Bio

Born Agnes Brelivet in the Breton town of Saint-Malo, she married a Rouennais fisherman named Alain Débordé in 1614, at the age of twenty. Débordé and his younger brother used their inheritance, savings and money gained from the sale of their boat to purchase the Auberge du Cygne Noir in Paris the next year. Débordé’s brother quickly tired of the life of an innkeeper and returned to the sea a couple of years later, where he was lost in 1619. Alain Débordé died the following year of a fever, leaving Agnes as his only heir.

Agnes continues as sole proprietress of the Black Swan, turning down offers to sell the inn as well as proposals from ambitious men eager to marry her for her property.

Maîtresse Débordé is politely reserved, but she possesses a strong will, as local merchants who’ve attempted to get the better of her can attest.