If St. Aubert’s confessor is Catholic, he probably shouldn’t be telling everyone what St. Aubert said in confession, but this offers a convenient plot device for St. Aubert to “speak” even after this death. As one of the most trustworthy characters in the novel, St. Aubert’s confession provides a definitive version of events. This means that Agnes lied on her deathbed, holding on until the end to the lie that the Marchioness was unfaithful to the Marquis. And this also means that Emily resembles the Marchioness because the Marchioness was her aunt, not her mother as Agnes claimed.