Plot summary
It is March 1624 in Holland. Two months earlier, a mercenary/adventurer who calls himself "Diogenes" foiled the plot on the life of the Stadtholder. Now, he has finally met his real father, an English nobleman, and realized his true identity as Sir Percy Blake of Blakeney, heir to a large estate in Sussex. He will soon marry Gilda Beresteyn, the woman he was paid to kidnap in January.
Blakeney has invited his friends from his mercenary days, "Socrates" and "Pythagoras," to the wedding. However, while traveling there, Pythagoras runs afoul of Lord Stoutenburg (now a fugitive for his plot to kill the Stadtholder). Stoutenburg recognizes Pythagoras, gets him drunk, and has his servant Jan shoot him in the back and leave him for dead.
On the day of the wedding, Diogenes is concerned when Pythagoras does not show up. Socrates and a group of men go out to look for him. Just as the celebration is ending, Socrates returns with the wounded Pythagoras. After being given medical treatment, Pythagoras reveals that Stoutenburg has a new plan to assassinate the Stadtholder, namely, the Archduchess Isabella has troops crossing the IJssel and coming up from Kleve. They plan to seize the cities of Arnhem and Nijmegen, then march across the Veluwe and confront the Stadtholder with a vast army. On top of this, Stoutenburg is plotting to poison the Stadtholder using chemicals he has been taught to manufacture by Francis Borgia.
The Stadtholder asks Diogenes to fight at his side. Diogenes is torn between his feelings for his new bride and the call of honour and duty. Gilda settles the matter when she brings him his sword, telling him he must leave for Vorden within the hour.
Gilda's brother, Nicholaes, travels with Diogenes as far as Barneveld but on returning home, he tries to convince Gilda that her husband is a traitor and is in league with the Archduchess.
In Vorden, Diogenes delivers the Stadtholder's orders to Messire Marquet and his troops. En route to Wageningen, he is suddenly chased and shot at by men on horses. Plunging into the river IJseel to evade his attackers, his horse is shot through the neck and the waters sweep over his head.
Four days pass and there is no news from Diogenes. The archduchess's troops have crossed the IJseel and overrun Gelderland. Nicholaes has been sent to Amersfoot to tell his father of the Stadtholder's coming and that they must evacuate the town. Fugitives from Ede have reached the Stadtholder's camp at Utrecht and it soon becomes obvious that Diogenes has failed to deliver orders to Messire Marquet and Mynheer De Keysere.
Gilda is worried, but refuses to believe her husband can have failed. She watches for him from the window and eventually spots him riding into the city. On hearing the news, Nicholaes exclaims that Diogenes' return is impossible but won't say any more when questioned. He then tries to get the Stadtholder away before he can talk to Diogenes, insisting that Diogenes is in league with the Archduchess. When Diogenes, weary and dazed, arrives, Nicholaes attacks him with cries of "Assassin!" but Gilda stops the fight.
Diogenes, Pythagoras, and Socrates follow Nicholaes and manage to frustrate his plans to deliver the Stadtholder into the hands of the Archduchess. However, before the traitorous Nicholaes meets up with Lord Stoutenburg, he shoots at Diogenes with a poisoned bullet and the resultant smoke causes him to go blind.
Nicolaes and Stoutenburg return to Amersfoort with 4000 mercenaries and demand the surrender of the city. Stoutenburg threatens to kill everyone there unless Gilda agrees to marry him. A commotion outside the house reveals a blind Diogenes is back and is entertaining the troops.
Stoutenburg is determined to hang his nemesis Diogenes, and thinks that Gilda will prefer a strong masterful man to a weak helpless one. The sad condition of her husband only seems to make Gilda more committed to him, so changing tack, Stoutenburg promises Gilda he will only spare Diogenes' life if she will agree to be his wife. She reluctantly agrees, but once she has gone to her room, Stoutenburg tells Jan to hang him anyway.
Faced with the gallows, Diogenes barters his knowledge of the Stadtholder's plans for a mug of port. Stoutenburg then tells Gilda's father that his son-in-law is a traitor, and knowing the man's views on such behaviour, leaves him alone in the dining hall with Diogenes and a loaded gun. A gunshot is heard from outside the room, and the Statholder leaves, locking the door behind him.
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The Scarlet Pimpernel is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title enjoyed a long run in London, having opened in Nottingham in 1903.
