The-Scarlet-Pimpernel

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But, above all, Chauvelin had a purpose at heart. Hefirmly believed that the French aristocrat was the most bitterenemy of France; he would have wished to see every oneof them annihilated: he was one of those who, during thisawful Reign of Terror, had been the first to utter the historicand ferocious desire ‘that aristocrats might have butone head between them, so that it might be cut off with asingle stroke of the guillotine.’ And thus he looked uponevery French aristocrat, who had succeeded in escapingfrom France, as so much prey of which the guillotine hadbeen unwarrantably cheated. There is no doubt that thoseroyalist EMIGRES, once they had managed to cross thefrontier, did their very best to stir up foreign indignationagainst France. Plots without end were hatched in England,in Belgium, in Holland, to try and induce some great powerto send troops into revolutionary Paris, to free King Louis,and to summarily hang the bloodthirsty leaders of thatmonster republic.Small wonder, therefore, that the romantic and mysteriouspersonality of the Scarlet Pimpernel was a sourceof bitter hatred to Chauvelin. He and the few young jackanapesunder his command, well furnished with money,armed with boundless daring, and acute cunning, had succeededin rescuing hundreds of aristocrats from France.Nine-tenths of the EMIGRES, who were FETED at the Englishcourt, owed their safety to that man and to his league.Chauvelin had sworn to his colleagues in Paris that hewould discover the identity of that meddlesome Englishman,entice him over to France, and then…Chauvelin drew122The Scarlet Pimpernel
a deep breath of satisfaction at the very thought of seeingthat enigmatic head falling under the knife of the guillotine,as easily as that of any other man.Suddenly there was a great stir on the handsome staircase,all conversation stopped for a moment as the majordomo’svoice outside announced,—‘His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and suite, SirPercy Blakeney, Lady Blakeney.’Lord Grenville went quickly to the door to receive hisexalted guest.The Prince of Wales, dressed in a magnificent court suitof salmon-coloured velvet richly embroidered with gold,entered with Marguerite Blakeney on his arm; and on hisleft Sir Percy, in gorgeous shimmering cream satin, cut inthe extravagant ‘Incroyable’ style, his fair hair free frompowder, priceless lace at his neck and wrists, and the flatCHAPEAU-BRAS under his arm.After the few conventional words of deferential greeting,Lord Grenville said to his royal guest,—‘Will your Highness permit me to introduce M. Chauvelin,the accredited agent of the French Government?’Chauvelin, immediately the Prince entered, had steppedforward, expecting this introduction. He bowed very low,whilst the Prince returned his salute with a curt nod of thehead.‘Monsieur,’ said His Royal Highness coldly, ‘we will tryto forget the government that sent you, and look upon youmerely as our guest—a private gentleman from France. Assuch you are welcome, Monsieur.’Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com123
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The Scarlet PimpernelBy Baroness Or
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men, women, and children, who happe
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fugitive would prove to be a woman,
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the Scarlet Pimpernel. Within a few
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‘He deserved his fate!’‘Fancy
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had stepped hastily backwards, and
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CHAPTER IIDOVER: ‘THEFISHERMAN’
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setting her frilled cap at its most
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e he lord, yeoman, or peasant, the
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‘No,’ replied Mr. Jellyband, se
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his favourite hobby-horse, and had
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one o’ them murderin’ Frenchmen
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CHAPTER IIITHE REFUGEESFeeling in e
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pretty Sally,’ said the man who h
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‘Nay, my lord, I believe that the
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effusively, as he came eagerly forw
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gan.‘But, I say, supper!’ here
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at the supper table.36The Scarlet P
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Not one of those at the supper tabl
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sorrow and emotion had overmastered
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‘Oh! I wonder what he will say!
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stricken when the old hag spoke of
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‘Faith, Madame, I did hear some v
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CHAPTER VMARGUERITEIn a moment the
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‘My lady…er…h’m!…my lady!
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down a throne, and uprooted an aris
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curtsey to my lady.Suzanne’s swee
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CHAPTER VIAN EXQUISITE OF ‘92Sir
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fine day, just like that, without a
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generations had been notoriously du
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‘La!’ said Sir Percy, after a m
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mit, young man, what’s the good o
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a specimen of the goods you and you
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It would have been bad form to prot
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In the distance two figures were ap
Page 72 and 73: in tears.‘Oh! Armand!’ she said
Page 74 and 75: to me that it MUST be HEAVENLY to b
Page 76 and 77: This was his first visit to England
Page 78 and 79: corum were supersensitive, had not
Page 80 and 81: tria, hoping to obtain the Emperor
Page 82 and 83: towards him.‘Chauvelin!’ she ex
Page 84 and 85: ‘No wonder,’ retorted Chauvelin
Page 86 and 87: have hats ‘a la Scarlet Pimpernel
Page 88 and 89: imagination had stirred by the thou
Page 90 and 91: ‘I’d take my chance of that,’
Page 92 and 93: CHAPTER IXTHE OUTRAGEAbeautiful sta
Page 94 and 95: of the house myself, but if your lo
Page 96 and 97: gether, and instinctively, though t
Page 98 and 99: usiness they had so much at heart,
Page 100 and 101: In the coffee-room the masked leade
Page 102 and 103: Pitt, overweighted with cares of st
Page 104 and 105: The Comtesse smiled through her tea
Page 106 and 107: Lord Grenville took a hasty farewel
Page 108 and 109: ing to look at the intruder.Chauvel
Page 110 and 111: ‘About my brother?’‘I have ne
Page 112 and 113: thwart their projected COUP for the
Page 114 and 115: ‘All the more noble, you mean….
