# Valerie de Lancy — The Trail of the Serpent character guide

> Valerie de Lancy in The Trail of the Serpent by M. E. Braddon.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Valerie

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

## Snapshot

A proud, ice-blooded beauty married in secret to a celebrated tenor, she faces a blackmailer with the composure of a woman who has already lost everything.

## Who they are

Valerie moves through fashionable Paris as Valerie de Lancy, wife of the famous tenor Elvino, a marriage she has kept hidden behind her rank and her beauty. When Raymond Marolles corners her with the secret, she does not beg — she offers to buy him off, cuts the leaves of a book with a steady hand, and listens all the while for her husband's step. Her cold self-possession and her mounting dread make her the emotional center of the novel's early Parisian intrigue, and the cruelty done to her there echoes through everything that follows.

## Relationships

### [Valerie de Cevennes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se/characters/valerie_de_cevennes)

_family_

Valerie de Cevennes and Valerie de Lancy are likely the same person or closely related family members, possibly mother and daughter.

### [Valerie de Cevennes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se/characters/valerie_de_cevennes)

_family_

Valerie de Cevennes and Valerie de Lancy are likely the same person or closely related family members, possibly mother and daughter.

## In the story

### [IV: Ocular Demonstration](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se/chapters/iv-ocular-demonstration)

Gaston's wife; she is led by Marolles to witness what she believes is Gaston's betrayal, and is driven to a desire for revenge.

### [VI: A Glass of Wine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se/chapters/vi-a-glass-of-wine)

Receives a letter from Gaston, is coerced by Raymond, and administers the drugged wine to her husband.

### [The Count de Marolles at Home](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se/chapters/i-the-count-de-marolles-at-home)

Now Countess de Marolles, beautiful but deeply sad, haunted by the past.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trail_of_the_serpent_se/characters/valerie_de_lancy
- 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