Amédée Achard’s "Belle Rose," a summary Automatic translate

This book is a classic French historical adventure novel of the cloak and dagger type, published in 1847. The plot dynamically transports the reader to the era of Louis XIV’s military campaigns, illustrating in detail the vicissitudes of fate, cunning intrigues, loyalty, and courage of both common soldiers and nobles.

Flanders and Dreams of Glory

The action begins in 1663. Young Jacques Grinedal lives near Saint-Omer. His father, Guillaume, sister, Claudine, and brother, Pierre, live with him. The young man has a stubborn character. He is in love with fifteen-year-old Suzanne Malsonvière. The fragile girl reciprocates his feelings. However, her father, a wealthy tax farmer, ridicules Jacques’s feelings. He declares the union impossible due to the young man’s poverty. His father demands that he first acquire a noble name and fortune. Jacques accepts the challenge and leaves home. On his journey, he takes a gold medallion with him. A mysterious stranger lost it five years ago. Back then, thirteen-year-old Jacques helped this man. He delivered an important letter under Spanish fire.

Under the banners of the king

On his way to Paris, Jacques is captured by enemy mercenaries. The young man successfully escapes. He then encounters a detachment of French cavalry. The detachment’s commander, Gaston d’Assonville, welcomes him warmly. Jacques displays remarkable bravery in battle at the Monastery of Saint-George. Gaston refers him to his brother. The stern artillery captain, Vicomte de Nancret, enlists the young man in the regiment. He gives him the military name Belle-Rose. The young man serves alongside the good-natured Corporal Laderoute. Belle-Rose diligently studies his studies. He proves his courage in a duel. The lieutenant seriously wounds the provocateur Boultor. Several years later, Belle-Rose receives bad news: Suzanne is being married to the elderly Marquis d’Albergotti.

The lieutenant rushes to Saint-Omer. He finds only a wedding procession. Heartbroken, Belle-Rose returns to d’Assonville. The captain tasks him with delivering secret letters to Paris.

Parisian assignments

Arriving in the capital, Belle-Rose stays at the Hotel Merizet. He searches for the addressee on the Rue de la Casse. Unexpectedly, the young man encounters his sister, Claudine. Belle-Rose’s old enemy, officer Villebré, attempts to attack her. The Irish nobleman Cornelius Hogarth comes to the rescue. He quickly disarms the assailant. The Irishman and Belle-Rose become close friends.

Soon, d’Assonville’s messenger takes Belle-Rose to a luxurious house. A mysterious masked lady receives the report. Hogarth learns of the insidious plans. The enraged Villebré prepares an arrest. Belle-Rose immediately leaves the city.

The Duchess’s Castle

The road brings the young man together with the beautiful Duchess Geneviève de Châteaufort. The horse plunges into a raging river. Belle-Rose saves the lady’s life. During their recovery at the castle, strong feelings develop between the young soldier and Geneviève. Belle-Rose saves the lady during a fire, carrying her through the flames. Rejected by the Duchess, Villebré stalks the lovers. He enters the park through a secret gate. The villain attacks a man in the dark, mistaking him for Belle-Rose. The victim turns out to be Gaston d’Assonville.

The dying captain reveals a secret to Belle-Rose. Geneviève de Châteaufort turned out to be his old lover, Lanvet. She had a son with Gaston. The boy has disappeared without a trace. Geneviève enters the room. D’Assonville dies of shock. Belle-Rose realizes the terrible truth with horror. He leaves the castle forever.

Military tribunal

The lieutenant returns to his regiment in Cambrai. Captain Nancret immediately court-martials the deserter. Laderoute begs his friend to flee. Belle-Rose refuses and is prepared to accept death. On the day of the execution, Cornelius Hogarth bursts into the square. He brings a document of royal pardon. Madame Châteaufort begged for it. Nancret reinstates Belle-Rose to his rank.

The troop transfer begins. Nancre disobeys the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, the Duke of Luxembourg. He storms Fort Gosslie without permission. The Duke arrests the victor. The Commander-in-Chief sentences him to death for his arbitrariness. Belle-Rose desperately defends her commander. The Duke notices a gold medallion around the young man’s neck. The incredible truth is revealed. The Commander-in-Chief turns out to be the very stranger he saved. In gratitude, he pardons Nancre. The Duke promotes him to colonel.

