The Mysterious Death of Charles Bravo. Tim Vicary

TIM VICARY

      THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF CHARLES BRAVO

      THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF CHARLES BRAVO

      In England in the 1800s, during the time of Queen Victoria, women did not have an easy time. A married woman had to obey her husband in everything; she could not decide things for herself. Only a man could do that for her. And if she had a bad husband, who beat her, she could do nothing about it.

      Florence Bravo was young, beautiful, and rich, but she was not lucky in her husbands. Her first husband drank too much, and beat her. She left him and took a lover, who was kind and gentle, but he was already married. Then she married Charles Bravo …

      Five months later, Charles Bravo was dead, killed by antimony poisoning. But who gave him the antimony? Who wanted him dead? Or was it an accident, and not murder at all?

      This is a true story about a murder in 1876. It was a very famous case. The newspapers at the time were full of it, and everybody in England was talking about it. But no murderer was ever found …

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DPOxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New YorkAuckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei TorontoWith offices inArgentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine VietnamOXFORD and OXFORD ENGLISH are registered trade marks of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries© Oxford University Press 2011The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published in Oxford Bookworms 201110 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1No unauthorized photocopyingAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the ELT Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address aboveYou must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirerAny websites referred to in this publication are in the public domain and their addresses are provided by Oxford University Press for information onlyOxford University Press disclaims any responsibility for the contentISBN: 978 0 19 479387 2A complete recording of this Bookworms edition of The Mysterious Death of Charles Bravo is available in an audio CD pack. ISBN: 978 0 19 479385 8Printed in ChinaWord count (main text): 11,550For more information on the Oxford Bookworms Library,visit www.oup.com/elt/bookwormswww.oup.com/elt/bookwormsACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Illustrations by: Adam Willis/Artist Partners The publishers would like to thank the following for permission to reproduce images: Getty Images pp.12 (Bravo inquest/Hulton Archive), 14 (Florence Bravo/Hulton Archive), 27 (Dr James Gully/ Hulton Archive), 41 (The Priory, Balham/Hulton Archive), 51 (Charles Bravo/Hulton Archive); John Frost Historical Newspapers pp.10 (Four Doctors), 13 (Charles Bravo & Florence Ricardo)e-Book ISBN 978 0 19 463029 0e-Book first published 2014

      PEOPLE IN THIS STORY

      Florence Bravo, wife of Charles Bravo; previously, Florence Ricardo, wife of Alexander Ricardo

      Charles Bravo, second husband of Florence Bravo; died April 1876

      Joseph Bravo, stepfather of Charles Bravo

      Alexander Ricardo, first husband of Florence Bravo; died April 1871

      Dr James Gully, famous doctor, and lover of Florence Bravo

      Mrs Jane Cox, friend and companion of Florence Bravo

      George Griffiths, Florence Bravo’s coachman

      Mary Ann Keeber, Florence Bravo’s maidservant

      Doctors who saw Charles Bravo during his illness:

      Dr Harrison, a doctor from Streatham

      Dr Moore, a doctor from Balham

      Dr Royes Bell, a doctor and cousin to Charles Bravo

      Dr George Johnson, a well-known London doctor, and a friend of Royes Bell