Finished: The Scarlet Pimpernel (Orczy) A delightfully fun book! :-) Set in 1792, early in the French Revolution, the Scarlet Pimpernel is the much respected leader of a secret group of English aristocrats who go on rescue missions from England to France to spirit French aristocrats out of France before they can be ordered to execution by the bloody guillotine. Fear is running rampant in France, and the Scarlet Pimpernel, whose identity is known by no one but his trusted group, has become a beloved hero of the uppercrust throughout France and England. His brilliant mind has come up with all kinds of escape plans that keep fooling the French guards. The newly appointed French envoy to England, staunch revolutionist, Chauvelin, is determined to bring the Scarlet Pimpernel to justice, i.e., to the guillotine! Chauvelin approaches Marguerite, the wife of rich, respected English aristocrat, Percy Blakeney for her help. Chauvelin is evil though. Marguerite is a former French citizen who was swept off her feet by Percy's fierce love. They married, but almost immediately became estranged due to something from Marguerite's past. Chauvelin knows that Marguerite has a beloved brother, Armand, who is still in France who is secretly working against the French Revolution and actually helping the Scarlet Pimpernel get people out of France. He threatens Armand's life if Marguerite, who is very socially astute and respected, does not help him uncover who the Scarlet Pimpernel is. Marguerite, like everyone else, adores the bravery of the Scarlet Pimpernel from afar, and is loathe to help capture him, but her brother means the world to her...so, when she finds out that the Scarlet Pimpernel will be meeting one of his group at a certain time, she gives Chauvelin that information. Lurking in the shadows, Chauvelin now knows who the Scarlet Pimpernel is! Little does Marguerite know or suspect that her unassuming, "foppish" husband, Percy, is actually the brave and dashing Scarlet Pimpernel! By giving Chauvelin the information, she has put her husband in grave danger. She has always loved Percy, even though his pride has kept him from showing his love since the beginning of their marriage because of her past transgression (which involved inadvertently sending a French aristocrat and his family to the guillotine). Percy has assumed all this time that Marguerite did so heartlessly and willingly, and not unknowingly...but he never took the time to find out the truth, and her own pride kept her from explaining the truth to him. Anyway, when Marguerite suddenly discovers that her husband, her own Percy, is in fact the Scarlet Pimpernel, and that he has already sailed for France to bring her own brother safely to England, along with some other aristocrats, she frantically sets off with his best friend Sir Andrew Ffoulkes in tow to warn and rescue Percy from Chauvelin's clutches, and at the same time make sure her brother isn't disposed of by the evil Chauvelin. She also wants to declare her undying love to Percy before he boldly risks, and possibly loses, his life. Another one of the Scarlet Pimpernel's elusive disguises plays an important role in the ensuing adventure (though it's pretty easy to figure out), and, along with the warning he receives from Ffoulkes via Marguerite, he is able to both save Armand and the other hiding aristocrats from Chauvelin, and send Chauvelin off onto a wild goose chase by giving them a false lead to his rendezvous pickup point. And, he also sweeps Marguerite up off her feet, as she has followed along to try and save him, and she has collapsed in exhaustion. As he carries her down the rocky ledge to the REAL rendezvous point, they finally open up to each other, forgive the past, and declare their love. :-) I know there are many sequels to this first book and I might just read a few of them!