# Louis Norbert de Champdoce — The Slaves of Paris character guide > Louis Norbert de Champdoce in The Slaves of Paris by Émile Gaboriau. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Norbert, Champdoce, M. Norbert de Champdoce, Monsieur Louis Norbert **First appearance:** 0000-part-i-caught-in-the-net ## Snapshot The heir of Champdoce, kept penniless and half-wild by a miserly father, whose forbidden love for Diana de Laurebourg sets every debt and scheme in motion. ## Who they are Norbert is the son of the Duke of Champdoce, mocked behind his back as the 'Young Savage' for the wooden shoes and leather jacket his father makes him wear despite a fortune of millions. He loves Diana de Laurebourg, but his father's vigilance and his own secret borrowings — twenty thousand francs in promissory notes held by the usurer Daumon — leave him tangled in obligations he cannot confess. His marriage and his father's death seem to clear the sky, but the debts and the woman who knows about the bottle of poison keep the trap closing around him. ## Relationships ### [Diana de Laurebourg](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/characters/diana_de_laurebourg) _romantic_ Diana is a manipulative femme fatale who ensnares Louis Norbert in a passionate but destructive love affair to control him. ### [Duke de Champdoce](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/characters/duke_de_champdoce) _family_ The Duke is Louis Norbert's stern, authoritarian father who clashes with his son over honor and inheritance. ### [Father Canon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/characters/father_canon) _psychological_ Father Canon is a sinister figure who exerts a corrupting psychological influence over Louis Norbert, leading him into ruin. ### [Paul Violaine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/characters/paul_violaine) _rivalry_ Louis Norbert and Paul Violaine are bitter rivals, competing for love, status, and survival in a web of deceit. ### [George de Croisenois](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/characters/george_de_croisenois) _friendship_ George is a loyal friend to Louis Norbert, though he becomes entangled in Louis's disastrous affairs. ### [Daumon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/characters/daumon) _rivalry_ Daumon is an antagonist to Louis Norbert, opposing him in criminal and personal conflicts. ### [Diana de Laurebourg](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/characters/diana_de_laurebourg) _romantic_ Diana is a manipulative femme fatale who ensnares Louis Norbert in a passionate but destructive love affair to control him. ### [Diana de Laurebourg](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/characters/diana_de_laurebourg) _romantic_ Diana is a manipulative femme fatale who ensnares Louis Norbert in a passionate but destructive love affair to control him. ### [Duke de Champdoce](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/characters/duke_de_champdoce) _family_ The Duke is Louis Norbert's stern, authoritarian father who clashes with his son over honor and inheritance. ### [Father Canon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/characters/father_canon) _psychological_ Father Canon is a sinister figure who exerts a corrupting psychological influence over Louis Norbert, leading him into ruin. ### [George de Croisenois](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/characters/george_de_croisenois) _friendship_ George is a loyal friend to Louis Norbert, though he becomes entangled in Louis's disastrous affairs. ### [Daumon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/characters/daumon) _rivalry_ Daumon is an antagonist to Louis Norbert, opposing him in criminal and personal conflicts. ## In the story ### [Part II: The Champdoce Mystery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/chapters/part-ii-the-champdoce-mystery) Central figure in the unfolding mystery, grappling with family secrets and external pressures. ### [II: A Dangerous Acquaintance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/chapters/ii-a-dangerous-acquaintance) The young marquis, frustrated by his father's strictness, naively confides in Daumon and is tempted by ideas of rebellion. ### [A Bold Adventure](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/chapters/iii-a-bold-adventure) Referred to as the 'Young Savage of Champdoce'; given a gun and dog by his father but remains resentful and contemplates visiting Daumon. ### [A Financial Transaction](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/chapters/iv-a-financial-transaction) The young marquis, desperate for liberty, succumbs to Daumon's proposal and signs ruinous promissory notes. ### [A Bad Start](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/chapters/v-a-bad-start) Accidentally shoots Diana and becomes infatuated with her during the encounter. ### [The Count de Puymandour](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/chapters/vi-the-count-de-puymandour) Continues his secret romance with Diana, meeting her in the woods and visiting her at the garden door in Poitiers. His passion has diminished his bashfulness. ### [An Unlucky Blow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/chapters/vii-an-unlucky-blow) Imprisoned by his father for refusing to marry Mademoiselle de Puymandour; plans escape but is thwarted by Jean's watch. ### [VIII: The Little Glass Bottle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/chapters/viii-the-little-glass-bottle) Returns home, prevents his father from drinking poison, and declares he will never return to the château; plans to elope with Diana. ### [X: A Thunderbolt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/chapters/x-a-thunderbolt) Shows signs of guilt and change; he rejects Diana's advances, reveals his father's idiocy, and is preparing to marry Mademoiselle de Puymandour. ### [XI: Marriage Bells; Funeral Knells](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/chapters/xi-marriage-bells-funeral-knells) Forced into marriage with Marie de Puymandour, struggles with guilt and despair, rejects Diana's elopement offer, and is present at his father's death. ### [XII: “Rash Word, Rash Deed”](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/chapters/xii-rash-word-rash-deed) Rejects Diana's letter with a firm 'Never! no, never!' and marries Marie de Puymandour, moving to Paris. ### [A Scheme of Vengeance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/chapters/xiii-a-scheme-of-vengeance) Now the Duke de Champdoce, living a dissolute life in Paris, secretly meeting Diana de Mussidan. ### [XVI: Husband and Lover](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/chapters/xvi-husband-and-lover) Returns home to find wife with lover; proposes a deadly duel with burial in the garden. ### [Blade to Blade](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/chapters/xvii-blade-to-blade) Driven by jealousy and pride, Norbert duels and kills George de Croisenois, then buries the body and bribes a witness. ### [XVIII: The Heir of Champdoce](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/chapters/xviii-the-heir-of-champdoce) Watches over his wife while guarding the secret of George de Croisenois's death; plots to substitute his wife's child with another infant. ### [XIX: Mascarin Speaks](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/chapters/xix-mascarin-speaks) The Duke de Champdoce is the subject of Mascarin's narrative, his past crimes and search for his son detailed. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/characters/louis_norbert_de_champdoce - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_slaves_of_paris_se/characters