According to the research conducted by the International Detective Association (IDA), in which data on over ten million people who are not native English speakers were investigated, it was revealed that there is a great possibility that Angela Elena could be the woman portrayed in ‘The Madame Defarge’. The main suspect in this case is her marriage to an American man, Richard Tuffnell, who at the time of their marriage was thirty-three years old. Elena was born in Romania and Tuffnell was born in America. The Romanian wife gave birth to six children, while the American husband stayed at home with his family. Elena became increasingly suspicious of her husband’s activities and decided to leave him, which she had never done before.
Angela Elena lived in England at the time and became friendly with the members of the English speaking community. She was friendly with many different types of people including wealthy businessmen and royalty. It was on one occasion when she met with a man called Alexander whom she fell in love with. After this meeting, Elena packed her belongings and flew to France to be with her new lover. Shortly after this, she took French citizenship and acquired citizenship of the French Channel Islands. Thereafter, she decided to change her name and changed her profession to being a social worker.
When the records regarding her marriage were finally studied, it was found out that they were registered in America. At this stage, it was found out that the marriage was arranged through an agent called Antonio Marin, who was the head of the Marmaris international company. The reason for the marriage being arranged using an agent was due to the fact that this American woman did not have an English passport and working without a passport made her an easy target for all those around her country who were enemies of Romania. Through the age difference, Elena did not inform her American husband that she was going to change her name and get a new identity, as this would have posed a problem to any employer that she had in her work place.