Scarlet, page 1
PRAISE FOR THE INVISIBLE LIBRARY NOVELS
THE UNTOLD STORY
“Cogman skillfully gets new readers up to speed on the rich worldbuilding. . . . Bibliophiles new to the series will be charmed by the premise and find this an easy starting point, while returning readers will be thrilled with the nail-biting conclusion. It’s a joy to see this series going strong.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Fantasy fans will be thrilled as book eight of the action-packed series ventures further into the depths of the Library than ever before.”
—Booklist (starred review)
THE DARK ARCHIVE
“The lightning-fast pace, colorful characters, and a surprise revelation will thrill fantasy fans eager for more of Cogman’s Invisible Library series.”
—Booklist
THE SECRET CHAPTER
“Cogman charts the heist with the fluid mix of humor and adventure series readers will expect, while adding new dimensions to fan favorite characters and introducing dangerous enemies.”
—Publishers Weekly
THE MORTAL WORD
“This is an explosive, tense, and witty novel, full of exciting incidents, cranky dragons, treacherous Fae, and political consequences. It’s enormously fun, and balances humor and action very well.”
—Tor.com
THE LOST PLOT
“The Lost Plot is full of life and wit from the start . . . A pacy-to-breakneck speed adventure through Prohibition, The Lost Plot is a hi-gin-ks read.”
—SFF World
THE BURNING PAGE
“Libraries, Librarians, dragons, Fae, chaos, dastardly baddies, and a Sherlock Holmes–style detective all thrown into the mix equal an excellent read. . . . It’s packed with chaotic and dramatic adventures and is witty, to boot.”
—The Speculative Herald
THE MASKED CITY
“This witty fantasy also includes a Holmesian detective, a wondrous magical train, some fascinating Fae politics, frequent funny moments, and a very limited time for Irene to rescue Kai, all making for a thrilling and deliciously atmospheric adventure.”
—Locus
THE INVISIBLE LIBRARY
No. 2 on the Independent’s (UK) Best Fantasy Novels of 2015 List
On Library Journal’s Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Books of 2016 List
“Ms. Cogman has opened a new pathway into our vast heritage of imagined wonderlands. And yet, as her story reminds us, we yearn for still more.”
—Tom Shippey, The Wall Street Journal
“A dazzling bibliophilic debut.”
—Charles Stross, Hugo Award–winning author of The Nightmare Stacks
BY GENEVIEVE COGMAN
INVISIBLE LIBRARY NOVELS
The Invisible Library
The Masked City
The Burning Page
The Lost Plot
The Mortal Word
The Secret Chapter
The Dark Archive
The Untold Story
SCARLET REVOLUTION NOVELS
Scarlet
ACE
Published by Berkley
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
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Copyright © 2023 by Genevieve Cogman
Excerpt from The Invisible Library copyright © 2016 by Genevieve Cogman
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cogman, Genevieve, author.
Title: Scarlet / Genevieve Cogman.
Description: First edition. | New York: Ace, 2023. | Series: Scarlet revolution novels
Identifiers: LCCN 2022056157 (print) | LCCN 2022056158 (ebook) | ISBN 9780593638286 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9780593638293 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: France—History—Revolution, 1789-1799—Fiction. | LCGFT: Vampire fiction. | Paranormal fiction. | Novels.
Classification: LCC PR6103.O39 S33 2023 (print) | LCC PR6103.O39 (ebook) | DDC 823/.92—dc23/eng/20221220
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022056157
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022056158
First Edition: May 2023
Cover design by Adam Auerbach
Cover image: Portrait of Henrietta, daughter of Henry, 1st Viscount St. John. Agar, Charles d’ (1669-1723) (attr. to) © De Morgan Foundation / Bridgeman Images
Book design by Alison Cnockaert, adapted for ebook by Kelly Brennan
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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CONTENTS
Cover
Praise for Genevieve Cogman
By Genevieve Cogman
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
The French Revolution: A Few Brief Notes
Dramatis Personae
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Acknowledgments
Excerpt from The Invisible Library
About the Author
_143429686_
To the Terminology and Classifications team, who I’m sure would rescue me from the guillotine.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION: A FEW BRIEF NOTES
Social and economic inequality—unemployment, high food prices, economic depression, poor taxation management and resistance to reform by the ruling elite—don’t always lead to countrywide revolution and the public execution of the king. Yet sometimes they do.
