disrepair after its suppression in the French Revolution. In an effort to make it profitable, Charles turned part of the estate into a foundry, a venture that plunged him into debt and bankruptcy. In 1839, Charles saw a good marriage as the only way to pay his creditors. He engaged the same marriage broker who was hired to find a husband for Marie, advertising himself as a wealthy iron master with property worth more than 200,000 francs with an annual income of 30,000 from the foundry alone. He also carried letters of recommendation from his priest and local deputy. To hide that a marriage broker was involved in facilitating their relationship, Marie's uncle passed Charles as a friend and arranged a fortuitous meeting with Marie at the opera. Marie found Charles common and repulsive, but because he advertised himself as the owner of a palatial estate she agreed to marry him. Thus, four days after the meeting, her aunt announced their engagement, and they were married on 10 August 1839. The couple then left Paris for Le Glandier to live at the estate. Disillusionment As it could be expected, when they arrived on 13 August, Marie was disillusioned. The house, contained within the ruins of the former monastery, was damp and rat-infested. Her in-laws were peasants who disgusted her and regarded her with deep distrust. Instead of the wealth she expected, she was faced with considerable debt. In her despondency, Marie locked herself in her room the first night and wrote a letter to her husband, imploring him to release her from their marriage, while threatening to take her life with arsenic. Charles, whose affairs were desperate, agreed to make concessions except to release her from the marriage. He promised not to assert his marital privileges until he restored the estate to its original condition. She appeared to become calm, and their relationship appeared to have improved in the ensuing weeks. Despite her situation, Marie wrote letters to her school friends pretending that she was having a happy domestic life. She also tried to help her husband by writing letters of recommendation for Charles to Paris, where he hoped to raise money. In December 1839, before he left on a business trip, Marie made a will bequeathing to her husband her entire inheritance with the proviso that he would do the same for her. He did, but made another will