# XVIII: The Mysterious Device explained — The Scarlet Pimpernel

> Chapter companion for The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### 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 lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_scarlet_pimpernel_se/chapters/xviii-the-mysterious-device
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_scarlet_pimpernel_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_scarlet_pimpernel_se/chapters