Pimpernel and Rosemary · Chapter
XXVII explained
Rosemary, overwhelmed by the events at Kis-Imre, experiences a period of emotional numbness and self-pity before regaining her composure.
What happens
Rosemary, overwhelmed by the events at Kis-Imre, experiences a period of emotional numbness and self-pity before regaining her composure. She learns that Count Maurus Imrey has fallen ill after being told the news about Philip and Anna, and the doctor warns he must be kept quiet. Elza, aged and weary, confides in Rosemary, who offers comfort and insists on staying. Jasper Tarkington is expected to arrive later that afternoon.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Rising action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This is the dramatic climax because it marks the emotional and psychological peak of Jasper’s hidden anguish,…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Love and Sacrifice
Rosemary grapples with sacrificing her personal feelings for the greater good, torn between loyalty to friends and duty to unknown innocents.
- Fate and Free Will
Elza feels helpless against fate, while Rosemary clings to hope for a miracle, highlighting the conflict between accepting destiny and taking action.
Characters to notice
- Rosemary Fowkes
Kneels at her window in agony, then lies insensible on her bed; later dresses, searches for Elza, and offers comfort, torn between sentiment and duty.
- Elza Imrey
Seen after the guests depart, aged and shaken; tells Rosemary about Maurus's fit and her own helplessness, but continues to manage the household.
- Maurus Imrey
Has fainted due to a fit brought on by the shock of the news; the doctor orders quiet and careful watching.
- Jasper Tarkington
Telephones to say he is coming in the afternoon; Elza relays the message to Rosemary.
- Anton
Runs to telephone for the doctor when Maurus falls ill.
- Rosa
Mentions to Rosemary that Count Philip and Baroness Anna must be in Hungary by now.
Key passages
“Sentiment on the one side; Philip, Anna, Elza and Maurus, people she knew and loved; and duty on the other, duty to others, to countless of unknown innocents, to mothers, to father, to wives. 'What are they to me?' cried sentiment. 'The few for the many,' was the command of duty.”
Rosemary feels torn between her love for her friends and her moral obligation to protect many unknown people.
Illustrates the central moral conflict of the chapter.
“Elza looked an old woman, wide-eyed and scared as if Fate was a tangible being standing perpetually before her with flail upraised, striking, striking incessantly, until the poor, weak shoulders bent under the blows, and the last vestige of youth fled, chased away by pain.”
Elza appears aged and terrified, as if fate itself is relentlessly beating her down.
Highlights Elza's physical and emotional devastation.
