Punch’s Cousin: The First Two Hundred Chapters

Since Punch’s Cousin began in July, 2010, we’ve been following the journey of Julian Molliner and his companion, Robert Halifax as they traveled from England to Louisiana in search of Julian’s missing sister, Barbara, and the famous blue diamond that had once belonged to Julian’s father. On their voyage, we discovered that Lord Julian had long dealt with his agoraphobia by developing an alternate personality—Mr. Punch. Mr. Punch was the opposite of Julian in many ways. Much like his puppet namesake, Punch was quick to react, rather rough, impetuous and cunning. With Robert’s influence, Mr. Punch developed into a child-like, but brave and loyal figure who was devoted to his family and to protecting Julian.


Their lives changed in monumental ways when they arrived in Louisiana. They discovered that Lady Barbara had become involved with a wicked woman named Iolanthe Evangeline—an infamous brothel-owner, sorceress and murderess known as The Elegant Ogress. Iolanthe had sold Barbara’s child to a wealthy Louisiana family, the Cages of Marionneaux.

The first one hundred chapters of Punch’s Cousin are summarized here.

Chapter 100 began with the death of Marjani’s daughter and son-in-law from the vicious Yellow Fever. Marjani, who had nursed Robert through his illness, was bereft at the loss. Her employer, Manuel Fontanals, sent for Marjani and offered freedom to both Marjani and her granddaughter, Columbia. Marjani accepted the freedom, but not until she reminded Mr. Fontanals that his rape of her daughter had led to Columbia’s conception. Mr. Fontanals denied Marjani’s claim and dismissed her. Marjani turned to Julian and the Halifaxes for help.

Meanwhile, Mr. Punch/Julian and the Halifaxes traveled to New Orleans for Edward Cage’s annual New Year’s Eve Ball. They were joined by Julian’s loyal valet, Naasir, and a young maid named Gamilla. Cecil and Robert had concocted a plan with Adrienne to stage a pantomime at the masquerade wherein they would expose Iolanthe Evangeline’s many crimes. Also in New Orleans was Ulrika Rittenhouse who had begun a bizarre affair with Julian’s former valet, the murderous Arthur. Ulrika intended to separate Arthur (Lady Barbara’s husband and the father of her child) from Barbara. The ginger trouble-maker had possession of the Molliner Blue Diamond which she’d stolen from Barbara and had a document that stated that upon the death of Barbara and Julian, the Molliner fortune would revert to her.

Iolanthe Evangeline had plans of her own. She contacted Julian’s mother, the Duchess of Fallbridge in England and convinced the woman to travel to New Orleans. When Pauline, the Duchess of Fallbridge arrived in Louisiana, she was greeted by Iolanthe Evangeline who concealed her identity for awhile. Eventually, Iolanthe blackmailed the Duchess with the information that Pauline had ordered the murder of her husband, Sir Colin Moliner. The Duchess complied with Iolanthe’s wishes. Meanwhile, Iolanthe commanded that Naasir be brought to her. Iolanthe believed that if she offered up a human sacrifice, she would have the power to cure her mentally-disabled child. Naasir, a believer in fate, allowed himself to be brought to Iolanthe. The Duchess was shocked when Iolanthe overpowered her and drained her of her blood, hoping to use it in her sacrifice.

Mr. Punch and Robert arrived as Naasir was being burned alive. They stopped the fire, but not before Naasir was terribly injured. Robert took Naasir home while Mr. Punch attempted to rescue the Duchess. The Duchess proved difficult and Mr. Punch realized that she could not be saved because, frankly, she didn’t want to be. He left her at Iolanthe’s house.

Meanwhile, Adrienne was surprised to see a face from her past arrive at their borrowed New Orleans home. A woman named Nellie visited Adrienne. Nellie and Adrienne had been friends when they both worked for Iolanthe Evangeline. Sadly, Adrienne’s kindness toward Nellie was not rewarded. Nellie was in league with Ulrika Rittenhouse who intended to use Nellie to murder Julian/Mr. Punch and make it look like a suicide. Nellie slipped poison into Julian’s water, but it was Gamilla who drank the lethal fluid. Gamilla survived, but remained quite ill. Cecil and Adrienne realized that Nellie was responsible for the poison. When they went to confront her, they were shocked to see the figure of a woman hanging from the rafters in Nellie’s room. They soon realized that it wasn’t Nellie who had been hanged. The body they found was that of the Duchess of Fallbridge who had been murdered by Iolanthe Evangeline and left as a warning for Julian and his companions.

