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I've been saving Sir Percy Hits Back for ages - it's the last Pimpernel book chronologically, and, MORE IMPORTANTLY, it's The One Where Percy! Saves! Chauvelin's! Daughter! from the Guillotine!!!!
...I've now just spoiled the whole thing for you, because the book itself plays coy with the fact that sweet little Fleurette's darling Bibi is in fact Percy's Nemesis Chauvelin for a good half the text, and then tries to convince you that Percy might let Fleurette go to the guillotine in order to get revenge, but a.) the only reason to care about this book is the fact that Fleurette is Chauvelin's daughter and b.) everyone except Chauvelin knows exactly how things are determined to play out from there.
Reasons this is not a good book:
- Fleurette is a virtuous innocent who believes in God, is vaguely appalled by the revolution without knowing anything about it or her father's involvement with it, and is best friends with the aristocrats down the road? I refuse to believe it's possible that any child raised by Chauvelin would turn out this way, it defies all logic except Orczy Heroine Logic
- the villain is the peasant girl who was abandoned by Fleurette's nursemaid to a life of drudgery so that said nursemaid could instead look after Fleurette; the narrative has little to no sympathy for her
- after a while you have to stop and wonder at the fact that Percy's favorite method of rescuing people is 'bring them to trial! incite a riot! whisk them away while everyone else is rioting, presumably causing numerous injuries and a great deal of property damage in the process!' I can believe this was the best way to rescue someone once, maybe, but every time, Percy???
- we never get any narrative follow-through on Fleurette's discovery that her father is a major revolutionary figure and has signed execution warrants for NUMEROUS people, including several of her friends;
- Chauvelin doesn't even think about Percy until like 60% of the way through the book
Reasons this is nonetheless an enjoyable book:
- Fleurette's boyfriend is not an endangered aristocrat but in fact the perfectly nice peasant son of the grocer down the street? I'm genuinely astonished that Orczy with her deep-rooted classism lets this play out happily for Innately Noble Fleurette, daughter of Former Aristocrat Chauvelin
- Fleurette and Chauvelin's father-daughter relationship is actually really genuinely cute and Orczy does a pretty solid job balancing Chauvelin the Good Dad against Chauvelin Who Is Still Perfectly Happy To Execute Literally Anybody Else
- at one point Percy steals Chauvelin's carriage, and I thought it was all part of a clever scheme related to Fleurette, but no, actually at that point Percy had no idea that Fleurette and Chauvelin were related and there was no carriage-related plan whatsoever, he just couldn't resist a single opportunity to troll Chauvelin for shits and giggles
- there is honestly not anywhere near as much Sexy Kate Beaton Nemesis content as I'd hoped on seeing the premise but what there is ... it's good. It's good content.
and day after day, whilst presiding, self-appointed over a tribunal of infamy, Chauvelin's mind became more and more familiarised with the vision of his Fleurette snatched out of the jaws of death by the man with the lazy eyes and the mocking lips, the demmed, elusive Pimpernel of his day-dreams and his sleepless nights.
***
"The night is pretty dark," he declared, "and I would rather the mysterious Armand saw me as I am. I may also have a chance," he added with his merriest laugh, "of coming across my good friend M. Chambertin. It is some weeks since last we met, and not to have had a pleasant chat with him all these days, while we were within a stone's throw of one another, has been a sore trial to me. I caught a glimpse of him a day or two ago, in the courtyard of the Caristie House. He looked to be sick and out of sorts. A sight of me might cheer him up."
"You won't take any risks, Blakeney," Sir Andrew Ffoulkes remarked.
"Any number, my dear fellow," Sir Percy replied laughing. "And you know you envy me, you dog. But I feel thoroughly selfish to-night. I mean to take the note to Armand myself, and I mean to take the privilege of having a little chat with my friend Chambertin. And both these things I am going to do as an English gentleman and not as a mudlark in stinking, filthy rags."
***
"There now, my dear M. Chambertin," he said gaily, "we can converse more comfortably together. Do you think it would have been wise to put a charge of powder through your humble servant? We should both of us have missed much of the zest of life."
"It is always your pleasure to mock, Sir Percy," Chauvelin said with an effort. "There are various popular sayings which I might recall to your mind, such as that the pitcher went once too often to the well."
"And Sir Percy once too often to visit his friend M. Chambertin, eh?"
***
"La man!" Sir Percy retorted lightly, "what should I do with your worthless life? For the moment all I want is to make that sweet child up there completely happy by telling her that you are safe and well. After that you may go to the devil for aught I care. You probably will."
