The Elusive Pimpernel · Chapter
Boulogne explained
Marguerite travels to Boulogne among the poorer passengers, enduring discomfort to avoid detection.
What happens
Marguerite travels to Boulogne among the poorer passengers, enduring discomfort to avoid detection. Upon arrival, she is stopped at a passport checkpoint where the official reveals that the real Céline Dumont has already passed through with Désirée Candeille, exposing Chauvelin's trap. Despite her protests, she is arrested and taken away, realizing she has been lured into France as a pawn to force her husband's surrender.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Disguise
Marguerite travels under a false name and passport, but Chauvelin's counter-deception using the real Céline Dumont exposes her.
Sacrifice for the Greater Good
Marguerite's decision to follow Percy into danger, despite the personal risk, reflects her willingness to sacrifice herself for his safety.
Characters to notice
- Marguerite Blakeney
Travels incognito among poorer passengers, is arrested at the Boulogne checkpoint after her false passport is exposed.
- Citizen Chauvelin
Implied orchestrator of the trap; his influence is seen when he passes through the checkpoint with authority, and his scheme to entrap Marguerite is revealed.
- Désirée Candeille
Mentioned as having passed through Boulogne with her maid Céline Dumont, exposing Marguerite's false passport; her supposed remorse was part of Chauvelin's plot.
- Abbé Foucquet
Marguerite plans to seek him out as a link to her husband, but he may already be gone from Boulogne.
Key passages
“She almost welcomed the intolerable propinquity, the cold douches of salt water, which every now and then wetted her through and through, for it was the consequent sense of physical wretchedness that helped her to forget the intolerable anguish of her mind.”
Marguerite found some relief in the physical discomfort of the crowded, wet deck because it distracted her from her emotional pain.
Shows Marguerite's psychological state during the journey.
“What a clumsy, blind fool she had been! What a miserable antagonist the subtle schemes of a past master of intrigue as was Chauvelin.”
Marguerite realizes she has been outwitted by Chauvelin's clever plot.
Highlights Marguerite's self-reproach and Chauvelin's cunning.
“Now the trap had closed on her—and she saw it all, when it was too late. Percy Blakeney in France! His wife a prisoner! Her freedom and safety in exchange for his life!”
Marguerite understands that her capture is part of Chauvelin's plan to force Percy to surrender.
Reveals the stakes of the plot and Marguerite's despair.