Chapter VIII

Victor accompanies his family to Justine Moritz’s trial, tormented that his creation has already killed William and may now destroy Justine. Justine appears calm but constrained, drawing hostile scrutiny from the crowd.

Witnesses present incriminating circumstances: Justine was out the night of the murder near the discovery site, behaved confusedly when questioned, suffered hysterics on seeing William’s body, and the missing miniature is found in her pocket. Justine explains she was searching for William, stranded outside Geneva that night, and cannot account for the miniature, appealing to her character.

Character witnesses hesitate, so Elizabeth delivers a moving defense of Justine’s goodness and lack of motive. Public sentiment hardens anyway. Overwhelmed, Victor withdraws, certain the judges and crowd have condemned Justine.

The verdict is guilty; Victor learns Justine has confessed. Elizabeth is devastated until, during a prison visit with Victor, Justine reveals she lied under pressure from her confessor, who threatened spiritual damnation. She accepts death, asks to be remembered as innocent, and counsels patient submission to Heaven’s will.

Victor, silently acknowledging himself as the true cause, and Elizabeth, grieving yet innocent, spend hours with Justine. The next day, Justine is executed. Victor’s attempts to speak are stifled by the judges’ cold certainty. He foresees further tragedy, blaming his “unhallowed arts” for the first victims, William and Justine, and dreading more grief to come.