The Hunchback (1912)

Lagardere's skill with the rapier was always embroiling him in quarrels, and one night he was to fight a duel with the Duke de Nevers. The Duke had married the daughter of the Duke de Caylus, which had earned him the undying hatred of Gonzague, who had also been a suitor for that lady's hand. Lagardere discovered that a band of ruffians had been hired by Gonzague to set upon and kill the Duke. Immediately the spirit of fair play overcame Lagardere's enmity against Nevers, and he allied himself with him against the gang of cut-throats. In the fight which followed, Nevers was slain by a masked assassin. Lagardere succeeded in running his sword through the hand of the cowardly murderer, but single-handed he could not cope with superior numbers and was forced to fly for his life. After this, Lagardere left France for Spain, taking with him the infant daughter of the dead Duke. Years later, Lagardere, accompanied by the daughter of Nevers, returned to France to avenge the murder of the Duke. The widow of Nevers had been forced by her father to marry Gonzague, but she had never ceased to mourn the loss of her daughter, whom she believed to be dead. Lagardere, in the disguise of a hunchback, by his funny antics, gained the favor of Gonzague, and seeing the scarred hand of the man, his suspicions that he was the slayer of Nevers were confirmed. On the night of the Regent's ball, Lagardere denounced Gonzague as the murderer of the Duke, but Gonzague vigorously denied the accusation and stated that Largardere himself killed Nevers. But Lagardere had a letter from the King making it impossible for them to arrest him and so he left the ball free but in disgrace. The next night "The Hunchback" appeared at an entertainment at Gonzague's, where he amused the guests. Suddenly Gonzague, thinking to humiliate his newly found step-daughter, announced that she was to be married to the "Hunchback." The beautiful girl was horrified until Lagardere reveals himself to her secretly and then the wedding proceeded. When Lagardere removed his disguise, he was served with notice of trial for the murder of Nevers. As the trial begins Lagardere gives a package to the Regent, telling him that it contains the name of Never's slayer, written by the duke's own hand. The possibility of the presentation of such damaging evidence so disconcerts Gonzague, that he betrays himself by his guilty actions. Later in an encounter between Gonzague and Lagardere, the murderer of Nevers fell by the hands of his avenger.