RATING: VERY GOOD
SPOILERS!!!
The last part of the book takes us on a journey of emotions. The first shock we have is Veronique's death. After she started helping her father with his project and receiving lessons from Lefevre, Madeleine notices how downhearted she seems. Then when one night Madeleine goes out to meet the policeman, Camille, who is forcing to continue with her spying even though she has not seen a penny. When she returns, Dr Reinhart and the servants ask her where Veronique is, and she tells them that she helped her dress for bed, and that is the last time she saw her. It seems Veronique left her bedroom and went out.
The next day Dr Reinhart tells her household that the police came to tell her that they have found a young woman dead, and when he goes, he returns, confirming that it is Veronique. Apparently, she was run over by a carriage, but the driver didn't stop. The funeral takes place, and Madeleine wants to find out the person who killed Veronique. She and Joseph go out and ask the shop keepers in the area where Veronique foudn her death, but nobody has seen anything.
Dr Reinhart asks Madeleine to come with him to Versaille, where he will present his project, and he needs her to help him. Madeleine is agog with curiosity, and then the day comes and the presentation. What Dr Reinhart shows them is a doll, looking very much like Veronique. The doll can use ink and a feather to write with the instructions that Dr Reinhart has shown him. Madame Pompadour is outraged that Dr Reinhart has made the doll looking like his daughter, and the king is clearly delighted. Then during a second demonstration the thing that the doll writes causes an uproar. The text mentions the stolen children and it points at the king, and then the doll starts to sing and cry blood tears. Reinhart says that he didn't programme the doll to write that, and the king is outraged and orders his arrest and Reinhart is sent to the dungeons.
Madame Pompadour wants the doll destroyed, but the king refuses, saying that this is a work of science. Camille orders Madeleine to go and see Reinhart to find out more about the doll, and he should tell him that she may mediate for his release. Yet, the doctor, who looks very sick, has nothing to say. Then Madeleine realises that he needs to leave, so he fetches her nephew, telling him that they are going to live happily. Before going, she decides to see Lefevre because she feels that he can ask the king to let the doctor go. While she is there, she notices a jar with an human ear which has an earring, and she realises that it may belong to the young slave, Victor. Lefevre notices her change, and she finds herself trapped and poor Emile unconscious. Then we discover that Lefevre is carrying out research on resucitation under the orders of the king, and he is in need of young bodies that work better. Veronique discovered the truth and that is why he had to kill her.
Then we have a surprise when Veronique appears, and in the distraction Madeleine stabs Lefevre and kills him. Then we discover that Veronique is not dead. After she was ran over, she patched herself up, and then she talked to her father to use the doll to uncover the truth of Lefevre and the king. She and her father made the doll look like her, and then she kept hidden inside the base, and that is how she tampered with the doll.
At the end of the book Madame Pompadour makes the king release Reinhart, and father and daughter get a post with Frederick the Great, and Madeleine and her nephew go with her.
This was a very interesting read, and I have even learnt a great deal about Louis XV and his mistress, Madame Pompadour.
No comments:
Post a Comment