[3] William and Julia were married on 8 June 1892 in Chicago,[4][5] the city where Alice spent most of her childhood and adolescence, living with her parents in the affluent Gold Coast district.

[7] Her mother died of complications from tuberculosis when Alice was eight years old,[8] although biographer Paul Spicer argues that her death was a result of being locked out of the house by her husband during a freezing night six months earlier.

[8] Following her mother's death, Alice was raised by a German governess in large houses in New York; her alcoholic father[10] was frequently absent due to his professional obligations.

[16] Two years later, Alice moved to Paris, where she briefly worked as director of the model department in Jean Patou's atelier,[17] until she met Frédéric de Janzé, a well-known French racing driver and heir to an old aristocratic family in Brittany.

A participant in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and other races, Frédéric also frequented literary circles and was close friends with Marcel Proust, Maurice Barrès and Anna de Noailles.

[18] Unlike many other American heiresses of the period, Alice had not allowed her family to arrange an advantageous match for her, choosing to take the initiative and pursue a romance with Frédéric de Janzé on her own.

He provided several non-eponymous references to members of the Happy Valley set, including a psychological portrait of his wife that alludes to her suicidal tendencies: Wide eyes so calm, short slick hair, full red lips, a body to desire.

[21] Hoping to keep the extramarital affair from becoming a scandal, her mother-in-law loaned Alice a furnished flat in a quiet street in Paris to use as a "love nest" with de Trafford.

[46] In an attempt to minimize the situation, a statement was released to the press by Alice's family, assuring the public that there was nothing in the double shooting that "casts discredit upon the names of Armour and Silverthorne, which have been honored in America many generations, nor anything which could induce a French jury to render a verdict of conviction".

[52][53] On 8 April, she made an official declaration in which she stated she originally only planned suicide when she bought the revolver, but eventually also fired at de Trafford because of anguish at parting from him.

[65] She was tried by the Paris Tribunal on 23 December 1927,[66] on the charge of assault, after her celebrated advocate, René Mettetal,[36] convinced the examining magistrate that she was mentally irresponsible at the time she shot de Trafford.

[67][68] When de Trafford was asked if he wanted to press charges against the countess, he expressed surprise and annoyance at the idea, claiming that his wounding was an accident that he himself caused:[69] As we were about to part – she was kissing me – I told her that I loved her, and again whispered to her not to take my decision as irrevocable.

[7] Alice received a suspended sentence of six months in prison and a fine of 100 francs (approximately four U.S. dollars) by the Paris Correctional Court,[70] who rebuked de Trafford for his failure to deliver his promise to marry her, out of fear of losing the family allowance.

[38][71] Although it was criticized by some newspapers,[38] this lenient decision may have been influenced by the revelation concerning Alice's frequent suicide attempts, de Trafford's taking responsibility for her state of mind,[72] and the public's sympathetic view of her as the tragic victim of a true crime of passion.

[72] Under the First Offenders Act, Alice was immediately released,[73] and on 13 April 1929 she received a full presidential pardon from Gaston Doumergue, the president of the French Republic,[74][75] so that even the fine she had been forced to pay was returned to her by the court.

[7] The civil divorce was followed by an annulment of the marriage by the Vatican on 26 July 1928;[80][81] Frédéric's attorneys then warned every newspaper in England never to refer to Alice as Countess de Janzé again.

[83] In the following weeks, until she could properly organize her departure and wanting a relatively peaceful place where she could rest after the ordeal, she stayed for a while at the house of writer Karen Blixen, a good friend of Lord Erroll.

[38] During this time Alice, who now had severe financial reversals, took over the management of a gown shop in Paris under the name of "Gloria Bocher", but soon lost both interest and money in the venture.

The idea did not appeal to her new husband; during the course of the argument, Alice absent-mindedly reached into her purse, prompting a terrified de Trafford to flee, fearing a new murder attempt.

[79] Alice may have changed her mind, but she again officially filed for divorce in May 1937,[94] winning an uncontested suit and a grant of decree nisi on the grounds of adultery with an unnamed co-respondent at a London hotel.

[38][79][95] Following the divorce, Alice considered permanently returning to Chicago; however friends advised her against it, pointing out how the shooting scandal had made her a "marked woman" in her native land.

[7] Accepting her notoriety, Alice returned to the world of 'Happy Valley', where she permanently settled in the large farmhouse she had previously bought in Gilgil, located on the banks of the River Wanjohi.

[96] She was avoided by certain members of the community due to her mood swings and the shooting incident; her friend, aviator Beryl Markham, later disclosed: "Loneliness fixed Alice.

Years later, Nolwén would state that she did not feel bitterness or hostility for her mother during their brief meetings, but would actually be fascinated by this virtually unknown woman who brought with her an air of mystique, owing to her permanent stay in Africa.

[101] In his investigative book, White Mischief, journalist James Fox mentions a suspicious incident regarding Alice de Janzé and her possible connection to the crime.

The coroner also concluded there was no sign of insanity,[110] but he further fuelled the conspiracy theories by stating that the content of Alice's letters were such as to merit their being destroyed, because they constituted damaging revelations of a social and political nature.

[7] Writer Joseph Broccoli conjectures that Alice de Janzé and the 1927 shooting served as a source of inspiration for Maria Wallis and the shooting incident in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel Tender Is the Night (1934),[111][112] In 1982, Alice de Janzé's life was prominently featured in the investigative non-fiction book White Mischief by journalist James Fox, which examined the events surrounding the murder of Lord Erroll, the Happy Valley set, and their notorious life before and after the event.

[113] Radford was reportedly drawn to the story primarily due to an incident attributed to Alice, in which she had once flung open the shutters of her window in her house in Kenya and remarked: "Oh, God.

[114] The film adaptation makes much of Alice's eccentricities, including scenes in which she watches a polo match with a snake twined around her shoulders, or doses herself with a syringe of morphine in the ladies' toilet.

When she first arrived in Kenya, Miles sought people who knew de Janzé but was unable to learn anything substantial due to those acquaintances' confused perceptions of the woman; some were even uncertain as to her true nationality.