At the dawn of the French revolution, masses of hungry peasants burn the chateaux of aristocrats throughout France. After the death of his estranged family, an 18 year-old nobleman, the Marquis Marcel de la Croix, is forced to raise the royalist banner, despite his own revolutionary leanings. The wreck of his family fortress becomes a bastion for newly disenfranchised aristocrats, and Marcel and his fiery associate, Pierre Lafont, lead a rebel group called the League of the Star. After a bitter falling out with Lafont, Marcel escapes to England incognito, hoping to put the past behind him. In England he encounters several French emigres: the large, brutish former soldier, M. Tolouse, the haughty Mlle. de Courteline, and the sheltered Mlle. Vallon. As these traveling exiles are forced together, a young boy in their company begins to intrigue them with a mysterious tale of love. Can a simple love story, begun merely to entertain the weary travellers, hold the key to Marcel's fate?

N. R. Cruse is a harmless sort of person, obsessed with history and old books. Around 20 years ago, study of life in the 18th century captured her heart and imagination, and never let go. In her other life, she does way too many things, even infrequently acknowledging the existence of her loving husband and two children. She lives in Edmonton, where she tries to reconcile herself to the realities of modern life.

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