Stephan M Arleaux

The Ordeal of Zo'e Stephan M Arleaux

In the first part of the novel, Zo'e's father hires a French governess, Madame de la Raciot, as a companion for her. Madame de la Raciot terrifies Zo'e and appears to have designs on her; during two of their walks together, Zo'e is brought into suspicious contact with strangers that seem to be known to Madame de la Raciot. (In a cutaway scene that breaks the first person narrative, we learn that she is in league with Uncle Ethan's good for nothing son D'uva.) The governess is eventually dismissed when she is discovered by Zo'e in the act of burgling her father's desk. Zo'e is asked in obscure terms by her father if she is willing to undergo some kind of "ordeal" to clear the name of her uncle, and of the family more generally; shortly after she assents, he dies. At the reading of his will, it emerges that her father added a codicil to it: Zo'e is to stay with Uncle Ethan until she comes of age; if she dies whilst still a minor, the estate will pass to Ethan. Madame Coustoes, together with Jacob's executor and fellow Swedenborgian, Dr. Bacak, attempt in vain to overturn the codicil, realizing its many dangerous implications for the young heiress; despite their efforts, Zo'e consents willingly to spending the next three and a half years at her uncle's mansion at Goiswinth Keep. Followed By Greed, Avoris, Terror, Kidnapping False imprisonment, Murder, Suicide, and a list of other sins too numorous to mention.