The Scarlet Pimpernel · Chapter
XVIII: The Mysterious Device explained
Marguerite wakes refreshed and learns that Sir Percy has ridden to London and boarded his schooner, the Daydream.
What happens
Marguerite wakes refreshed and learns that Sir Percy has ridden to London and boarded his schooner, the Daydream. She spends a long, idle day expecting a visit from Suzanne de Tournay. Driven by curiosity, she enters Sir Percy's locked study, discovering a room of severe order, maps of France, and a portrait of his mother. She finds a gold ring engraved with a star-shaped flower—the same device she saw at the opera and at Lord Grenville's ball—deepening the mystery around her husband.
Themes in this chapter
Secrecy and Trust
Marguerite's intrusion into Percy's locked study reveals a hidden, serious side of her husband, deepening the mystery of his double life and the secrets he keeps.
Identity and Disguise
The contrast between Percy's foppish public persona and the orderly, purposeful study underscores his deliberate disguise and the complexity of his true identity.
Characters to notice
- Marguerite Blakeney
Wakes refreshed, eats a frugal breakfast, and spends the day awaiting Suzanne's visit. Driven by curiosity, she enters Sir Percy's locked study and discovers a gold ring with a mysterious device.
- Sir Percy Blakeney
Has ridden to London and boarded the Daydream. His study reveals a serious, orderly side that contradicts his foppish public persona.
- Suzanne de Tournay
Expected to visit Marguerite for the day, but has not yet arrived.
- Comtesse de Tournay
Reluctantly agreed to let Suzanne visit Marguerite after the Prince of Wales's intervention.
- Frank
Sir Percy's confidential valet, who has charge of the locked study and is busy with the master's rooms.
- Briggs
Skipper of the Daydream, met by Sir Percy in London.
Key passages
“She crossed the landing outside her own suite of apartments, and stood still for a moment at the head of the fine oak staircase, which led to the lower floor. On her left were her husband's apartments, a suite of rooms which she practically never entered.”
Marguerite paused at the top of the stairs, glancing toward the rooms she rarely visited—her husband's private quarters.
Highlights Marguerite's physical and emotional distance from Percy's private life.
“Gently, on tiptoe, she crossed the landing and, like Blue Beard's wife, trembling half with excitement and wonder, she paused a moment on the threshold, strangely perturbed and irresolute.”
She crept across the landing, trembling with excitement and hesitation, like Bluebeard's wife about to uncover a forbidden secret.
Allusion to Bluebeard underscores the theme of forbidden knowledge and marital mystery.
“It was a solid gold ring, with a flat shield, on which was engraved a small device. Marguerite turned it over in her fingers, and then studied the engraving on the shield. It represented a small star-shaped flower, of a shape she had seen so distinctly twice before: once at the opera, and once at Lord Grenville's ball.”
She picked up a gold ring engraved with a star-shaped flower—the same emblem she had noticed at the opera and at Lord Grenville's ball.
The repeated symbol links Percy to the Scarlet Pimpernel and deepens Marguerite's suspicion.