Baroness Orczy

The Scarlet Pimpernel Baroness Orczy

The Scarlet Pimpernel is the name of a chivalrous Englishman in the time of the Terrors in France, who, with his band of gentlemen, rescues aristocrats before they can be killed by the violent government in revolutionary France. He is known by his symbol, a simple flower, the scarlet pimpernel. He succeeds by masterful use of disguises and strict secrecy of the group's movements. His identity is secret to all but his men. Marguerite Blakeney, French wife of a wealthy English dandy, is approached by the new French envoy to England with a threat to her brother's life if she does not aid in his search for the Pimpernel. She aids him, and then discovers that the Pimpernel is also very dear to her. She sails to France to stop the envoy.