final breakdown of his marriage. In mid February 1854, Charles III returned to Parma. Assassination On Sunday 26 March 1854, around 4:00 p.m, Charles left the Riserva Palace to take a walk on the streets of Parma, as he used to do every afternoon. He was accompanied only by an aide-de-camp, Count Bacinetti. During his walk, he saw his wife, Duchess Louise Marie, who was sitting in a carriage, listening to an open-air concert in a square of Parma. They waved to each other politely. At 5:45 the Duke was returning to his palace; while he was passing by the Church of Santa Lucia, he stopped for a moment to ask about the identity of a pretty girl whom he had just seen in an upper window across the street. He was making the inquiry and saluting two soldiers, who walked by him, when he was attacked from behind by two men who were trailing him. One of them knocked the Duke violently and stabbed him deep in the stomach with a triangular blade. Everything happened so fast that Charles initially did not realize what had just transpired and seconds later gasping he said, "My God, I'm done for. They have stabbed me". In the confusion, the two assailants escaped running in opposite directions and mixing with the crowd. The wounded Duke fell on the ground in a pool of blood with the blade still in his stomach. He was lifted up, and held by his arms and legs. He was carried back to the palace. He made no complaints as his doctors treated his wound, which was deep. He asked if they thought his life was in danger. They lied assuring him that it was not and he passed out. In moments of lucidity, the Duke, realizing the seriousness of his condition repeated: "I am preparing myself for a long journey". The Duke received the last rites and was able to see his wife and their children for a last time. After atrocious suffering, which he endured bravely, he died the following evening, 27 March at 5:30 p.m. He was thirty-one years old. Charles's body was buried in the Cappella della Macchia near Viareggio. His heart was placed in an urn in the crypt of the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata in Parma. The Duke's assailants, Ireneo Bochi and Antonio Carra, escaped prosecution. Both were briefly arrested, but