Quotes
From The Scarlet Pimpernel
"Lord Antony and Sir Andrew had said nothing to interrupt the Comtesse
whilst she was speaking. There was no doubt that they felt deeply for
her; their very silence testified to that--but in every century, and
ever since England has been what it is, an Englishman has always felt
somewhat ashamed of his own emotion and of his own sympathy. And so the
two young men said nothing, and busied themselves in trying to hide
their feelings, only succeeding in looking immeasurably sheepish. "
~Chapter 4, "The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel"
The young man's face had become almost transfigured. His eyes shone
with enthusiasm; hero-worship, love, admiration for his leader seemed
literally to glow upon his face. "The Scarlet Pimpernel, Mademoiselle,"
he said at last "is the name of a humble English wayside flower; but it
is also the name chosen to hide the identity of the best and bravest man
in all the world, so that he may better succeed in accomplishing the
noble task he has set himself to do."
~Chapter 4, "The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel"
Chapter 9: The Outrage
I love this whole chapter so much I simply *had* to put it up.
Marguerite looked round at everyone, at the aristocratic high-typed
Norman faces, the squarely-built, fair-haired Saxon, the more gentle,
humorous caste of the Celt, wondering which of these betrayed the power,
the energy, the cunning which had imposed its will and its leadership
upon a number of high-born English gentlemen, among whom rumour asserted
was His Royal Highness himself.
Sir Andrew Ffoulkes? Surely not, with his gentle blue eyes, which were
looking so tenderly and longingly after little Suzanne, who was being
led away from the pleasant tete-a-tete by her stern mother. Marguerite
watched him across the room, as he finally turned away with a sigh, and
seemed to stand, aimless and lonely, now that Suzanne's dainty little
figure had disappeared in the crowd. "
~Chapter 12: "The Scrap of Paper"
(Isn't that adorable, now?"
Sir Andrew was staring at her, too dazed for the moment to realize what
had actually happened; he had been taken so completely by surprise, that
he seemed quite unable to grasp the fact that the slip of paper, which
she held in her dainty hand, was one perhaps on which the life of his
comrade might depend.
~Chapter 12: "The Scrap of Paper"
Chapter 20: "The Friend"
Another one of my ultimate beloved chapters that simply has to be in its entirety.
Sir Andrew, with that profound sympathy born in all those who are in
love, made her almost happy by talking to her about her husband. He
recounted to her some of the daring escapes the brave Scarlet Pimpernel
had contrived for the poor French fugitives, whom a relentless and
bloody revolution was driving out of their country. He made her eyes
glow with enthusiasm by telling her of his bravery, his ingenuity, his
resourcefulness, when it meant snatching the lives of men, women, and
even children from beneath the very edge of that murderous, ever-ready
guillotine. "
~Chapter 21: "Suspense"
"Sir Andrew was full of kind attentions, and she felt how lucky she had
been to have him by her side in this, her great trouble. "
~"Chapter 22: "Calais"
"Oh! nothing, m'dear," he muttered with a pleasant laugh, "only a trifle
you happened to have forgotten. . .my friend, Ffoulkes. . ."
"Sir Andrew!" she gasped.
Indeed, she had wholly forgotten the devoted friend and companion, who
had trusted and stood by her during all these hours of anxiety and
suffering. She remembered him how, tardily and with a pang of remorse.
"Aye! you had forgotten him, hadn't you, m'dear?" said Sir Percy
merrily. "Fortunately, I met him, not far from the `Chat Gris.' before I
had that interesting supper party, with my friend Chauvelin. . . . Odd's
life! but I have a score to settle with that young reprobate!--but in
the meanwhile, I told him of a very long, very circuitous road which
Chauvelin's men would never suspect, and which would bring him here just about the time when we are
ready for him, eh, little woman?"
"And he obeyed?" asked Marguerite, in utter astonishment.
"Without word or question. See, here he comes. He was not in the way
when I did not want him, and now he arrives in the nick of time. Ah! he
will make pretty little Suzanne a most admirable and methodical
husband."
In the meanwhile Sir Andrew Ffoulkes had cautiously worked his way down
the cliffs: he stopped once or twice, pausing to listen for whispered
words, which would guide him to Blakeney's hiding-place.
"Blakeney!" he ventured to say at last cautiously, "Blakeney! are you
there?"
The next moment he rounded the rock against which Sir Percy and
Marguerite were leaning, and seeing the weird figure still clad in the
Jew's long gaberdine, he paused in sudden, complete bewilderment.
But already Blakeney had struggled to his feet.
"Here I am, friend," he said with his funny, inane laugh, "all alive!
though I do look a begad scarecrow in these demmed things."
"Zooks!" ejaculated Sir Andrew in boundless astonishment as he
recognized his leader, "of all the. . ."
The young man had seen Marguerite, and happily checked the forcible
language that rose to his lips, at sight of the exquisite Sir Percy in
this weird and dirty garb.
"Yes!" said Blakeney, calmly, "of all the. . .hem!. . .My friend!--I
have not yet had time to ask you what you were doing in France, when I
ordered you to remain in London? Insubordination? What? Wait till my
shoulders are less sore, and, by Gad, see the punishment you'll get."
"Odd's fish! I'll bear it," said Sir Andrew with a merry laugh, "seeing
that you are alive to give it. . . . Would you have had me allow Lady
Blakeney to do the journey alone? But, in the name of heaven, man, where
did you get these extraordinary clothes?"