"Then," Chauvelin murmured aghast, "you grant me my life, you---"
"I am sending you back safely as far as Nimes. What happens to you after that I neither know nor care. You have tried to do me such an infinity of wrong at different times, you still hate me so cordially, you---"
He paused for a moment with firm lips tightly pressed together and slender hand clutched upon his knee.
"You are right there, Sir Percy," Chauvelin murmured between his teeth. "God knows how I still hate you, even after this. You have the power to hit back. Why the devil don't you do it?"
Whereupon Sir Percy threw back his head and his merry, infectious laugh woke the slumbering echoes of the sleepy little town.
"La, man," he said, "you're astonishing. Can't you see that this is my way of hitting back?"
...I've now just spoiled the whole thing for you, because the book itself plays coy with the fact that sweet little Fleurette's darling Bibi is in fact Percy's Nemesis Chauvelin for a good half the text, and then tries to convince you that Percy might let Fleurette go to the guillotine in order to get revenge, but a.) the only reason to care about this book is the fact that Fleurette is Chauvelin's daughter and b.) everyone except Chauvelin knows exactly how things are determined to play out from there.
Reasons this is not a good book:
- Fleurette is a virtuous innocent who believes in God, is vaguely appalled by the revolution without knowing anything about it or her father's involvement with it, and is best friends with the aristocrats down the road? I refuse to believe it's possible that any child raised by Chauvelin would turn out this way, it defies all logic except Orczy Heroine Logic
- the villain is the peasant girl who was abandoned by Fleurette's nursemaid to a life of drudgery so that said nursemaid could instead look after Fleurette; the narrative has little to no sympathy for her
- after a while you have to stop and wonder at the fact that Percy's favorite method of rescuing people is 'bring them to trial! incite a riot! whisk them away while everyone else is rioting, presumably causing numerous injuries and a great deal of property damage in the process!' I can believe this was the best way to rescue someone once, maybe, but every time, Percy???
- we never get any narrative follow-through on Fleurette's discovery that her father is a major revolutionary figure and has signed execution warrants for NUMEROUS people, including several of her friends;
- Chauvelin doesn't even think about Percy until like 60% of the way through the book
Reasons this is nonetheless an enjoyable book:
- Fleurette's boyfriend is not an endangered aristocrat but in fact the perfectly nice peasant son of the grocer down the street? I'm genuinely astonished that Orczy with her deep-rooted classism lets this play out happily for Innately Noble Fleurette, daughter of Former Aristocrat Chauvelin
- Fleurette and Chauvelin's father-daughter relationship is actually really genuinely cute and Orczy does a pretty solid job balancing Chauvelin the Good Dad against Chauvelin Who Is Still Perfectly Happy To Execute Literally Anybody Else
- at one point Percy steals Chauvelin's carriage, and I thought it was all part of a clever scheme related to Fleurette, but no, actually at that point Percy had no idea that Fleurette and Chauvelin were related and there was no carriage-related plan whatsoever, he just couldn't resist a single opportunity to troll Chauvelin for shits and giggles
- there is honestly not anywhere near as much Sexy Kate Beaton Nemesis content as I'd hoped on seeing the premise but what there is ... it's good. It's good content.
and day after day, whilst presiding, self-appointed over a tribunal of infamy, Chauvelin's mind became more and more familiarised with the vision of his Fleurette snatched out of the jaws of death by the man with the lazy eyes and the mocking lips, the demmed, elusive Pimpernel of his day-dreams and his sleepless nights.
***
"The night is pretty dark," he declared, "and I would rather the mysterious Armand saw me as I am. I may also have a chance," he added with his merriest laugh, "of coming across my good friend M. Chambertin. It is some weeks since last we met, and not to have had a pleasant chat with him all these days, while we were within a stone's throw of one another, has been a sore trial to me. I caught a glimpse of him a day or two ago, in the courtyard of the Caristie House. He looked to be sick and out of sorts. A sight of me might cheer him up."
"You won't take any risks, Blakeney," Sir Andrew Ffoulkes remarked.
"Any number, my dear fellow," Sir Percy replied laughing. "And you know you envy me, you dog. But I feel thoroughly selfish to-night. I mean to take the note to Armand myself, and I mean to take the privilege of having a little chat with my friend Chambertin. And both these things I am going to do as an English gentleman and not as a mudlark in stinking, filthy rags."
***
"There now, my dear M. Chambertin," he said gaily, "we can converse more comfortably together. Do you think it would have been wise to put a charge of powder through your humble servant? We should both of us have missed much of the zest of life."
"It is always your pleasure to mock, Sir Percy," Chauvelin said with an effort. "There are various popular sayings which I might recall to your mind, such as that the pitcher went once too often to the well."
"And Sir Percy once too often to visit his friend M. Chambertin, eh?"
