# Arcades Ambo explained — El Dorado

> Chapter companion for El Dorado by Baroness Orczy.

## What happens

De Batz meets with Héron, the chief agent of the Committee of General Security, to negotiate a bribe for a fortnight's immunity in France. During their conversation, de Batz reveals that a member of the Scarlet Pimpernel's League is in Paris and provides Héron with information about Armand St. Just, hoping to divert attention from his own plans to rescue the Dauphin. Héron expresses his determination to keep the Dauphin imprisoned and his distrust of the Simons, whom he plans to remove from the Temple prison.

## Themes in this chapter

### Betrayal and Guilt

De Batz betrays Armand St. Just to Héron to protect his own schemes, showing a willingness to sacrifice others for personal gain.

### Power and Corruption

Héron's greed and abuse of power are evident as he accepts bribes and plans to corrupt the Dauphin, illustrating the moral decay of revolutionary authority.

## Character check-ins

### De Batz

Negotiates with Héron, bribes him for immunity, and reveals information about Armand St. Just to divert suspicion from his own rescue plans.

### Héron

Accepts the bribe from de Batz, expresses his determination to keep the Dauphin imprisoned, and plans to remove the Simons from the Temple.

### Armand St. Just

Identified by de Batz as a kinsman of citizen St. Just and a member of the Scarlet Pimpernel's League; his whereabouts are revealed to Héron.

### Jeanne Lange

Mentioned as the woman Armand was making himself agreeable to at the theatre; her lodgings are used as a clue to track Armand.

### Sir Percy Blakeney

Referred to as the Scarlet Pimpernel; de Batz believes he is in Paris to rescue the Dauphin and seeks to have him and his League eliminated.

### The Dauphin

The imprisoned son of King Louis; Héron is obsessed with preventing his escape and plans to make him unfit for kingship.

## Key lines

> “That meddlesome Scarlet Pimpernel will find his hands overfull tomorrow, and mayhap will not interfere in my affairs for some time to come,” he mused; “meseems that that will be the first time that a member of his precious League has come within the clutches of such unpleasant people as the sleuthhounds of my friend Héron!”

De Batz thinks that the Scarlet Pimpernel will be too busy dealing with Armand's arrest to interfere with his own plans.

_De Batz's strategic thinking about diverting the Scarlet Pimpernel's attention._

> “If that little vermin escapes,” he said, “my life will not be worth an hour’s purchase. In twenty-four hours I am a dead man, thrown to the guillotine like those dogs of aristocrats!”

Héron fears that if the Dauphin escapes, he will be executed by the revolutionary tribunal.

_Héron's personal stake in keeping the Dauphin imprisoned._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/el_dorado_se/chapters/part-i-viii-arcades-ambo
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/el_dorado_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/el_dorado_se/chapters