"Lud! they are a bit quaint,
ain't they?" laughed Sir Percy, jovially, "But, odd's fish!" he added,
with sudden earnestness and authority, "now you are here, Ffoulkes, we
must lose no more time: that brute Chauvelin may send some one to look
after us."
~Chapter 31: "The Escape"
From Eldorado
"Choose your own identity for the occasion, my good friend," he
said lightly; "and you too, Tony. You may be stonemasons or
coal-carriers, chimney-sweeps or farm-labourers, I care not which
so long as you look sufficiently grimy and wretched to be
unrecognisable, and so long as you can procure a cart without
arousing suspicions, and can wait for me punctually at the
appointed spot."
Ffoulkes turned over the cards, and with a laugh handed them over
to Lord Tony. The two fastidious gentlemen discussed for awhile
the respective merits of a chimney-sweep's uniform as against that
of a coal-carrier.
"You can carry more grime if you are a sweep," suggested Blakeney;
"and if the soot gets into your eyes it does not make them smart
like coal does."
"But soot adheres more closely," argued Tony solemnly, "and I know
that we shan't get a bath for at least a week afterwards."
"Certainly you won't, you sybarite!" asserted Sir Percy with a
laugh.
"After a week soot might become permanent," mused Sir Andrew,
wondering what, under the circumstance, my lady would say to him.
"If you are both so fastidious," retorted Blakeney, shrugging his
broad shoulders, "I'll turn one of you into a reddleman, and the
other into a dyer. Then one of you will be bright scarlet to the
end of his days, as the reddle never comes off the skin at all,
and the other will have to soak in turpentine before the dye will
consent to move.... In either case ... oh, my dear Tony! ... the
smell...."
He laughed like a schoolboy in anticipation of a prank, and held
his scented handkerchief to his nose. My Lord Hastings chuckled
audibly, and Tony punched him for this unseemly display of mirth."
~Chapter 11: "The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel"
"There was no but that he was as happy as a schoolboy about to
start for a holiday. Lord Tony was a true sportsman. Perhaps
there was in him less sentiment for the heroic work which he did
under the guidance of his chief than an inherent passion for
dangerous adventures. Sir Andrew Ffoulkes, on the other hand,
thought perhaps a little less of the adventure, but a great deal
of the martyred child in the Temple. He was just as buoyant, just
as keen as his friend, but the leaven of sentiment raised his
sporting instincts to perhaps a higher plane of self-devotion."
~Chapter 11: "The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel"
"It was only Ffoulkes's devoted eyes that were sharp enough to
pierce the mask of light-hearted gaiety which enveloped the soul
of his leader at the present moment. He saw--for the first time in
all the years that he had known Blakeney--a frown across the
habitually smooth brow, and though the lips were parted for a
laugh, the lines round mouth and chin were hard and set.
With that intuition born of whole-hearted friendship Sir Andrew
guessed what troubled Percy. He had caught the look which the
latter had thrown on Armand, and knew that some explanation would
have to pass between the two men before they parted to-night.
Therefore he gave the signal for the breaking up of the meeting."
~Chapter 11: "The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel"
"
It was an exceptionally dark night, and the rain was falling in
torrents. Sir Andrew Ffoulkes, wrapped in a piece of sacking, had
taken shelter right underneath the coal-cart; even then he was
getting wet through to the skin.
He had worked hard for two days coal-heaving, and the night before
he had found a cheap, squalid lodging where at any rate he was
protected from the inclemencies of the weather; but to-night he
was expecting Blakeney at the appointed hour and place. He had
secured a cart of the ordinary ramshackle pattern used for
carrying coal. Unfortunately there were no covered ones to be
obtained in the neighbourhood, and equally unfortunately the thaw
had set in with a blustering wind and diving rain, which made
waiting in the open air for hours at a stretch and in complete
darkness excessively unpleasant.
But for all these discomforts Sir Andrew Ffoulkes cared not one
jot. In England, in his magnificent Suffolk home, he was a
confirmed sybarite, in whose service every description of comfort
and luxury had to be enrolled. Here tonight in the rough and
tattered clothes of a coal-heaver, drenched to the skin, and
crouching under the body of a cart that hardly sheltered him from
the rain, he was as happy as a schoolboy out for a holiday."
~Chapter 21: "Back to Paris"
"Unlike Armand St. Just, he had the simplest, most perfect
faith in his chief. He had been Blakeney's constant companion in
all these adventures for close upon four years now; the thought of
failure, however vague, never once entered his mind."
~Chapter 21: "Back to Paris"
"It was characteristic of these two men that not a word about the
adventure itself, about the terrible risks and dangers of the past
few hours, was exchanged between them. The child was here and was
safe, and Blakeney knew the whereabouts of St. Just--that was
enough for Sir Andrew Ffoulkes, the most devoted follower, the
most perfect friend the Scarlet Pimpernel would ever know."
~Chapter 21: "Back to Paris"
"(Sir Andrew) jumped into the cart and gathered up the reins. His heart was
heavy as lead, and a strange mist had gathered in his eyes,
blurring the last dim vision which he had of his chief standing
all alone in the gloom, his broad, magnificent figure looking
almost weirdly erect and defiant, his head thrown back, and his
kind, lazy eyes watching the final departure of his most faithful
comrade and friend."
~Chapter 21: "Back to Paris"
COMING SOOON....
Quotes from The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel, The Elusive Pimpernel, The Way Of The Scarlet Pimpernel, the movies, and whatever else I can get my hands on..!!