The Scarlet Pimpernel: Chapter 22 Summary & Analysis

After being stranded in Dover for nearly two days on account of the storm, Lady Blakeney and Sir Andrew (in disguise) finally charter a boat across the Channel. The “fresh sea-air revives” Lady Blakeney, and the ferryman assures them they are the first to cross since the weather has turned. Soon, the coast of France comes into view, and less than an hour later, Lady Blakeney finds herself back in a “country where at this very moment, men slaughtered their fellow-creatures by the hundreds, and sent innocent women and children in thousands to the block.”

Sir Andrew leads Lady Blakeney to the “Chat Gris,” a “small wayside inn on the outskirts of Calais,” and knocks on the door. It is opened by an unpleasant French man who motions for them to enter. Beyond the threshold is “the most dilapidated, most squalid room” Lady Blakeney has ever seen. On the wall in bold letters are written the words: “Liberté—Egalité—Fraternité.” The dirty man who let them in spits on the floor. “Sacrés Anglais!” he says. Lady Blakeney is immediately uncomfortable. “Oh, lud!” she cries, “what a dreadful hole! Are you sure this is the place?”

Sir Andrew assures Lady Blakeney they are in the right place. The man who let them in, Brogard, is the landlord. “Faith! Our host and hostess are not cheerful people,” Sir Andrew says, “but I think you will find the soup eatable and the wine good; these people wallow in dirt, but live well as a rule.” Sir Andrew and Lady Blakeney sit down to a dismal table setting with a torn tablecloth as Brogard brings them food. “Now, tell me,” Sir Andrew says to his host, “my lady was desiring to know if by any chance you happen to have seen a great friend of hers, an English gentleman.” He is “tall,” Sir Andrew says, and stopping through Calais on his way to Paris

“Tall Englishman?” Brogard asks. “To-day! —Yes.” Sir Andrew and Lady Blakeney immediately stop eating. Brogard continues. “He went…yes…but he’s coming back…here—he ordered supper…” Lady Blakeney grows excited and asks where he has gone. Brogard says he went to see about obtaining a horse and cart. “At what time did he go?” she presses. “I don’t know,” Brogard responds with irritation. “I have said enough […] He came to-day. He ordered supper. He went out. —He’ll come back. Voilà!”