Traps and revenge

Villebré defects to the Spanish. He gathers a band of mercenaries and lures Belle-Rose into an ambush. Laderoute, Hogarth, and Belle-Rose’s father come to his aid. Old Guillaume fights desperately. In the midst of the fierce battle, Madame Châteaufort appears. She leads a detachment under the Spanish commander, Castel-Rodrigo. He puts an end to the lawlessness. The brave Guillaume perishes in the melee.

Geneviève gives Belle-Rose the documents. The papers grant custody of little Gaston. Meanwhile, Villebré swims across the river. The villain drowns, fatally kicked by his own horse.

During the storming of the fortress of Tournai, Belle-Rose performs a remarkable feat. He blows up an enemy bastion. The Duke of Luxembourg grants him the rank of captain. He sends the hero to Paris on a secret mission. Belle-Rose purchases incriminating documents from the businessman Bergam. The captain is forced to burn them in the fireplace. The documents escape the hands of his pursuers. By order of the stern Minister Louvois, the captain is thrown into the Bastille. The prisoner is subjected to waterboarding. Belle-Rose maintains a stoic silence.

Monastery prison

The widowed Suzanne d’Albergotti learns of her beloved’s suffering. She voluntarily agrees to Louvois’s humiliating terms. The minister transfers Belle-Rose to a provincial prison. During the transfer, Laderoute, Hogarth, and Sergeant Grippar attack the convoy. The friends restrain the guards and free the prisoner. The fugitives race to the sea. Near the shore, Boultor catches up with them and wounds Belle-Rose with a musket. The friends manage to escape by boat to England.

Minister Louvois unleashes his wrath on Suzanne. He imprisons her in a Benedictine convent on Rue du Cherche-Midi. Louvois demands that she become a nun or marry the Parisian rake Count Ponrot. The girl refuses. Within the abbey, Suzanne supports the novice Gabrielle, who is dying from an unknown illness. Before her death, Gabrielle gives Suzanne a letter. The message is addressed to the Chevalier d’Arrains.

Escape from the capital

Belle-Rose returns from England and plots to rescue her fiancée. The cunning Laderoute finds a job as a gardener at the abbey. Under cover of darkness, he sets fire to an old barn. Panic ensues. Suzanne and Claudine flee the monastery. Charny, Louvois’s sinister lieutenant, gives chase. Boultor joins him. The horsemen race along the night roads.

Count Ponrot catches up with the fugitives. He recognizes Belle-Rose and refuses to fight. The Count breaks his sword and delays Charny’s detachment. The fugitives arrive at the monastery, where they find refuge. Laderout kills Bultor’s pursuer with a precise shot.

Peaceful Harbor

The abbess of the saving monastery of Saint-Clair turns out to be Geneviève de Châteaufort. She had previously taken the veil. In the monastery chapel, Belle-Rose marries Suzanne. Cornelius Hogarth joins his fate with Claudine. Count Ponrot visits his friends. He confesses a long-held secret. Ponrot turns out to be the very same Chevalier d’Arrains. The Count learns of Gabrielle’s death. He bitterly repents his reckless actions. Soon, Belle-Rose takes little Gaston from the village. The captain brings him to the abbey and hands him over to Geneviève.

The end of the story

In the spring of 1672, a major war begins. Belle-Rose, Cornelius, and Laderoute leave their families in safety and join the army. The famous crossing of the Rhine begins. A detachment of volunteers under Belle-Rose is the first to enter the water under heavy enemy fire. The French achieve a brilliant victory. In the bloody battle, the brave Count Ponrot dies.

Louis XIV promotes Belle-Rose to colonel. The King personally dispatches him with victorious reports to Louvois. Impressed by the officer’s courage, the minister ceases his pursuit. However, the treacherous Charny intercepts Belle-Rose’s message to Suzanne. The villain delivers a basket of poisoned fruit to the convent. Noticing the poisoned rose, Geneviève de Châteaufort shields Suzanne from death. The abbess suffers a painful death.

Belle-Rose, Laderoute, and Grippar overtake the poisoner’s carriage. They barricade it on the deserted Rue de l’Arbre-Sec. Charny fights. Belle-Rose runs him through with her sword, avenging Geneviève’s death. Having eliminated the traitor, Colonel Grinedal returns to his beloved wife. Soon, he and his adopted son, Gaston, will once again serve the king.