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September 1792: the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel and his men snatch another innocent victim from the jaws of the guillotine - but for the Comtesse de Tournay, old enemies are to be found in England, even in the highest places.

Baroness Orczy's enduring story first published in 1905 is a tale of high adventure and romantic heroism set at the time of the French Revolution. Read by Damian Lewis.

The hero, real identity Sir Percy Blakeney, is a formidable swordsman, master of disguise and always one step ahead of his pursuers, prompting the well-known retort, "They seek him here, they seek him there, those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven or is he in hell? That damned elusive Pimpernel."

The author, herself born into Hungarian nobility, reveals her sympathies towards royalty with a hero who takes on French revolutionaries, rescuing royalists condemned to die on the guillotine. Orczy's parents, themselves, abandoned their baronial estate in Hungary, in 1868, when there were fears of a peasant revolution. She married a struggling English artist, Montague MacLean Barstow, and began writing to supplement their meagre income. Together, they wrote The Scarlet Pimpernel as a stage play and then went on to novelise it.

Whilst awaiting replies from various publishers, The Scarlet Pimpernel went into production in the West End, where it ran for four years and broke several box-office records. It was the start of a successful writing career which eventually enabled Orczy to buy an estate in Monte Carlo. She died in Henley-on Thames in 1947.

Abridged in 8-parts by Sarah Kilgarriff

Producer: Clive Stanhope

Made for 成人论坛 Radio 2 by CSA Word Productions

First broadcast in 2003.

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