MrBZenda

Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins was better known by his nom-de-plume, Anthony Hope. He was born on 9 February 1863 and died 8 July 1933. Hope was an English novelist and playwright. He wrote many novels and plays, especially adventure novels, but he is remembered best for only two books: //The Prisoner of Zenda// (1894) and its sequel //Rupert of Hentzau// (1898). These works,regarded as "minor classics", are set in the contemporaneous fictional country of Ruritania. Ruritania is a European-style country after the Monaco or Lichtenstein model, ruled over by a despotic, but generally harmless king. // Zenda // has inspired a number of movie adaptations. Rudolph Rassendyll a wealthy English gentleman decides to holiday in Europe - to get away from his persistent sister-in-law, who wants him to get a job. He travels to Ruritania, where he knows his family ancestors came from. There, he meets the king-to-be, who is his exact double. After a lavish dinner, Rassendyll becomes involved in trying to save the king from a plot by his half-brother, Michael to steal the crown. This involves Rassendyll impersonating the real king who has been kidnapped. The kidnappers cannot reveal that they know Rassendyll is an imposter; Rassendyll and his allies - men loyal to the true king - cannot attack the kidnappers' castle for fear that they will kill the real king. And it gets worse, when Rassendyl falls in love with Princess Flavia ... The woman whose fate is that she must marry the king. How will Rassendyll save the king, restore him to the throne - and his wife - and be true to the woman he loves ... and who loves him too!
 * The Prisoner of Zenda **
 * By Anthony Hope **
 * Synopsis: **

Characters:
 * Rudolph Rassendyll** - an English gentleman, holidaying in Ruritania; his family shares a "connection" with the Elphbergs - a source of shame to some! He decides to go to Ruritania on the spur of the moment, after having decided to travel to get away from his sister-in-law's nagging that he should get a job! He has a resemblance to the king-to-be that is uncanny!
 * Rudolph Elphberg** - the king-to-be of Ruritania - a "good-time-guy"; he needs to grow up and BE a king. Bit of a wastrel; he says he will shape up when he becomes king, but nobody believes it! - Especially not his half-brother ...
 * Michael Elphberg** - half-brother to the king; wants the throne - and the Princess. Michael's plan is to drug his brother, so he will miss his coronation, at which point he will step in, as regent. But once he HAS power ...
 * Princess Flavia** - beautiful noblewoman who must marry whoever is the king. She is much-loved by the people of Ruritania, but doesn't have much time for her layabout, boozy husband-to-be ... Until he completely changes his nature!
 * Count Zapt** - loyal servant of the king; plots with Rassendyll to outwit Michael
 * Fritz von Tarlenheim** - loyal servant of the king; helps to fight Michael's plot.
 * Rupert of Hentzau** - cunning, daring crony of Michael; aims to help Michael to become king, but has his own plans and ambitions ... A man with more courage than a lion-tamer, but no morals whatsoever!

The atmosphere is tense. The silence is thick. The drummers start the last sound that one person will ever hear. The crowd is getting bigger. There are people pushing through to get to the front. They reek of brandy. I have never seen the Place de la Greve so full. The drumming stops. I snap back to reality. The blade is released. The sound of the sharp piece of metal striking flesh breaks the silence. The crowd roars with approval. The executioner holds up the aristo’s head. The executioner’s lips move but all sound is drowned out of my mind. The rich, metallic smell of fresh blood fills my empty head. I try breathing into my arm but the smell doesn’t disappear. I must have looked like I was about to faint, because someone chucked me a mug of brandy as I was slowly slipping away. I chugged it down until I started to regain complete consciousness. The executioners throw down the body. I watch the carters catch it and let it down into the box without much care; the head then gets tossed in as well. They put the wood on top and hammer the nails into place. The date gets scrawled on the top; 01/05/1792. It gets loaded on the cart, and taken to wherever those bodies get buried. It wasn’t my idea to go to the Place de la Greve today, but a lot of my family thought it was time I knew, time I understood. I don’t know why I believed them; my whole family supports the Republic. I have heard the stories of this place but, of course, reality is so much worse than stories. They bring up the next aristo to the guillotine. He’s young, younger than me. He looks me dead in the eye. I can taste the fear on my tongue. I close my eyes and slowly back away, until I can run far, far away.
 * The Scarlet Pimpernel guillotine scene!**