Did Louise Lannes have anything to do with the death of Jean's illegitimate son?
Well, according to the Ladies' Historical Detective Agency, Lectoure branch, she did. Not directly, of course, which would be too risky and ultimately distasteful for her, but definitely in the vein of "Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest!" So instead of four burly knights setting off to do in Thomas Becket, a local person with access to a pharmacy and pocketing a hefty bribe, made sure Jean-Claude ingested whatever it was, and was dead within three days. This was a seventeen-year-old who was remarkably healthy and sturdy, with no history of illness; the latter was attested to by quite a few townspeople who had known him all his life. Shortly after his death, Louise shows up in town in 1818, her first visit since 1805 and certainly her last, to donate all of Jean-Boy's property in town to the town officials. Then she settled 28,000 francs on Jean-Claude's mother, who dropped her lawsuit. One thing to remember: when Jean-Boy divorced Polette, he did so on the basis of her alleged adultery; that wasn't true, but friends and neighbors bribed by an unscrupulous attorney said it was. He did not formally and legally declare that Jean-Claude was illegitimate. I always thought he couldn't do that because he was well aware of the boy's paternity, but he was so determined to get rid of Polette that he insisted on the divorce but left Jean-Claude's status untouched. I blame Jean-Boy for his actions here; I really do. Of course, his other biographers, all men, do not.
Thus, you can imagine what was at stake when Jean-Boy died, which drove Louise to do what she probably did to protect her children's inheritance and her unusual position as their guardian.
