Jax Reads: The Scarlet Pimpernel - Chapter 12: The Scrap of Paper
0Still fixated on the idea of discovering the Scarlet Pimpernel’s identity, Marguerite (who feels she is getting no support from Sir Percy regarding her agitation at Armand’s fate and Chauvelin’s pressure on her) seizes an opportunity to steal a glimpse at a secret note that has been passed to Ffoulkes. She enters the otherwise empty budoir where Ffoulkes is reading the note and simulates fainting. Ffoulkes moves to catch her and lowers her into a chair; from this position, Marguerite is able to snatch the note from Ffoulkes just as he begins to burn it in a candle’s flame. She pretends she is following an old folk remedy against “giddiness” (i.e., light-headedness). Ffoulkes tries to snatch the note back, but is unable to do so, as Marguerite knocks over the table with the candles. While Ffoulkes is preoccupied with putting out the small fire, Marguerite steals a glimpse at the note’s contents, seeing that it bears “distorted handwriting” and the Pimpernel’s symbol. Having achieved her goal, she returns the note to Ffoulkes and asks him to ask her to dance.