Citizen Chauvelin, of the Committee of Public Safety, presents citizen Fouquier-Tinville, the Public Prosecutor, with the most extraordinary claim:
"The dangerous English spy known to the world as the Scarlet Pimpernel," he says, "is now safely under lock and key. He must be transferred to the Abbaye prison forthwith -- and to the guillotine as quickly as might be. No one is to take any risks this time. There must be no question either of discrediting his famous League, or of obtaining other more valuable information out of him. Such methods have proved disastrous!"
There are no safe Englishmen these days, except the dead ones -- and it will not take citizen Fouquier-Tinville much thought or time to frame an indictment against the notorious Scarlet Pimpernel . . . and that will do away with the necessity of a prolonged trial. The revolutionary government is at war with England now, and short work can be made of all poisonous spies!
English novelist and playwright Baroness Emmuska Orczy (1865-1947) achieved enduring success with her novels of politics and intrigue set during the time of the French Revolution.