***
"La man!" Sir Percy retorted lightly, "what should I do with your worthless life? For the moment all I want is to make that sweet child up there completely happy by telling her that you are safe and well. After that you may go to the devil for aught I care. You probably will."
"Then," Chauvelin murmured aghast, "you grant me my life, you---"
"I am sending you back safely as far as Nimes. What happens to you after that I neither know nor care. You have tried to do me such an infinity of wrong at different times, you still hate me so cordially, you---"
He paused for a moment with firm lips tightly pressed together and slender hand clutched upon his knee.
"You are right there, Sir Percy," Chauvelin murmured between his teeth. "God knows how I still hate you, even after this. You have the power to hit back. Why the devil don't you do it?"
Whereupon Sir Percy threw back his head and his merry, infectious laugh woke the slumbering echoes of the sleepy little town.
"La, man," he said, "you're astonishing. Can't you see that this is my way of hitting back?"
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[...]
"You are right there, Sir Percy," Chauvelin murmured between his teeth. "God knows how I still hate you, even after this. You have the power to hit back. Why the devil don't you do it?"
I can't imagine two characters who remind me less of Valjean and Javert than Percy and Chauvelin, despite both having the Nemesis dynamic, but as soon as I read that quote I got Javert's Soliloquy stuck in my head... hopefully Chauvelin deals with it better???
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DO IT.
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W H A T ??????
Well, this is the type of situation fanfic was made for, I guess!
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Is there really any heterosexual explanation for Chauvelin? Is there?
Also, I love that Percy basically calls Chauvelin on the Kate-Beaton-Nemesis nature of their relationship ("We should both of us have missed much of the zest of life," GOD Percy), because that in itself is quality trolling, especially given that Chauvelin frankly seems more invested than Percy does. Percy has too many other interests in life to obsess properly. It's hard to imagine him lying awake thinking about Chauvelin.
Also let's be real, any child ACTUALLY raised by Chauvelin would have turned out a fire-breathing revolutionary with a little cockade. Chauvelin must have let the nursemaid do all the actually raising of Fleurette or something.
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datevery serious confrontation, and does it make his heart pitter patter?no subject
So, I'm going to take that as a yes.
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now that's a tempting fic idea
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"And Sir Percy once too often to visit his friend M. Chambertin, eh?"
....HEH
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I feel the excruciating awkwardness of owing Percy not just the debt of Chauvelin's own life but the life of his beloved daughter (not to mention her wedded happiness with the grocer down the street) is actually a pretty solid revenge, especially given Chauvelin's total failure to get one over on Percy at any point in their acquaintance (now presumed permanent since this is chronologically the last book in the series, although as such it is a bit of a hard stop. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a tiny thirsty nemesis fumingāforever).
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I too expected more from this relevation, although I think it might have required Orczy to let Fleurette have some political consciousness.
(I keep forgetting Chauvelin is technically Former Aristocrat Chauvelin. It feels incorrect. Then again, canonical Percy is apparently built like a brick shithouse and that also confuses me every time.)
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Right?!?! The mind boggles.
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OH MY GOD EMMA ORCZY THOUGHT LESLIE HOWARD WAS TOO SHORT TO PLAY THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL.
"Howard was certainly very attractive, very charming, he knew how to make love, but he was not Fred Terry. Fred Terry was the ideal Sir Percy and there cannot be two ideals in one's mind of the one character. Howard had physical defects just as Laughton had: he was short and could not look strong enough to dominate certain situations, nor could he tower over Chauvelin, played, as it happened, by a very tall man."
She probably never did watch Pimpernel Smith.
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I'm not sure how I feel about this.
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Well, pace Barthes, in this case I give thanks that the author is literally dead.
(Leslie Howard was 5' 10Ā½"! That's short only in terms of pro basketball!)
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Okay, that's taller than Leslie Howard, but your point is made.
(I'd love to know if she had an ideal Chauvelin. I must say that as much as I love Raymond Massey, Ian McKellen's expressions are very good.)
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Former Aristocrat Chauvelin makes perfect sense to me, because Orczy can't help but want you to think he's a little bit hot, and in Ocrzy's mind that's just not possible unless he's an aristocrat. Fleurette's boyfriend, on the other hand, is very worthy, but emphatically not hot. (I've gotten used enough to Brick Shithouse Percy by this point that any time Orczy mentions in passing that a background character is Large I'm like "oh, it's Percy in disguise! Hello, Percy!" And I am always correct.)
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...I mean, if Chauvelin had thought to play his cards right, he could probably also have convinced her that an angel of god wanted her to help the revolution. Fleurette is not hard to convince of things.
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Without which defining character trait I understand the plot of this novel would not have worked, but I would seriously have expected any Chauvelin-spawn to turn out a lot more like Mosca Mye.