A full discussion of the French Revolution would be far more exhaustive and accurate than these few pages (and also wouldn’t include vampires). However, most people agree that it truly began with the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, after rumors circulated that King Louis XVI planned to shut down the National Assembly—an assembly made up of commoners—and prevent reforms. Peasant uprisings followed across the country; in an attempt to calm the population, the National Assembly published the August Decrees which abolished feudalism (including the nobility’s exemption from taxes), tithes and sale of judicial offices, and proclaimed equality before the law, freedom of worship, and more. Furthermore, the creation of the National Guard made Paris the best-policed city in Europe. With little choice, Louis XVI reluctantly agreed to constitutional monarchy and wore a tricolor cockade. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was adopted in August 1789.
So far, so good.
However, the Assembly was increasingly divided. Matters came to a head in June 1791 when the royal family attempted to flee Paris to seek refuge in Austria. They were recognized and arrested, but public opinion turned against the king; he was accused of trying to organize counterrevolutionary action—a betrayal of the Revolution and its ideology. The Assembly demanded oaths of loyalty to the regime, and fear of “spies and traitors” spread. Preparations began for war. During this period, many French aristocrats, bereft of land and privilege, fled France for more sympathetic countries. Others joined royalist rebellions or tried to make the best of the situation.
The guillotine was introduced to France for popular executions in April 1792. It was considered both merciful and symbolic of equality among citizens (rather than the previous sword or ax for nobility and noose for commoners). It was frequently referred to as the “National Razor.”
On April 20, 1792 the French Revolutionary Wars began when French armies attacked Austrian and Prussian forces along their borders. On July 25, the Duke of Brunswick issued the Brunswick Manifesto, which promised that if the French royal family remained unharmed, then the Allies (Austria and Prussia) would not harm or loot from French civilians. However, if violence or acts to humiliate the French royal family were committed, the Allies would burn Paris to the ground. On August 1, word of the manifesto reached Paris, and it incensed the people. A mob attacked the Tuileries Palace, and Louis and his family took refuge with the Assembly; the deputies present voted to “temporarily relieve the king,” suspending the monarchy.
In August 1792 the new parliament was elected—the National Convention. In September 1792, the C
Popular anger, mass conscription, famine and other factors caused further rebellions across France—this time against the Convention. In response, the Committee of Public Safety was created in April 1793, charged with “protecting the new republic against its foreign and domestic enemies.” It was given broad supervisory and administrative powers over the armed forces, judiciary and legislature. Despite internal turmoil and an attempted coup, a new constitution was written, containing radical reforms. However, it was suspended following the assassination of revolutionary leader Jean-Paul Marat in July, and the Committee of Public Safety used this as an excuse to take full control. The Convention set price controls over a wide range of goods, with the death penalty for hoarders, and on September 9, “revolutionary groups” were established to enforce them. On September 17, the Law of Suspects ordered the arrest of suspected “enemies of freedom,” beginning what came to be known as the “Terror” . . .
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
LADY SOPHIE’S HOUSEHOLD:
Lady Sophie, Baroness of Basing
Mr. Barker, the butler
Mrs. Swan, the housekeeper
Mrs. Dommings, the cook
Eleanor Dalton, maid
Sarah, Melanie, maids
THE BLAKENEY HOUSEHOLD:
Sir Percy Blakeney and Lady Marguerite Blakeney, aristocrats
Mrs. Bann, housekeeper
Mr. Sturn, butler
Mrs. Jennet, cook
Alice, Melissa, Rebecca, Betty, Anne, Maggie, maids
James, footman
THE LEAGUE OF THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL:
Sir Andrew Ffoulkes, aristocrat
Lord Anthony Dewhurst, aristocrat
Lord Charles Bathurst, aristocrat and scholar
Other gentlemen of noble birth and leisure
THE FRENCH ROYAL FAMILY:
Louis XVI (deceased), former King of France
Marie Antoinette, Queen of France
Louis-Charles, Dauphin
Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, princess and daughter of Louis XVI
Madame Élisabeth, princess and sister of Louis XVI
NONARISTOCRATIC INHABITANTS OF FRANCE:
Armand Chauvelin, agent of the Committee of Public Safety
Desgas, secretary to Chauvelin
Fleurette, member of Chauvelin’s household
Louise Roget, housekeeper to Chauvelin
Adele “of unknown parentage,” maid in Chauvelin’s household
Citizen Camille, ardent Revolutionary
PROLOGUE
“COMTESSE?”
