Being Episodes of the Chovan Conspiracies in
Normandy During the First Empire.
By BARONESS ORCZY
AUTHOR OF
"Lord Tony's Wife," "Leatherface"
"The Bronze Eagle," etc.
A. L. BURT COMPANY
Publishers New York
Published by arrangement with GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
Copyright, 1918,
By George H. Doran Company
Printed in the United States of America
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
III The Mystery of Marie Vaillant
IV The Emeralds of Mademoiselle Philippa
VI The Mystery of a Woman's Heart
It has been a difficult task to piece together thefragmentary documents which alone throw a light—dimand flickering at the best—upon that mysteriouspersonality known to the historians of the Napoleonicera as the Man in Grey. So very little is known abouthim. Age, appearance, domestic circumstances,everything pertaining to him has remained a matterof conjecture—even his name! In the reports sentby the all-powerful Minister to the Emperor he isinvariably spoken of as "The Man in Grey." Onceonly does Fouché refer to him as "Fernand."
Strange and mysterious creature! Nevertheless,he played an important part—the most important,perhaps—in bringing to justice some of those recklesscriminals who, under the cloak of Royalist convictionsand religious and political aims, spent their time inpillage, murder and arson.
Strange and mysterious creatures, too, these menso aptly named Chouans—that is, "chats-huants";screech-owls—since they were a terror by night anddisappeared within their burrows by day. A world ofromance lies buried within the ruins of the châteauxwhich gave them shelter—Tournebut, Bouvesse,Donnai, Plélan. A world of mystery encompasses thenames of their leaders and, above all, those of thewomen—ladies of high degree and humble peasantsalike—often heroic, more often misguided, who suppliedthe intrigue, the persistence, the fanatical hatredwhich kept the fire of rebellion smouldering andspluttering even while it could not burst into actualflame. D'Aché, Cadoudal, Frotté, Armand le Chevallier,Marquise de Combray, Mme. Aquet de Férolles—theromance attaching to these names pales besidethat which clings to the weird anonymity oftheir henchmen—"Dare-Death," "Hare-Lip,""Fear-Nought," "Silver-Leg," and so on. Theirs were thehands that struck whilst their leaders planned—theywere the screech-owls who for more than twenty yearsterrorised the western provinces of France and, inthe name of God and their