Before You Begin

Before you begin.

In the early years of the French Revolution, a mysterious English league keeps appearing where French aristocrats are about to be arrested. Its members move under assumed names, cross borders by night and leave a small red flower as their sign. In London, Lady Marguerite Blakeney is drawn toward the danger when a new message reaches her—and the people around her do not all want the same thing.

Baroness Emmuska Orczy builds the novel as a historical adventure of public manners and private purpose. The glitter of English society stands beside the terror of revolutionary France; coaches, coded notes, disguises and quick decisions carry the story between them. Its central suspense depends on what a character can know at a particular moment, so the pages that follow preserve each chapter’s discoveries as you meet them.

This illustrated edition opens with the people, places and relationships that shape the tale. As you read, chapter recaps unlock only after their chapters, while the story medallions pause at selected moments without revealing what comes next. Begin in the garden at twilight, where the scarlet flower is small—and the stakes are not.