To my old and valued Friend, David Murray, R.A....

There was not even a reaction. On! ever on! in that wild, surging torrent; sowing the wind of anarchy, of terrorism, of lust of blood and hate, and reaping a hurricane of destruction and of horror. On...

The room was close and dark, filled with the smoke from a defective chimney. A tiny boudoir, once the dainty sanctum of imperious Marie Antoinette; a faint and ghostly odour, like unto the perfume of ...

Robespierre had quietly waited the while. He was in no hurry: being a night-bird of very pronounced tastes, he was quite ready to sit here until the small hours of the morning watching Citizen Chauvel...

It was perhaps the most brilliant September ever known in England, where the last days of dying summer are nearly always golden and beautiful. Strange that in this country, where that same season is s...

To all appearances he had not changed since those early days of matrimony, when his young wife dazzled London society by her wit and by her beauty, and he was one of the many satellites that helped to...

There was no time to say more then. For the laughing, chatting groups of friends had once more closed up round Marguerite and her husband, and she, ever on the alert, gave neither look nor sign that a...

Marguerite neither moved nor spoke. She felt two pairs of eyes fixed upon her, and with all the strength of will at her command she forced the very blood in her veins not to quit her cheeks, forced he...

It was in truth a strange situation, this chance meeting between Percy Blakeney and ex-Ambassador Chauvelin. Marguerite looked up at her husband. She saw him shrug his broad shoulders as he first caug...

Her origin was of the humblest, for her mother⁠—so it was said⁠—had been kitchen-maid in the household of the Duc de Marny, but Désirée had received some kind of education, and though she began life a...

There are several accounts extant, in the fashionable chronicles of the time, of the gorgeous reception given that autumn by Lady Blakeney in her magnificent riverside home. Never had the spacious apa...

It all occurred just before midnight, in one of the smaller rooms, which lead in enfilade from the principal ballroom. Dancing had been going on for some time, but the evening was close, and there see...

It would be very difficult indeed to say why⁠—at Blakeney’s lightly spoken words⁠—an immediate silence should have fallen upon all those present. All the actors in the little drawing-room drama, who h...

It seemed indeed as if the incident were finally closed, the chief actors in the drama having deliberately vacated the centre of the stage. The little crowd which had stood in a compact mass round the...

In the meanwhile silence had fallen over the beautiful old manorial house. One by one the guests had departed, leaving that peaceful sense of complete calm and isolation which follows the noisy chatte...

As she neared the terrace, she became conscious of several forms moving about at the foot of the steps, some few feet below where she was standing. Soon she saw the glimmer of lanterns, heard whisperi...

The rhythmic clapper of oars roused Marguerite from this trance-like swoon. In a moment she was on her feet, all her fatigue gone, her numbness of soul and body vanished as in a flash. She was fully c...

During the journey Marguerite had not much leisure to think. The discomforts and petty miseries incidental on cheap travelling had the very welcome effect of making her forget, for the time being, the...

Consciousness returned very slowly, very painfully. It was night when last Marguerite had clearly known what was going on around her; it was daylight before she realized that she still lived, that she...

“M. L’Abbé!⁠ ⁠…” said Marguerite gravely. “Yes, mon enfant.” The old man looked up from his breviary, and saw Marguerite’s great earnest eyes fixed with obvious calm and trust upon him. She had finish...

The day that Citizen Chauvelin’s letter was received by the members of the Committee of Public Safety was indeed one of great rejoicing. The Moniteur tells us that in the Séance of September 22nd, 179...

In his memorable interview with Robespierre, the day before he left for England, Chauvelin had asked that absolute power be given him, in order that he might carry out the plans for the capture of the...

Two days of agonizing suspense, of alternate hope and despair, had told heavily on Marguerite Blakeney. Her courage was still indomitable, her purpose firm and her faith secure, but she was without th...

Chauvelin, without speaking, extended his hand out towards the city as if to invite Marguerite to gaze upon it. She was quite unconscious what hour of the night it might be, but it must have been late...

As soon as the door had closed behind Marguerite, there came from somewhere in the room the sound of a yawn, a grunt and a volley of oaths. The flickering light of the tallow candles had failed to pen...

Chauvelin heaved a deep sigh of satisfaction when Collot d’Herbois finally left him to himself. He listened for awhile until the heavy footsteps died away in the distance, then leaning back in his cha...

Less than three minutes later, there came to Chauvelin’s expectant ears the soft sound made by a woman’s skirts against the stone floor. During those three minutes, which had seemed an eternity to his...

Once more the two men were alone. As far as Chauvelin was concerned he felt that everything was not yet settled, and until a moment ago he had been in doubt as to whether Sir Percy would accept the in...

Boulogne had gone through many phases, in its own languid and sleepy way, whilst the great upheaval of a gigantic revolution shook other cities of France to their very foundations. At first the little...

“Citizens of Boulogne, awake!” They had not slept, only some of them had fallen into drowsy somnolence, heavy and nerve-racking, worse indeed than any wakefulness. Within the houses, the women too had...

The grandfathers of the present generation of Boulonnese remembered the great day of the National Fête, when all Boulogne, for twenty-four hours, went crazy with joy. So many families had fathers, bro...

To Chauvelin the day had been one of restless inquietude and nervous apprehension. Collot d’Herbois harassed him with questions and complaints intermixed with threats but thinly veiled. At his suggest...

Later on, when his colleague left him in order to see to the horses and to his escort for tonight, Chauvelin called Sergeant Hébert, his old and trusted familiar, to him and gave him some final orders...

And now at last the shades of evening were drawing in thick and fast. Within the walls of Fort Gayole the last rays of the setting sun had long ago ceased to shed their dying radiance, and through the...

And gradually all noises died away around the old Fort Gayole. The shouts and laugher of the merrymakers, who had quickly recovered from their fright, now came only as the muffled rumble of a distant ...

As he reentered the large room, she was standing beside the table, with one dainty hand resting against the back of the chair, her whole graceful figure bent forward as if in an agony of ardent expect...