The Confessions of Frannie Langton

During a recess in proceedings, Mr. Pettigrew and the lawyer advising him, Mr. Tomkin, ask Frannie to explain to them what happened with the baby. She tells them that the baby was not Mr. Benham’s, and of how she returned to the Benham’s house. She tells them of Mr. Benham’s plan and Meg’s grief and her own love for Meg. She says that the reason the fetus was in the jar was because Meg wanted to bury it properly when she was well. They come up with a defense based on the state of deep sleep in which Frannie was found. They decide to highlight that it might have been induced by laudanum, which would have made it impossible for Frannie to form the intent of murder.

The other servants, except for Pru, testify for the prosecution. Their testimony makes Frannie appear to be addicted to laudanum and unwell because of it. At the end of the day, the judge says that the trial is taking too long and as it is Friday, they must finish it up on Monday.

On Monday, Pettigrew brings Frannie a new dress, which increases her confidence. Pettigrew calls the doctor back to the stand and asks him about the contents of Meg’s stomach, and why he did not search for or declare the presence of laudanum. The judge tells him to lay off this line of questioning. Pettigrew then asks about the wounds on Mr. Benham versus Meg, and why his were so much deeper than hers. He asks whether or not she could have died of an opium overdose. The doctor answers no, but is not confident. When he leaves the stand, Pettigrew calls another doctor, Dr. John Pears, but Pears is not in court. A different doctor, a Dr. Lushing must be called. Frannie doesn’t know what is going on. Lushing testifies to the fact that people can be put into trance-like states where, he argues, they do not hold moral responsibility. Jessop argues that this is ridiculous, and that Frannie cannot both not have murdered them and have done it in a trance.

Pru goes on the stand for the defense, but Frannie feels it is too late. Frannie then takes the stand herself. She swears to loving Meg and questions how often white men have been wrong, to the shock of the jury. When she looks up to the balcony, she envisions all the bodies she was forced to dissect at Paradise, encouraging her to go on. She tells the jury that Langton was her father and that he gave her to Benham. She mentions the two men’s wager over her intelligence. She tells the court that Langton started with experiments on cadavers, but moved on to living subjects, even forcing the enslaved people on his plantation to try to mate with an orangutang at one point. The court is horrified, and the judge yells for her to stop. Frannie asserts her innocence in the murders, saying that while she has helped to do terrible things, she has not committed murder. Jessop begins to question her, accusing her of being “savage.” He brings up the fetus again, to which Pettigrew protests and the judge agrees. Jessop accuses Frannie of terrorizing Meg, but Frannie thinks that Meg was terrorizing her.

Jessop submits his closing argument, calling Frannie’s defense fantasy. He urges the court to stick with facts and convict her.

Frannie writes that there is one more story left to tell. What follows is one of Langton’s journal entries from 1824, detailing his documentation of a 10-month-old child with albinism bought illegally alongside his mother, Calliope, from a neighboring plantation. Langton intends to experiment on him.

Langton plans to sell the baby boy’s mother and keep him on for experimentation. Frannie is horrified, particularly when he orders her to take a skin sample. She argues but he insists. Her hands shake so much that she cuts herself, and insists that she cannot do it. Langton leaves, saying they’ll continue tomorrow. Frannie sits holding the baby, listening to his mother cry at the door. She creeps over and tells her in a whisper when she should come get the baby and that she’ll have to run and not come back. Frannie decides to set the cane on fire as a distraction.

In court, the jury finds Frannie guilty and she is sentenced to death. Frannie accidentally shouts apologies aloud while still in court.

The day after the sentencing, Pettigrew brings Dr. Pears in. He apologizes to Frannie, telling her that he was assistant to the first doctor who testified who autopsied the bodies, and that Meg had not been cut until after she was dead. He says that there was evidence that Meg died of an opium overdose. Pettigrew berates him for ruining Frannie’s chances with his absence. Pears reveals he was threatened into not testifying by Sir Percy, Benham’s brother. Frannie is overcome, but Pettigrew tells her they’re submitting a transcript of Pears’ testimony to try to get leniency in her case.

Sal comes to visit Frannie. She relates the story of how she was claimed as property by the children of the man who brought her to London and had to use her savings to buy her freedom. She brings Frannie a letter from Miss-bella which was sent to the School-House. Miss-bella writes that she was cruel to Frannie when she told her Langton was her father, and that she wants to be cruel now. She tells her that Phibbah was her mother, and that the herbs in Miss-bella’s orangeade, the herbs that got Phibbah killed, were to keep Miss-bella barren.

Frannie remembers Meg writing, and calls for Pettigrew. Under her direction he finds Meg’s suicide note. As Frannie waits for her execution, she thinks about the sleepwalking defense and black magic and the carriage house, ruminating on the dark nature of losing one’s free will.

Frannie, knowing the truth of Meg’s death, decides she must confront the events of that night. Frannie remembers going downstairs into the party, ignoring Benham motioning to her not to make a fuss and telling Meg “This is death” (283). That morning, Meg had miscarried a baby girl due to having taken too much laudanum. She does not want to tell Benham and insists that they bury the fetus. Benham finds the sheets however, and wants to send Frannie away as he has no use for her now. She tells him that she knows his habits, how he is part of a club of gentlemen who hold sex workers against their will for months to abuse them, and how he permanently injured one of them. He demands Frannie stay then, worried about the damage she could do. Frannie says she’s staying to suit herself. Meg does not defend Frannie, though she wants her to stay. She asks her to stay upstairs during the party.

After the party, Frannie goes to Meg’s room. Meg still cannot bring herself to defend Frannie for fear of her husband. Both of them drink laudanum, Meg to the point of illness. Frannie goes to find Benham, telling him they should call a doctor. This devolves into an argument, with Frannie threatening to expose all of Benham’s sins. He attacks her, and she stabs him with the scissors she took to cut flowers for Meg. Frannie writes that she knows she hid the scissors in her bed upstairs, and that she doesn’t have a good answer as to why she brought them down with her. She goes back to Meg’s room, drinks more laudanum, and lies down next to Meg who comforts her as she falls asleep.

Frannie is pardoned for Meg’s suicide, but will still be executed for Benham’s murder.

Frannie and the other condemned women are taken to a chapel before their execution. As she listens to the sermon, Frannie thinks about how everyone she’s wronged is gone. In her head, she apologizes to Phibbah, Calliope, the babies, the bodies at Paradise, and Meg. She sends the manuscript she has written with Sal to Pettigrew, asking that he get it published. In her last moments, Frannie thinks of Meg, and how they will be together soon.