The Elusive Pimpernel

In this particular adventure, Blakeney's adversary, Robespierre's head spy-master Chauvelin, lures the hero and his wife to France where a trap has been carefully prepared to catch and humiliate the Scarlet Pimpernel once and for all. Blakeney of course sees through the machinations from the beginning but is influenced by his own sense of honor and, one is aware, his love of adventure as much as by his desire to be of service to future victims of the Revolution. The narrative is exquisitely written, full of derring-do and melodramatic crises as well as ample romance.