Marie Duvarre (born 1835) was a French-Mexican noblewoman who lived in Mexico City during the period of the Second Mexican Empire in the 1860s.
Biography[]
Marie Duvarre was born in Paris, France in 1835 to a family of French nobility, and her family became one of the imported aristocratic families of the Second Mexican Empire during the 1860s, residing in Mexico City. Beneath her pleasant visage, Duvarre was an ambitious woman, seducing Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico's advisor, the Marquis Henri de Labordere. This resulted in Duvarre being used as a decoy for the transportation of $3 million worth of gold to France via Veracruz in 1865; Duvarre was ostensibly returning to France because she missed Paris, but she was, in reality, accompanying a shipment of gold which would be used to assist in the movement of French Army reinforcements to Mexico to support Emperor Maximilian. Duvarre had become close to Labordere with the goal of being put in such a position to steal the gold for herself, and she secretly arranged for Captain Le Croix to prepare a ship for her at Las Palmas, on which she would escape Mexico with the gold.
Duvarre in 1865
In order to further her plot, Duvarre enchanted one of the convoy's American hired escorts, the gunslinger Joe Erin, and she later caught Erin and his partner Ben Trane in the process of scoping out the hidden gold in the wagon and persuaded them to work with her to split the gold between the three of them in exchange for ensuring their passage out of Mexico (Duvarre planned to betray them from the start). The Americans escorted the convoy to Las Palmas, where Duvarre intended to flee the country with the gold, and she arranged for Captain Le Croix to ready riflemen at his boat and prepare to kill the Americans on their arrival. However, Erin saw through her pretenses and confronted her in her room, where he slapped her and revealed his knowledge of her plot before she seduced him and convinced him to work with her to betray Trane and take the gold for themselves. That same night, however, the Marquis de Labordere had the gold switched from Duvarre's carriage to the supply wagon and ordered both to leave town with armed escorts, as he had overheard Duvarre and the Americans' plot at the start of their journey, and he sought to ensure that the gold successfully reached the garrison at Veracruz.
Countess turning away from Erin's body
Duvarre was taken to Veracruz along with the rest of the convoy, and she was kept at the garrison until the rebel army of General Mauricio Ramirez attacked the city. During the battle, Erin came to the Countess, who told him the secret location of the boat. Erin then scornfully bade her farewell, revealing that he was never intending to elope with her. Trane then confronted Erin in the courtyard below, shortly after Erin killed his other partner, Archie Ballard, and, when Trane announced his intent to ensure that the gold went to the Juaristas as he and Trane had previously agreed, Erin told Trane that it wouldn't happen if Trane would let him have a fair draw. In the ensuing duel, Trane shot Erin dead, with Duvarre witnessing Erin's death from her balcony. Trane then walked past the balcony and tipped his hat to the heartbroken Duvarre, who turned away in sadness.