Baroness Emmuska Orczy

The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel Baroness Emmuska Orczy

Book Excerpt: ...he gave a shiver as if he felt cold. "Since thou dost commune with the spirits, find out from them how I can accomplish that."The woman once more raised the crystal globe to the level of her breast. With her elbows stretched out and her draperies falling straight all around her, she gazed into it for a while in silence. Then she began to murmur."I see the Scarlet Flower quite plainly... a small Scarlet Flower.... And I see the great Light which is like an aureole, the Light of the Chosen One. It is of dazzling brightness - but over the Scarlet Flower casts a Stygian shadow.""Ask them," Robespierre broke in peremptorily, "ask thy spirits how best I can overcome mine enemy.""I see something," the witch went on in an even monotone, still gazing into the crystal globe "white and rose and tender... is it a woman...?""A woman?""She is tall, and she is beautiful... a stranger in the land... with eyes dark as the night and tresses black as the raven's wing.... Yes, it...