Mr. Punch felt very guilty upon discovering that the Duchess had been killed and blamed himself for her death, believing that if he had insisted that she leave with him, she would not have been killed. Julian resurfaced to say goodbye to his mother and to entreat his friends to look after a shaken Mr. Punch.

Marjani and Naasir bonded as she cared for him. Naasir insisted that it was his destiny to die in fire. Marjani told him to try to be strong. Meanwhile, Robert, Cecil and Adrienne prepared for the New Year’s Masquerade as Ulrika realized that Iolanthe had managed to steal the diamond from her. Robert and Cecil dressed as characters from the Punch & Judy puppet shows—“The Doctor” and “Jack Ketch” respectively, while Mr. Punch went as his namesake. Adrienne’s disguise was a little different. She dressed as Iolanthe Evangeline.

When they arrived at the ball, they were surprised when Nellie appeared—frenzied and bloodied. Ulrika had slashed the woman’s face with a broken bottle as punishment for failing in her attempted murder of Julian. Iolanthe triumphantly took Nellie back to her brothel, saying that the woman now had no other choice.

Mr. Punch and Adrienne began a bitter pantomime which incriminated Iolanthe who became enraged. Iolanthe’s ire was interrupted by Marie Laveau who appeared to add fuel to the fire. Iolanthe retreated to her home with Marie Laveau, quickly followed by Ulrika Rittenhouse and Arthur. Mr. Punch pursued them. An altercation ensued wherein Arthur shot Mr. Punch in the chest.

Horrified, Barbara tried to save her brother. She renounced Iolanthe and agreed to leave with Marie Laveau. Marjani—who had had a premonition—arrived and carried Mr. Punch to the safety of St. Louis Cathedral where he was found by Robert, Adrienne and Cecil.

Though Robert had managed to remove the bullet and stop the bleeding, Julian’s body developed a terrible fever. With Marjani’s help, Naasir was brought to Julian’s room. Naasir tried to heal Julian, but in doing so exhausted himself and died. While unconscious, Julian and Mr. Punch bonded within their shared body in an imaginary room that only the two of them could see. Naasir’s spirit entered Julian’s body briefly and left an ethereal key which Julian understood would open the door to his repressed memories.

Mr. Punch awoke and mourned Naasir. Meanwhile, Ulrika and Iolanthe battled and Barbara began a new life working for Marie Laveau. Marie orchestrated a meeting between Barbara and another servant, Charles Van Eyck. Barbara liked Charles immediately and suggested that he apply for the position of her brother’s valet.

Robert was at first distrustful of Charles, but Mr. Punch/Julian insisted that the man be engaged. Charles admitted that he was using an assumed name because he was feeling from his murderous brother, a sculptor named Giovanni Iantosca who was known to lead a gang of criminals. Charles suggested that it was his brother who had helped the Duchess of Fallbridge murder Sir Colin Molliner with the assistance of a man called, “The Professor.”

Not only was “The Professor” familiar to Julian/Mr. Punch because of the man’s presence on the ship and in Marionneaux, but because while they were unconscious, they recalled some of the horrors of Julian’s childhood and torture at the hand of the cruel man. Punch realized that the Duchess of Fallbridge had had a long association with “The Professor.”

Ulrika managed to steal the diamond back from Iolanthe who punished her by abducting Arthur and shipping him off to sea. In an effort to retrieve Arthur, Ulrika presented Iolanthe with a counterfeit diamond. Iolanthe was not amused and took Ulrika to the docks where they encountered Charles and Barbara who interfered.

Barbara hurried to her brother and begged for his help. Julian told his sister that he’d help her, but would not lift a finger to aid Arthur. Barbara fled the house and rushed to see Ulrika at the Cages’ house. There, she saw her child for the first time since she sold him. In a fit of sentimentality, Barbara abducted the baby and pleaded with Adrienne, Marjani and Cecil to help her.

Adrienne agreed. Together with Robert and Cecil, she devised a plan to return Barbara and her child to England. As Julian retreated and Mr. Punch resurfaced, he bonded with his nephew. Upon learning of their plan, Mr. Punch insisted that the child was his heir and that no one was taking him anywhere.

As we begin with Chapter 200, we’ll see the battle for Barbara’s son intensify. Meanwhile, the threats of Ulrika, Iolanthe and Marie Laveau are still very present. Julian has his own battles to deal with as his memories of his childhood return. He’ll also has to struggle with his newly inherited title of the Duke of Fallbridge as he’s called to his duties in England. Ulrika will find a dangerous ally in a new face—Charles’ wicked brother, Giovanni.

There’s a lot in store for the next one hundred chapters of Punch’s Cousin. I can’t wait to share them with you.