Comte Henri de C-- (no surname given) was a thirteenth-century French count in the story "The Alchemist" by H. P. Lovecraft. He was the father of Godfrey and the ancestor of Comte Antoine. When the young Godfrey went missing, the blame was put on Michel Mauvais, an alchemist and black magician of evil reputation who lived in a cottage on the estate with his son Charles le Sorcier. Henri in his wrath killed Michel based on suspicion alone.
As it turned out, Michel had been killed unjustly, for Godfrey was later found by family servants, alive and wandering in an unused part of the castle. In revenge for the slaying of his father, Charles le Sorcier cursed Henri's entire family line and killed him with lethal poison thrown in his face before escaping into the forest.
Henri was 32 years old at the time of his death. By the terms of the curse, none of his descendants (including Godfrey) survived past that fateful age until the curse was broken six centuries later when Charles was killed by Antoine.
Behind the Mythos[]
In the comic book adaptation from The Worlds of H. P. Lovecraft series, the C-- stands for Chabrillane.