a clear voice to the
former mistress of his 'prentice days, who has recorded that she never
saw him look so pleasant. Arrived at the door of Notre Dame, where the
clerk was awaiting him, he descended from the tumbril without assistance,
took a lighted wax taper weighing two pounds in his hand, and did
penance, kneeling, bareheaded and barefooted, a rope round his neck,
repeating the words of the death-warrant. He then reascended the cart in
the midst of the cries and execrations of the populace, to which he
appeared quite insensible. One voice only, endeavouring to dominate the
tumult, caused him to turn his head: it was that of the hawker who was
crying his sentence, and who broke off now and then to say--

"Well! my poor gossip Derues, how do you like that fine carriage you're
in? Oh yes, mutter your prayers and look up to heaven as much as you
like, you won't take us in now. Ah! thief who said I stole from you!
Wasn't I right when I said I should be selling your sentence some day?"

Then, adding her own wrongs to the list of crimes, she declared that the
Parliament had condemned him as much for having falsely accused her of
theft as for having poisoned Madame de Lamotte and her son!

When arrived at the scaffold, he gazed around him, and a sort of shiver
of impatience ran through the crowd. He smiled, and as if anxious to
trick mankind for the last time, asked to be taken to the Hotel de Ville,
which was granted, in the hope that he would at last make some
confession; but he only persisted in saying that he was guiltless of
poisoning. He had an interview with his wife, who nearly fainted on
seeing him, and remained for more than a quarter of an hour unable to say
a word. He lavished tender names upon her, and professed much affliction
at seeing her in so miserable a condition.

When she was taken away, he asked permission to embrace her, and took a
most touching farewell. His last words have been preserved.

"My dear wife," he said, "I recommend our beloved children to your care:
bring them up in the fear of God. You must go to Chartres, you will
there see the bishop, on whom I had the honour of waiting when I was
there last, and who has always been kind to me; I believe he has thought
well of me, and that I may hope he will take pity on you and on our
children."

It was now seven in the evening, and the crowd began to murmur at the
long delay. At length the criminal reappeared. An onlooker who saw him
go to the Hotel de Ville, and who was carried by the movement of the
crowd to the foot of the scaffold, says that when handed over to the
executioner he took off his clothes himself. He kissed the instrument of
punishment with devotion, then extended himself on the St. Andrew's
cross, asking with a resigned smile that they would make his sufferings
as short as possible. As soon as his head was covered, the executioner
gave the signal. One would have thought a very few blows would have
finished so frail a being, but he seemed as hard to kill as the venomous
reptiles which must be crushed and cut to pieces before life is extinct,
and the coup de grace was found necessary. The executioner uncovered his
head and showed the confessor that the eyes were closed and that the
heart had ceased to beat. The body was then removed from the cross, the
hands and feet fastened together, and it was thrown on the funeral pile.

While the execution was proceeding the people applauded. On the morrow
they bought up the fragments of bone, and hastened to buy lottery
tickets, in the firm conviction that these precious relics would bring
luck to the fortunate possessors!

In 1777, Madame Derues was sentenced to perpetual imprisonment, and
confined at the Salpetriere. She was one of the first victims who
perished in the prison massacres.