Gilles de Rais, Baron de Laval, sometime captain-at-arms under King Charles V11 in the wars against the English, chosen companion and bodyguard of the most holy maid of Orleans, Joan of arc, .was brought to trial in the thirty-sixth year of his age, charged with witchcraft and heresy, sacrilege and sorcery, the evocation of demons and the practice of unnatural crime against many children of both sexes, ending with their murder for his delight; . ". Reputed to be the original "Bluebeard". A novel about pure evil, corrupted goodness and cowardice in the face of horror.