I Will Repay

Part of Baroness Orczy’s French Revolution cycle, this 1906 novel turns on a childhood vow. Juliette de Marny watches her brother die in a duel with Paul Deroulede and swears at his deathbed that she will one day repay the killing. Ten years later, with the Terror tightening its grip on Paris, she works her way into Deroulede’s household to spring her trap. What she does not plan for is falling in love with the man she has sworn to ruin, a change of heart that leaves her caught between her oath and her conscience. Orczy plays the melodrama for all it is worth, with the Scarlet Pimpernel himself hovering at the edges. Free PDF and EPUB edition available here.