Baroness Emma Orczy, usually known as Baroness Orczy or to her family and friends as Emmuska Orczy, was a Hungarian-born British novelist and playwright. She is best known for her series of novels featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel, the alter ego of Sir Percy Blakeney, a wealthy English fop who turns into a quick-thinking escape artist in order to save French aristocrats from "Madame Guillotine" during the French Revolution, establishing the "hero with a secret identity" in popular culture.
Alexander Senki, released in North America as Reign: The Conqueror and in Europe as Alexander the Great, is a Korean-Japanese anime first released in 1999. A re-imagination of the life of Alexander the Great based on the novel of the same name by Hiroshi Aramata, the series was produced by an international crew that drew from the resources of the worldwide animation community. Character designs and original designs for the show were conceived by Peter Chung while the show was written by Sadayuki Murai and directed by Yoshinori Kanemori. Most of the production work was handled by Korean animators.
The Elusive Pimpernel is a 1950 British period adventure film by the British-based director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on the novel The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905) by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. It was released in the United States under the title The Fighting Pimpernel. The picture stars David Niven as Sir Percy Blakeney, Margaret Leighton as Marguerite Blakeney and features Jack Hawkins, Cyril Cusack and Robert Coote. Originally intended to be a musical, the film was re-worked as a light-hearted drama.
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a musical with music by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics and book by Nan Knighton, based on the 1905 novel of the same name by Baroness Orczy. The show is set in England and France during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution. The story is a precursor to the spy fiction and the superhero genres, where a hero hides under a mild-mannered alias.
The Laughing Cavalier (1624) is a portrait by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals in the Wallace Collection in London. It was described by art historian Seymour Slive as "one of the most brilliant of all Baroque portraits". The title is an invention of the Victorian public and press, dating from its exhibition in the opening display at the Bethnal Green Museum in 1872–1875, just after its arrival in England, after which it was regularly reproduced as a print, and became one of the best known old master paintings in Britain. The unknown subject is in fact not laughing, but can be said to have an enigmatic smile, much amplified by his upturned moustache.
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First published in 1908, The Elusive Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy is the 4th book in the classic adventure series about the Scarlet Pimpernel.
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The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel, first published in 1922, is a book in the series about the Scarlet Pimpernel's adventures by Baroness Orczy. Again Orczy interweaves historic fact with fiction, this time through the real life figures of Thérésa Cabarrus, and Jean-Lambert Tallien; inserting the Scarlet Pimpernel as an instigator of the role Tallien played in the Thermidorian Reaction in July 1794.
Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel is the second collection of short stories written by Baroness Orczy about the gallant English hero, the Scarlet Pimpernel and his League. Written in 1929 the stories, which are listed below, are set in 1793 but appear in no particular order. They occasionally refer to events in other books in the series and Orczy frequently reuses plot lines and ideas from the longer Pimpernel novels.
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1934 British adventure film directed by Harold Young and starring Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, and Raymond Massey. Based on the 1905 play by Baroness Orczy and Montagu Barstow and the classic 1905 adventure novel by Orczy, the film is about an eighteenth-century English aristocrat (Howard) who leads a double life, passing himself off as an effete aristocrat while engaged in a secret effort to rescue French nobles from Robespierre's Reign of Terror. The film was produced by Alexander Korda. Howard's portrayal of the title character is often considered the definitive portrayal of the role. In 1941, he played a similar role in "'Pimpernel' Smith" but this time set in pre-WWII Germany.
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The Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1982 British romantic adventure television film set during the French Revolution. It is based on the novels The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905) and Eldorado (1913) by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, and stars Anthony Andrews as Sir Percy Blakeney/the Scarlet Pimpernel, the protagonist, Jane Seymour as Marguerite St. Just, the love interest, and Ian McKellen as Chauvelin, the antagonist.
The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1937 British film directed by Hanns Schwarz and starring Barry K. Barnes, Sophie Stewart, Margaretta Scott and James Mason. It is a sequel to the 1934 film The Scarlet Pimpernel based on the stories by Baroness Emmuska Orczy.
I Will Repay is a 1923 British silent period film directed by Henry Kolker and starring Holmes Herbert, Flora le Breton, and Pedro de Cordoba. It was based on the 1906 novel I Will Repay by Emma Orczy, which is a sequel to The Scarlet Pimpernel. It was released in the United States under the alternative title Swords and the Woman.
