El Dorado · Chapter
XXV: Paris Once More explained
Sir Andrew Ffoulkes returns to Marguerite Blakeney in Paris with grim news.
What happens
Sir Andrew Ffoulkes returns to Marguerite Blakeney in Paris with grim news. He has learned that Sir Percy Blakeney is being held in the Conciergerie and subjected to a fiendish torture of enforced sleeplessness and starvation to extract the secret of the Dauphin's escape. Meanwhile, Héron and de Batz discuss the plot, and Ffoulkes discovers that a deaf and mute child has been substituted for the escaped Dauphin to hide the truth from the public. Marguerite remains in despair, with no news of Armand St. Just.
Themes in this chapter
Sacrifice and Redemption
Percy's endurance of torture for the sake of the Dauphin's escape reflects a sacrificial struggle, while Marguerite's quiet despair hints at a longing for redemption.
Betrayal and Guilt
Armand's 'thoughtless disobedience' is blamed for the current misery, and Héron's betrayal of humane principles through torture underscores the theme.
Characters to notice
- Sir Andrew Ffoulkes
Disguised as a farrier, he spies on Héron and de Batz, learning of Percy's torture and the Dauphin's substitution. He reports back to Marguerite.
- Marguerite Blakeney
In Paris for three days, she waits in despair for news of Percy and Armand, showing quiet but heartbreaking hopelessness.
- Héron
Chief Agent of the Committee of General Security, he boasts of the sleep-deprivation torture inflicted on Percy and discusses the Dauphin's escape cover-up with de Batz.
- De Batz
Stout, florid man dining with Héron; he is involved in the Dauphin affair and is under surveillance by Héron.
- Sir Percy Blakeney
Imprisoned in the Conciergerie, he is being tortured by sleep deprivation and starvation to force him to reveal the Dauphin's hiding place.
- Armand St. Just
Mentioned as missing; his name is not found on any prison registers, and Marguerite laments his thoughtless disobedience.
Key passages
“He won't hold out much longer, citizen; our men are absolutely unremitting in their task. Two of them watch him night and day; they look after him well, and practically never lose sight of him, but the moment he tries to get any sleep one of them rushes into the cell with a loud banging of bayonet and sabre, and noisy tread on the flagstones, and shouts at the top of his voice: 'Now then, aristo, where's the brat? Tell us now, and you shall be down and go to sleep.'”
Héron boasts that Percy is being constantly watched and deliberately prevented from sleeping, with guards bursting in whenever he tries to rest.
Describes the sleep-deprivation torture used to break Percy.
“It seemed inconceivable that human, sentient beings should have thought of such a thing. Perspiration stood up in beads on Sir Andrew's brow when he thought of his friend, brought down by want of sleep to—what?”
Sir Andrew is horrified by the inhumanity of the torture, fearing for Percy's physical and mental endurance.
Reveals Ffoulkes' emotional reaction to the cruelty.
“I cannot find his name on any of the prison registers, and I know that he is not in the Conciergerie. They have cleared out all the prisoners from there; there is only Percy—”
Ffoulkes reports that Armand is not listed in any prison and is not in the Conciergerie, which now holds only Percy.
Highlights the mystery of Armand's whereabouts.