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Sudden disgrace forces an innocent clerk into desperate criminal choices.

A clerical error in population statistics turns Prosper from the Bishop of Beauvais's favored clerk into a hunted outcast in a single morning. Whipped through the courtyard and stripped of his livelihood, he attempts to claim his belongings only to be chased through Paris as a thief. When a fleeing stranger drops a bundle into his arms, Prosper discovers an abandoned infant inside. Desperation drives him to protect the child, recognizing that this dangerous secret offers his only path back to royal pardon.

PART I IN KINGS' BYWAYS

High-stakes wagers transform desperate gamblers into instruments of statecraft.

Cardinal Mazarin's agent intercepts Prosper, offering twenty crowns and exile to Rouen in exchange for absolute silence regarding the restored child Flore. Meanwhile, in a dark Parisian gaming house, young Michel de Bazan gambles away his entire fortune against Michel Berthaud. Driven to desperation, Bazan wagers his own life on a throw of the dice. Berthaud wins the wager, not to kill the lad, but to bind him to a dangerous political mission during the factional conflict between Guise and Valois.

CRILLON'S STAKE. → I

Resourcefulness under fire protects fugitives when authority turns cold.

Following the murder of Portail by a Parisian mob, a mysterious soldier helps clerk Adrian and young Felix cut down the body from a high bar. When the city watch approaches, the soldier hangs by his own cloak in the dark to fool the patrol. Though Nicholas Toussaint refuses to shelter Portail's orphaned daughter Marie out of political fear, the stranger reveals his Huguenot allegiance and disappears into the dawn. Wit and audacity preserve human dignity when public law degenerates into violence.

II → THE KING'S STRATAGEM

Personal bitterness and military trickery reshape the outcomes of conflict.

Henry of Navarre outwits opposing captains by swapping the capture of Créance for Lusigny in a swift night assault. Years later during the siege of Huymonde, a proud widow confronts the town's Burgomaster after his son abandons her daughter. The Burgomaster refuses to permit a marriage, hiding his son away to preserve family status. Stubborn arrogance within municipal walls echoes the deception outside them, proving that private betrayals cut deeper than public bombardment.

THE HOUSE ON THE WALL → (1696)

Courage proven in youth earns lifelong trust from powerful leaders.

At Montauban, young royal page Antoine challenges his rival to circle a narrow stone ledge over a sheer ravine. Though terrified of heights, the narrator edges along the buttress in the dark to regain his honor, accidentally overhearing King Henry of Navarre plan the night assault on Cahors. Caught by guards, the young page expects execution or imprisonment. Instead, King Henry recognizes his quiet resolve, arming him with a sword and trusting his silence on the eve of battle.

PART II

Misinformation during terror drives families to turn upon themselves.

Hiding in Paris during the Terror of 1794, Girondin leader Achille Mirande confronts his fugitive son-in-law, the Vicomte de Bercy. Believing Bercy abandoned his daughter Corinne to the guillotine, Mirande threatens to denounce him to the Committee of Public Safety. Bercy proves a deceitful agent lied about Corinne's fate to keep him from surrendering. As Mirande investigates the lie, Bercy meets Claire, Corinne's surviving sister, whose striking resemblance brings both agony and hope amidst political chaos.

PART III KING TERROR

True political authority unnerves small men seeking cheap profit.

Armed with warrants to arrest outlawed Girondins, the Mayor of Carhaix cornered a group of fugitives inside a remote Breton cottage. Upon recognizing formidable revolutionaries like Pétion and Barbaroux, the mayor loses his courage, accepts their questionable papers, and retreats in humiliation. Meanwhile, local informant Michel Tellier watches his anticipated reward vanish into the night as the outlaws march toward their eventual fate. Pure reputation and moral force can disarm mercenary authority long before weapons are drawn.

THE END → With Frontispiece. Crown 8vo, cloth, ornamental, $1.50

Book

In Kings' Byways

Historical intrigue demonstrates how minor choices made in dark alleyways alter the fates of kings and commoners alike.

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