Monastery of Saint-Honorat

The Monastery of Saint-Honorat is a well-fortified religious community on the smaller of the two Îles de Lérins, a pair of islands lying off the coast of Cannes in the Mediterranean. In the narrative, it appears as the intended destination of Antoine Richis's desperate flight with his daughter Laure, and its role is defined entirely by its perceived security and Richis's prior commercial relationship with its monks.

Location and Character

The monastery is described as a fortified institution managed by a handful of elderly but capable monks. Richis knows them well because for years he has bought and resold the monastery's entire production of eucalyptus cordial, pine nuts, and cypress oil. He considers the monastery, along with the prison of Château d'If and the state prison on the Île Sainte-Marguerite, to be probably the safest place in Provence. Its isolation on an island, its religious character, and its fortifications make it, in Richis's calculation, the ideal place to hide his daughter from the murderer who has already killed twenty-four young women in the Grasse region.

Richis's Plan and the Monastery's Role

After a feigned departure toward Grenoble, Richis turns south with Laure and her maid, crossing the Tanneron mountains to reach the coast near La Napoule. His plan is to ferry across to the Îles de Lérins the following day and lodge Laure in the Monastery of Saint-Honorat. While she is safe there, he intends to return to the mainland, travel to Vence, and finalize a marriage contract with the Baron de Bouyon. The marriage, he believes, will render Laure worthless to the murderer, who collects only virgins. The monastery is thus the keystone of Richis's strategy: a place of temporary sanctuary that will allow him to outmaneuver the killer.

The Failed Refuge

Richis never reaches the monastery. Grenouille, guided by his nose, tracks the party to La Napoule and murders Laure in her room at the inn during the night. The monastery remains an unrealized sanctuary, a destination that exists only in Richis's plans. Its significance lies in its failure: the most secure place Richis can imagine proves inaccessible because the murderer's pursuit is faster and more relentless than any protective measure. The monastery, for all its fortifications and isolation, never becomes the refuge it was intended to be.