# Laurent Blurosset — The Trail of the Serpent character guide

> Laurent Blurosset in The Trail of the Serpent by M. E. Braddon.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Monsieur Blurosset, Monsieur Laurent Blurosset, Blurosset, Laurent, Monsieur de Blurosset

**First appearance:** 0018-book-iii-holy-institution

## Snapshot

A French chemist moving through the Marolles orbit, useful for his science and his discretion, and far too comfortable with schemes that ruin other people.

## Who they are

Blurosset belongs to the shadowy machinery that surrounds Raymond Marolles — the sort of associate a man keeps when he needs chemistry, silence, or a name that carries no fingerprints. His value lies in what he knows and what he is willing to overlook, which makes him both an asset and a quiet liability. In the early-to-middle arc he helps give the Marolles intrigues their plausible surface, and the reader learns to watch him the way one watches a door left slightly open.

## In the story

### [V: The King of Spades](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se/chapters/v-the-king-of-spades)

The fortune-teller who reads the cards with a mechanical, passionless demeanor, predicting a violent death.

### [Bad Dreams and a Worse Waking](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se/chapters/viii-bad-dreams-and-a-worse-waking)

Mentioned in Valerie's delirious memories of the lamp-lit apartment where the poison plot was arranged.

### [X: Animal Magnetism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se/chapters/x-animal-magnetism)

Seated at his green table, studying cards and algebra; listens to the breathing of a man in his bedchamber; refuses Valerie's request for poison; discusses animal magnetism.

### [IV: The Captain, the Chemist, and the Lascar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se/chapters/iv-the-captain-the-chemist-and-the-lascar)

A pale, studious chemist and pseudo-magician, studying ancient texts and charts. He believes he can achieve immortality through forgotten science and refuses payment for his knowledge.

### [IX: Captain Lansdown Overhears a Conversation Which Appears to Interest Him](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se/chapters/ix-captain-lansdown-overhears-a-conversation-which-appears-to-interest-him)

The chemist and physiologist, confronted by Valerie; admits he knew Marolles was an Englishman and a murderer, but claims he only tested a poison and was Marolles' dupe.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se/characters/laurent_blurosset
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se/characters