British troops before St. Malo abandon hope of a quick assault and march inland through Brittany, where war's discipline is set against civilian fear, deserted farms, and villagers hiding their valuables from both armies. Amid the occupation, officers such as Captain Charters return church treasures with honor, and the welcome in Dol gives way to a violent cavalry clash in which the inexperienced Cornet Keith and the narrator are swept into a desperate melee, ending with the narrator's horse struck down and himself left unconscious. Badly wounded in enemy country, he hides, is carried off in a wagon, and awakens on an estate where Angelique and Jacqueline de Broglie draw him into a world of mercy, flirtation, and aristocratic intrigue. As he recovers in the château, longing for home and fearing his ruined future, his growing love for Jacqueline deepens, only to be threatened by scandal when Madame de Bourgneuf catches them together. The book also turns to the dazzling legend of Ninon de l'Enclos, whose ageless beauty and wit conceal a darker supernatural terror: when her own son falls in love with her, tragedy, death, and a horrific final transformation reveal the sinister cost of her power. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.
