Publisher's Synopsis
The daughter of an upper-middle-class Glasgow family, Madeleine Smith broke the strict Victorian conventions of her time when, as a young woman in early 1855, she began a secret love affair with Pierre Emile L'Angelier, an apprentice nurseryman. However, when Smith's passion cooled, she asked L'Angelier to return the letters she had written to him. He refused, and instead threatened to use the letters to expose her and force her to marry him. Smith was then observed in a druggist's office, ordering arsenic, and L'Angelier died from arsenic poisoning soon afterwards. However, despite signficant evidence pointing to Smith's guilt, the jury in the subsequent trial returned a 'not proven' verdict. This is the story of the notorious trial.