Page 116 and 117: you love from the consequences of h
Page 118 and 119: to help and console. Sir Percy Blak
Page 120 and 121: CHAPTER XILORD GRENVILLE’S BALLTh
Page 124 and 125: ‘Monseigneur,’ rejoined Chauvel
Page 126 and 127: curtsey.‘Madame,’ responded the
Page 128 and 129: which had fallen over everyone. ‘
Page 130 and 131: exacted from her, in exchange for A
Page 132 and 133: That the League of the Scarlet Pimp
Page 134 and 135: All this, from the moment that Marg
Page 136 and 137: ing for another victim…Armand!…
Page 138 and 139: is undoubtedly mine, and…’ Not
Page 140 and 141: CHAPTER XIIIEITHER—OR?The few wor
Page 142 and 143: crossed his mind at the moment, she
Page 144 and 145: CHAPTER XIVONE O’CLOCK PRECISELY!
Page 146 and 147: Fate had willed it so. Marguerite,
Page 148 and 149: vice of a small star-shaped flower.
Page 150 and 151: ‘Yes?—And?’‘I also, fair la
Page 152 and 153: ight silk dresses and gorgeously em
Page 154 and 155: of suppers, and a smile, that was a
Page 156 and 157: which belongs to a leader of men—
Page 158 and 159: the Scarlet Pimpernel had been warn
Page 160 and 161: ‘Chauvelin,’ she said at last d
Page 162 and 163: every movement, hid the keen, fox-l
Page 164 and 165: stuffy London house. He loved drivi
Page 166 and 167: that the bays had turned into the m
Page 168 and 169: ingly into the shadows whence she h
Page 170 and 171: my dull wits cannot accompany you t
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have spoken before I married you: y
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ter a moment of silence between the
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lieve that but a few months ago one
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which…’She would have given wor
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tion of unbending pride, of fierce
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curtains and threw open the windows
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hold to be already astir.She certai
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whole frame shook with anxiety at t
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paid.’‘And mine will be at your
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any rate would not be at her door.A
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or…but Marguerite ceased to conje
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and irresolute.The door was ajar, a
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He may have wished to hide his love
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etween her exquisite dandy of a hus
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fugitive Comte de Tournay safely ou
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now—all at once…that part he pl
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steps, a groom came running round t
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eyes were fixed, her hands were tig
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ceed.And if he failed—if indeed F
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CHAPTER XXTHE FRIENDLess than half
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appeared.He had evidently been much
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these is Armand St. Just my brother
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sess for his sake; but I might be p
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shipped him, and who would gladly h
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over trifles of that sort.The coffe
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Evidently, therefore, he had been a
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the first time since many hours, a
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house, and Sir Percy Blakeney will
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lives of men, women, and even child
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CHAPTER XXIICALAISThe weariest nigh
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there was less hopelessness in the
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population, who turned with an oath
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threshold.Sir Andrew, however, had
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she would incontinently have fled f
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and tapping Brogard lightly on the
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‘But where is he now?—Do you kn
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‘As cautiously as possible!’ he
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Blakeney, who as usual had planned
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man for whom she had committed the
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her the use of another room? She wo
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CHAPTER XXIVTHE DEATH-TRAPThe next
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greater happiness than that.And the
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perhuman effort, not to fall sensel
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of them are to keep him in view. Th
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ing him to his death—nay! to wors
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second or so.Marguerite could not s
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ed by some of Captain Jutley’s me
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doubt something of the sort must ha
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the eyes, blue, yet deep-set and in
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ackward…. Eh?’But Chauvelin was
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CHAPTER XXVITHE JEWIt took Margueri
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dared not tackle him alone. Brogard
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Percy’s fate might still be hangi
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‘He took the words out of my mout
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‘How many gold pieces are there i
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emember, if you have deceived me, I
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an expressive gesture, whilst he la
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hide her dark figure from view, whi
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scented bit of France, there lurked
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limb; already she had guessed what
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nearer to it then. The hut is very
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guish, culminating in this awful de
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was sitting at the bottom of a roug
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so remember every syllable I utter,
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Chauvelin, in a tone that made the
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grasp the situation first, then to
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joy and hope, which yet she feared
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‘We cannot let her loose, that’
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‘Coming in quickly.’‘The scho
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til I give you leave to speak. Ah!
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dred feet away perhaps, from where
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ed as his murderer! let even he, wh
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as fast as their feet could carry t
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was no doubt now, that once again,
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small and white.‘Pick that up,’
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ing beside the prostrate form of Ma
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‘Answer!’ he again commanded, a
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ic and audacious Scarlet Pimpernel,
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in the knowledge that I do not leav
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whilst Percy had escaped, only to h
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would make her the happiest woman i
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‘I do know, dear…everything,’
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nature pretty well by now,’ he ad
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‘Sir Andrew!’ she gasped.Indeed
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‘We are not going back to Calais,
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Armand St. Just and the other fugit
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