Character guide

Juliette de Marny

major

Also known as Juliette, Marny, Mademoiselle de Marny, Citizeness Juliette Marny

Juliette moves through Revolutionary Paris as a Citizeness with an aristocrat's grief and a Nemesis's purpose, believing Paul Déroulède murdered her brother and must pay. Yet the man she came to destroy treats her with such simple, unguarded kindness that her righteous fury has nowhere clean to land. Her inner war between vengeance and dawning love drives the novel's central, agonizing suspense.

Paul Déroulède

major

Also known as M. Déroulède, Déroulède, Citizen Déroulède, Deputy Déroulède

Déroulède is the rare man the Revolution still trusts: a Citizen-Deputy whose honor is so plain that even his enemies hesitate to strike him. He loves once and for always, a fact his friends know and his enemies exploit, and he shelters Juliette without suspecting what she carries. His guileless decency is both his greatest strength and the trap closing quietly around him.

Anne Mie

supporting

Anne Mie keeps Déroulède's house and guards his interests with a fierce, wounded loyalty, her deformed shoulder a private grief she believes disqualifies her from being loved. When Juliette arrives—young, beautiful, and suspicious—Anne Mie's melancholy sharpens into something harder, a watchfulness that sees what others miss. Her jealousy is the story's quiet fuse, capable of wrecking the very man she means to protect.

Sir Percy Blakeney

supporting

Also known as Blakeney, the Scarlet Pimpernel

Blakeney arrives in Paris drawling about snuff and ruffles while the Committee of Public Safety hunts him as the one man they cannot catch. He has deliberately baited Tinville with his scarlet signature to draw the wolves away from Déroulède's doomed scheme. His cool, laughing recklessness is the counterweight to French fanaticism, and the reason anyone in this book survives to the next chapter.

Citizen Merlin

supporting

Also known as Merlin, Deputy Merlin

Merlin represents the Revolution's ugliest face: a Terrorist who can smile while he hunts, treating a search for evidence as a pleasant game of cat and mouse. He respects Déroulède's popularity enough to be careful, but his narrowed eyes miss nothing, and he would rather find proof than not. His raid turns the household's private drama into public peril and forces every hidden loyalty into the open.

Pétronelle

supporting

Also known as old Pétronelle

Pétronelle has served the de Marny family long enough to weep like a mother when the heir is carried home dead, but not enough to steady herself and tell the crippled old Duc. Her collapse throws the unbearable duty onto Juliette, forcing a girl to become the family's grief-bearer in a single night. She is the human cost of the old regime's destruction, and the reason Juliette's vengeance feels less like politics than like blood.

Duc de Marny

minor

Also known as the old Duc de Marny, M. le Duc

Juliette's father, executed years before the main story begins.

Vicomte de Marny

minor

Also known as the little Vicomte, de Marny

Juliette's young brother, killed in the Revolution.

Foucquier-Tinville

minor

Also known as Tinville, Citizen Tinville

The ruthless public prosecutor of the Revolutionary Tribunal.

Citizen Lenoir

minor

Also known as Lenoir

A Jacobin spy who watches Déroulède and Juliette.

Marie Antoinette

minor

Also known as the wretched Queen

The deposed queen, briefly mentioned as a prisoner.

Madame Déroulède

minor

Also known as old Madame Déroulède

Paul Déroulède's elderly mother, a kind and pious woman.

Charlotte Corday

minor

Also known as Charlotte

The assassin of Marat, mentioned as a historical figure.

Marat

minor

Also known as Dead Marat

The murdered revolutionary leader, referenced in passing.

Citizen Santerre

minor

Also known as Santerre, Santerne

A revolutionary general and commander of the National Guard.

Robespierre

minor

Also known as Citizen Robespierre

The influential Jacobin leader, mentioned as a political figure.

Brogard

minor

Also known as Citizen Brogard

The innkeeper at the Cheval Borgne, a shady establishment.

Sir Andrew Ffoulkes

minor

Also known as Ffoulkes

A friend of Sir Percy Blakeney and fellow member of the League.

Lord Anthony Dewhurst

minor

Also known as Lord Anthony

A young English aristocrat and friend of Blakeney.

Marquis de Villefranche

minor

Also known as de Villefranche, M. le Marquis

An émigré aristocrat rescued by the Pimpernel.

Danton

minor

A prominent revolutionary, briefly referenced in political discussions.

Adèle de Montchéri

minor

Also known as Adèle

A young aristocrat rescued by the Scarlet Pimpernel.

Citizen Samson

minor

Also known as Samson

The public executioner, mentioned in the trial scene.

de Mirepoix

minor

Also known as Mirepoix

A minor aristocrat mentioned among the condemned.

M. de Quettare

minor

A nobleman mentioned in the context of the Revolution.