The Tower of Remicourt

the long version

When the Prince-Bishop of Valnoble learnt that he was dying (in the summer of 1685) he set about assuring the worldly future of all his noble family: Within the week he married off his two nieces to the first two gentlemen who would accept them, and then he turned his attention to the careers of his nephews, the Duc de Beaulieu and the Comte de Granville. Since the wife of the Duc was barren, the Comte must marry and produce the heir. The Bishop chose as wife for him Jacqueline de Remicourt, daughter of a lady whose memory he revered. He did not know that Jacqueline was unwilling and she and her brother dared not enlighten him, in case it led to probing into a dangerous secret which they shared. The Comte de Granville, who did know that he was an unwelcome husband, felt entitled to disregard it. How the couple settled their differences, both in peace and in deadly danger from an unknown enemy, and how, at the Tower of Remicourt, in Normandy, they came to a final understanding, makes an unusual and compelling story.