Henriette Deluzy Desportes
An Accomplice to Murder or an Innocent Woman?
In 1847 the Duchesse de Praslin was murdered in Paris by her husband. Popular opinion held that the governess, Henriette Deluzy, was his mistress and an accomplice.
Paris, 1847
It was August 18,1847, and the Hotel Sebastiani at 55 Rue de Faubourg Ste. Honore, was abuzz with police and detectives. There had been a murder and the victim was Altarice-Rosalba-Frances Praslin, the wife of Theobald, Duc de Praslin. By the look of her bedroom the poor woman had been stabbed innumerable times, and everything was covered in blood, from the rug to the bell-pull which had been frantically grabbed by the victim in her dash to escape her killer.
It was soon evident that her husband, the Duc, was the killer, and despite his protestations of innocence and diplomatic immunity he was soon taken into custody. But was he the only one to do this dastardly deed? Or was there someone else...the governess, perhaps, who had acted in concert with him?
Duc Theobald Choiseul-Praslin and his wife had been married for several years when in 1840 a young women came to their home in answer to a request for a governess for their children. Henriette Desportes was a granddaughter of Baron Desportes and it was his suggestion that she acquire a 'nom de plume' when she applied for the position. She took the name Deluzy and was known as that during her time with the Duc and Duchesse. The Duc insisted that the governess alone was responsible for the children and that his wife was only to see them while in his company or Mlle. Deluzy's. Apparently the Duchesse was emotionally unbalanced and was making Theobald's life a living hell.
In 1847 the Duchesse dismissed Mlle. Deluzy and she was forced to take a room in the attic of a friend in Paris. Waiting for a letter of recommendation from the Duchesse (which the Duc had promised he would secure) without which Henriette was unable to work, she made friends with the Monod family...religious leaders in Protestant circles, who helped her in many ways. However, when the Duc requested this letter from his wife she refused and he became incensed.
In August of that year the Parisian world was astounded by the news of a terrible murder, which took place at the residence. Apparently , in a fit of rage, the Duc had stabbed his wife over and over. It was not long before he was arrested and charged with her murder. Somehow he was able to procure poison and thus his life was ended a short time after the murder. But Mlle. Deluzy was confined to the Conciergerie prison as an accomplice to the crime. She was accused of being the Duc's mistress and pushing him to kill his wife. After pleading her case without benefit of an attorney, Mlle. Deluzy was set free. They could find nothing whatsoever to link her to the case.
Through the Monod family she was introduced to the Rev. Henry Field, of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He came froma family of great achievers, one brother being Cyrus Field, of Atlantic cable fame; another, David Dudley, a distinguished lawyer in the state of New York and Stephen Field, a justice of the Supreme Court.
They married in 1848 and she became known as one who held a salon in New York City where many of the notables of the day gathered. There were no children and after retiring to Stockbridge Henriette died in 1875.
Sources:
"All This, and Heaven Too," by Rachel Field, The MacMillan Company, New York, 1944
"A Crime of Passion," by Stanley Loomis, J.B.Lippincott Company, New York, 1967
To read more historical biographies see:
Clara Barton's Wartime Love Affair
Who Was Isabella Beecher Hooker?
