El Dorado

El Dorado by Emma Orczy (1926)

Emma Orczy's El Dorado opens in Paris during the Terror, in January 1794, with the city outwardly given over to theatres, fashion, and pleasure even as the guillotine claims victims daily. At a performance of Molière's Le Misanthrope at the Théâtre National, attended by Robespierre, Danton, Foucquier-Tinville, and other powerful figures, the Baron de Batz sits in a private box with young Armand St. Just, recently arrived from England. De Batz explains the ruthless new decree giving the Committee of General Security's spies unchecked power to arrest and denounce, and reveals his own scheme: as a self-interested Royalist agent funded by Austrian money, he intends to engineer the rescue of the young Dauphin, Louis XVII, from the Temple prison himself, for personal profit and glory, and he resents any interference from the Scarlet Pimpernel, whose identity he needles St. Just about. During the performance, St. Just becomes enchanted by the actress Mlle. Lange, and after the play de Batz brings him to her dressing room, where St. Just falls under her spell, indiscreetly speaking of the Scarlet Pimpernel despite his loyalty forbidding him to reveal anything definite. That night de Batz visits Héron, the brutal chief agent of the Committee of General Security, at the Temple, bribing him for three weeks' personal immunity and witnessing the degraded state of the young King, who has been made drunk and coerced by his guardians, the Simons, into blaspheming his parents and trampling the royal flag. De Batz warns Héron of the Scarlet Pimpernel's presence in Paris and betrays St. Just's connection to Mlle. Lange, hoping to remove interference with his own plans. The next day St. Just visits Jeanne (Mlle. Lange) again; they confess mutual love, but Héron's men arrive to search for St. Just, and Jeanne, with quick wit, disguises the encounter as a rehearsal between "cousins," deceiving Héron and saving Armand. That evening St. Just meets his chief, Sir Percy Blakeney (the Scarlet Pimpernel), and his League — Sir Andrew Ffoulkes, Lord Tony, Lord Hastings — who finalize plans to rescue the Dauphin from the Temple on Sunday the 19th, coordinating routes, disguises, and rendezvous points near Villette and St. Germain. Blakeney, learning of Armand's infatuation, insists he leave Paris with the others despite Armand's protests, reminding him of his oath of obedience. Armand, unable to rest, secretly returns to Jeanne's lodgings before dawn and learns she has been arrested by Héron's agents. Devastated, he rushes to Blakeney, who reveals he already anticipated this and went to warn her but arrived too late; he pledges to discover her whereabouts and orders Armand to proceed to Villette as planned. Armand obeys but is tormented by guilt and fear, and when Blakeney fails to appear at the city gate that evening with news, panic overtakes him. Convinced Jeanne faces the guillotine and that Blakeney has forgotten her for the sake of the Dauphin's rescue, Armand breaks his oath, reenters Paris, and loses his safety pass, becoming trapped inside the city himself. The next morning, disguised as a laborer, he searches desperately through the Palais de Justice and its prison registers for word of Jeanne, uncertain where she is being held, as the story continues with him awaiting access to the prisoner records at La Tournelle.

By Emma Orczy · First published 1926 · Genre: Adventure, Historical Fiction, Romantic · 49 chapters · 143,387 words

First lines

And yet people found the opportunity to amuse themselves, to dance and to go to the theatre, to enjoy music and open-air cafés and promenades in the Palais Royal.

New fashions in dress made their appearance, milliners produced fresh "creations," and jewellers were not idle. A grim sense of humour, born of the very intensity of ever-present danger, had dubbed the cut of certain tunics "tête tranchée," or a favourite ragoût was called "à la guillotine. "

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adventure · mystery · treasure · exploration · historical · romance · suspense · action · quest · discovery · legend · gold

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