The She-Devil

On this gloomy February evening, Lady Righthem lifted the long velvet curtains and looked out the window. Her indifferent gaze slid over the bare trees, sadly stretching their branches toward the sky, over the wet bushes. Lady Righthem stared down intently, as if afraid that the fog might take a certain shape and take form as some threatening shadow…

The reader will undoubtedly be captivated by the story of the struggle for the French crown between the ruling House of Valois represented by King Henry III, the Queen Mother (Catherine de Medici), and King Henry of Navarre with the Guise: the Duke of Guise and his sister, Anne of Lorraine, Duchess of Montpensier. To reign—reign at any cost—this is the dream of the Duchess’s whole life. And the Duchess of Montpensier spares no means. These words of King Henry III fit her above all: “The first cause of all calamities of mankind is a woman! This weak, crafty, changeable, secretive, impudent, shameless creature—woman, in short—the cause of all our troubles!”