Henri’s voice was barely a whisper, his touch on her bedchamber door a scratch; yet of course she heard him. Even by daylight, the Comtesse’s senses were keener than those of the living. “Enter,” she commanded.
He straightened his coat in automatic reflex and entered with a bow. The Comtesse d’Angoulème was sitting at her desk, a sheaf of business papers scattered across it, but the pen she was twirling between her fingers had been idle long enough that the ink had dried on the nib. Twin gilt candlesticks lit the room, their flames leaping at the sudden draft of air. The violet brocade curtains were drawn to shut out the sunlight; it might not burn the Comtesse as the superstitious claimed, but she’d never liked it. No vampire did.
She looked up from her papers to consider him with her pansy-dark eyes, and as always his heart seemed to seize up in pure admiration. Unlike the raw ugliness of the world outside and the Revolution, she was perfect. Her golden hair; her beautiful, tiny hands, as white and unsullied as the hands of angels; her innocent face . . . The pale muslin dress that she wore, lace foaming around her throat and over her wrists, made her look as untouchable as a saint.
But now that the Revolution had shattered the proper order of things, nobody was safe. If they could kill the King, they could kill anyone.
“Madame . . .” He hesitated, unwilling to share the bad news.
“Speak freely, Henri,” she said. “I need to know the worst.”
“Three more of the footmen have left, madame,” he said, “and two of the maids. Worse still, there are men from Paris at the National Guard outpost in the village. Jeanne reported that they’re wearing tricolor sashes.”
In the beginning, the tricolor had represented self-aggrandizing peasants and overly educated fools with grandiose ideas above their station—of a “right to equal status” and “freedom from tyranny.” But over the last year, their so-called ideals had descended to brutal murder of the very nobles who paid their wages and whom nature had set in authority over them. Now, word of the tricolor daggered fear into the hearts of even the staunchest aristocrats. And vampires were the purest aristocrats of all . . .
The pen snapped between the Comtesse’s fingers. “Men from the Tribunal on my property! Send word to little Pierre—he must have them cleared out. Tell them I’ve gone to Austria, or perhaps Prussia. It doesn’t matter where, as long as they leave. Heaven knows I pay him enough.”
It was typical of the Comtesse to think of the local mayor as “little Pierre,” Henri reflected. She’d known him since he was a baby, and though he’d grown into a hard-fisted, hard-drinking man, he’d never be anything more than a child to her. “I will do as you command, madame,” he said gravely. “But I fear the situation is perilously desperate. Will you not consider going to Austria in truth? Or to England? They say that aristocrats are received well there.”
“Only if they can pay,” the Comtesse said flatly. “Once my money runs out, once I’ve sold my jewels, what then? And that’s if I could leave the country. The Tribunal is watching the ports and the borders. Too many of my kind have already tried to run and failed. No, I won’t abandon my property. This land is mine. These people are mine.” Her teeth flashed in a snarl. “Get rid of the Tribunal men, Henri. I don’t care how you do it. If I so much as see them—”
She suddenly fell silent. It took Henri a moment longer to hear what his mistress had already heard: running in the corridor outside, and heavier, booted footsteps beyond that.
The Comtesse’s private maid, Demetrice, thrust the door open and stumbled in without bothering to knock. Tears streaked her face, and her neat blue dress bore marks on her shoulders and sleeves. “Mistress, you must flee. The Tribunal men are here!”
The Comtesse sprang to her feet. “Have those brutes mishandled you, Demetrice? Come here, child, let me see . . .”
“You should be more concerned for yourself, citizen.” The man who appeared in the doorway, flanked by a mob of followers, was meager and unimpressive; his plain black clothing was relieved only by that detestable tricolor sash. His hair was dark and unpowdered, and his face, Henri decided, resembled nothing so much as that of a weasel. “It is you, after all, that we have come here to visit.”
“You will address me with my proper rank!” the Comtesse said sharply.
The man brushed dust from his sleeve. “If we are to speak of ranks, then I am Citizen Chauvelin, an agent of the Committee of Public Safety. You, on the other hand, are no more than a ci-devant aristocrat: a useless relic of a bygone era. In our free France, there are no more peasants, no more nobility—only equality between men. Your titles are worthless, citizen.”
“How dare you speak like that to the Comtesse!” Henri moved to put himself between the threatening mob and his mistress. “I demand that you leave this place at once, or our guards—”
