The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel · Chapter
Two Interludes explained
After the fraternal supper, Bertrand Moncrif emerges from hiding beneath a table and flees through the deserted Rue St.
What happens
After the fraternal supper, Bertrand Moncrif emerges from hiding beneath a table and flees through the deserted Rue St. Honoré, while in the cabarets the citizens debate whether the mysterious giant who rescued the aristos was citizen Rateau or the legendary Scarlet Pimpernel. Little Langlois provides an alibi for Rateau, deepening the mystery.
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 Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
Marguerite’s realization that Bertrand Moncrif—a man her husband saved—has betrayed them, combined with her he…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Deception and Disguise
The identity of the giant is debated—whether Rateau or the Scarlet Pimpernel—highlighting the theme of mistaken identity and trickery.
- Fate and Superstition
The citizens' superstitious descriptions of the giant (flames, horns, cloven feet) and the reliance on alibis reflect the role of fate and belief in the narrative.
Characters to notice
- Bertrand Moncrif
Emerges from hiding after the fraternal supper, terrified and disoriented, and flees the scene.
- Citizen Langlois
The little printer who provides an alibi for Rateau, claiming he saw him drunk at Mother Théot's during the events.
- Citizen Rateau
Mentioned as the supposed giant; Langlois claims he was drunk and snoring at Mother Théot's, not at the fraternal supper.
- Mother Théot
Her antechamber is where Rateau was allegedly seen drunk, and where Langlois waited for an audience.
- Robespierre
Mentioned as having witnessed the mysterious giant and turned pale.
- Sical
The butcher who insists the giant was Rateau, but is contradicted by Langlois.
Key passages
“His only instinct throughout this comatose condition was the blind one of self-preservation.”
While unconscious, his sole drive was to survive without thinking.
Describes Bertrand's instinctive behavior while hiding.
“The man was eight or else nine feet high; his arms reached right across the street from house to house. Flames spurted out of his mouth when he coughed. He had horns on his head; cloven feet; a forked tail!”
People claimed the giant was eight or nine feet tall, with arms spanning the street, fire from his mouth, and demonic features.
Exaggerated rumors about the mysterious giant.
“All the while that ye were supping at the expense of the State in the open, and had your gizzards stirred by the juggling devices of some unknown mountebank, citizen Rateau was lying comfortably drunk and snoring lustily in the antechamber of Mother Théot, the soothsayer, right at the other end of Paris!”
While you were at the state-sponsored supper watching a trickster, Rateau was drunk and snoring at Mother Théot's across Paris.
Langlois provides an alibi for Rateau, contradicting the eyewitnesses.
