Resumo de All This And Heaven Too

All This And Heaven too is a dramatic story about a governess named Henriette Deluzy that
is employed into the household of the Duc and Duchess Pralin. There are four children in the household
and the governess is responsible for their art, history and music education. The Duchess is portrayed as
a demanding, insecure woman and the marriage with the Duc seems estranged and bitter. The last child
is the result of a short reconciliation between the two and the child seems to be her last hold on the
man. Raynold is a sickly child and soon he comes down with diptheria and the Duc and governess tend to
him faithfully while the Duchess is barred from any interference. The doctors tell her that she will only
make the situation worse. This makes her even more suspicious of a "servant" taking over where she
has domain. Although, if the truth be told, she wouldn't be bothered to try. It is pure jealousy that
motivates the Duchess throughout the story. The Duc seeks solace with the governess because she
takes excellent care of the children and is the only real sounding board he has in the house. The Duchess
realizes she may lose her husband's attentions and she will not have a servant humiliate her like this. Therefore,she plots to regain her status as "wife" and demands that the Duc fulfill his social obligations with her at his side, leaving the governess to her duties and the children. Her plan succeeds for a while until the
Duc can stand it no longer and tells the Duchess directly that this charade is not working. He invites her
to join the children and Henriette to go to Mulan for the Halloween weekend, but she flatly refuses. The Duchess has had household spies report their every move and soon, she cannot stand it any longer, she fires
Henriette, but promises her a letter of recommendation. This letter never materializes and when Henriette
finally confesses to the Duc about the refused letter, the Duc becomes enraged and storms to his wife's
bedroom and a violent scene incurs. He murders his wife, but he is protected by law because he is
immune to regular French law. Therefore, Henriette is arrested and sent to the Conciegerie until the
trial starts. She testifies for herself and in the middle of her testimony is told that the Duc has taken poison.
He dies before the trial but he was not cowardly. The police stormed into his bedroom asking if he
loved Henriette, if he loved her. He said, "He did not love her." That was a lie because he could not
tell the truth because it would have caused Henriette to go to her death. He died soon after admitting
this to his close friend in a whisper. Henriette was freed and she put flowers on the Duc's grave and sailed
to America to become a teacher of french.

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