# Count Hector de Trémorel — The Mystery of Orcival character guide

> Count Hector de Trémorel in The Mystery of Orcival by Émile Gaboriau.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Hector, Count Hector, Trémorel, Monsieur de Trémorel

**First appearance:** 0001-ii

## Snapshot

A charming nobleman capable of any baseness when passion demands it, whose flight with a young woman turns a private scandal into a public disappearance.

## Who they are

Hector moves through Orcival as the adored friend and the devoted husband, a role he plays so well that no one suspects the betrayals underneath. He is bold in pursuit and cowardly in consequence, willing to ruin Laurence rather than face what he has done, and easily cowed by Bertha's threats. His vanishing is what pulls Lecoq and Plantat into the case, and his weakness is the hinge on which the whole sordid history turns.

## In the story

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/ii)

The count, whose slipper and bloodstained handkerchief are found on the lawn; his body is not yet located.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/iii)

Sauvresy's old friend who stays at Valfeuillu and secretly meets a young woman in Corbeil.

### [The Logic of Guilt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/x)

Discussed as the prime suspect; Lecoq argues his guilt based on the search for a letter, the display of money, and the framing of Guespin.

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/xi)

Discussed as the likely murderer; missing boots and cravat are cited as evidence.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/xii)

Portrayed as a ruined aristocrat, vain and reckless, who has squandered his fortune and now contemplates suicide after the bailiff seizes his property.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/xiii)

The count wanders Paris in despair, contemplates suicide, dines heavily, reads a newspaper item about his own disappearance, and prepares to shoot himself at midnight but hesitates.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/xiv)

Introduced as a ruined, fast-living aristocrat; Sauvresy's friend, who becomes the object of Bertha's admiration.

### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/xv)

Resents Sauvresy's help, tries to break up with Jenny, and continues his relationship with Bertha while feeling trapped.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/xvi)

Agrees to the marriage plan for financial gain, admits his mercenary motives to Bertha, and fears her threats to expose their affair.

### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/xvii)

Discussed as the subject of Jenny's anger and Sauvresy's concern; accused of deserting Jenny and planning to marry a rich girl.

### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/xviii)

Argues with Bertha about his marriage to Laurence; later helps nurse Sauvresy, unaware that Sauvresy knows of the affair.

### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/xix)

Hector is torn between fear of Sauvresy's hidden knowledge and his desire to marry Laurence, rationalizing his passive complicity in Bertha's murder plot.

### [XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/xx)

Sauvresy's friend and Bertha's lover, who is shamed and bound by the forced marriage oath.

### [XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/xxi)

Depicted as cowardly and desperate, manipulated by Bertha and later dictating Laurence's suicide letter.

### [XXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/xxiv)

The fugitive murderer; Lecoq plans to locate him through the furniture he ordered for a Paris apartment.

### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/xxv)

Revealed as the manipulator who orchestrated the alibi and framed Guespin; Jenny confirms his guilt.

### [XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/xxvi)

Target of Lecoq's scheme; living under the alias James Wilson in a house on Rue St. Lazare; is fearful of being discovered.

### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/chapters/xxvii)

Returns to the house and is shot dead by Laurence after she confronts him.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/characters/count_de_tremorel
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mystery_of_orcival_se/characters