Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von In höchster Gefahr
Für wen es gedacht ist
Readers who enjoy a Victorian adventure with a daring rescue, secret societies, scheming spies and a courtship at its heart, all told with humour by a plain-spoken old soldier.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
In Direst Peril is an adventure novel by David Christie Murray, who died in 1907. It is told by an old soldier of fortune, Captain Fyffe, who looks back on the years 1847 and 1848 at the request of his wife. He admits he is no writer, and that plainness gives the book its warm, direct voice.
The tale begins on a crowded staircase in London, where Fyffe falls in love at first sight. Soon he learns that the young woman's father, an Italian count thought dead for twenty years, lies alive in an Austrian fortress. Fyffe sets out to free him, with a talkative friend, a faithful English groom and very little money.
You get a rescue across mountains and a flooded river, then a second story of plots, spies and conspirators in London while Italy stirs toward revolt. Along the way come comic characters, a scheming baroness and a love tested by suspicion. Let us begin with the staircase, and the woman who changes everything.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A soldier falls in love on a staircaseFree
- 2Fyffe promises to bring the count home
- 3At Itzia the guards seem friendly
- 4Hinge's secret opens the way out
- 5Freedom has a price for the count
- 6Love, rivalry and an unwelcome ghost
- 7Arms, tears and a betrayal on the Thames
- 8Shut out and racing against a trap
- 9What the story is really about
- 10How the book is told
Punkt 1 von 10
A soldier falls in love on a staircase
Fyffe begins in the London season of 1847. He has just come back from South America, where he broke his sword in front of General Rosas and walked away from the camp. A little fame follows him, but he is tired of it when his friend, the Honorable George Brunow, takes him to a crowded party at Belcaster House.
On the stairs he sees a young woman signalling with her fan. She wears white muslin and one string of pearls. Her dark hair, her bright colour and her smile strike him so hard that he feels as nervous as he ever did before a dangerous mission. Then she calls Brunow over and asks to be introduced to Captain Fyffe.
The woman is Violet Rossano, cousin of Fyffe's old comrade Jack Rollinson, whose life he once saved in a brawl at Santa Fé. Fyffe has spent his life far from women, and he is more afraid of her than he would be of a fortress wall. Still, she treats him like an old friend, and she invites him to call on her at her aunt's house.
That night Brunow tells him her strange history. Her father, the Conte di Rossano, was a rich young patriot who married an English general's daughter and went back to Italy to join a plot against Austrian rule. He vanished, and the Austrians seized his lands. Violet was born months later, and her mother died soon after, so the girl has never known him.
Then Brunow adds something that stops the talk. He says the count is alive. He claims he saw the man taking exercise in a courtyard at the fortress of Itzia in the Tyrol, and he produces a dirty scrap of paper, written in pencil, begging an English stranger to carry word to the count's family. Fyffe knows Brunow tells tall tales, yet the paper is hard to doubt, and he walks home thinking of little else.
That’s 1 of 10 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about In höchster Gefahr
What is In Direst Peril about?
It follows Captain Fyffe, a soldier of fortune who falls for Violet Rossano and sets out to free her long-lost father, an Italian count held by Austria. After the rescue, he faces spies and traitors in London.
Who is Hinge in In Direst Peril?
Robert Hinge is a former English lancer who works as a groom at the Austrian fortress. He discovers the secret prisoner under the stable, helps with the rescue and then becomes Fyffe's loyal valet and companion.
When is In Direst Peril set?
The story takes place in 1847 and 1848, as revolution spreads across Europe and Italians hope to throw off Austrian rule. Louis Philippe's flight from France and the Milan rising appear in its pages.
Is In Direst Peril easy to read?
Yes, in the sense that it moves quickly. Fyffe tells his own story in a plain, friendly voice, with short scenes of action, lively dialogue and comic characters such as Ruffiano and Mr. Quorn.
What is the main message of In Direst Peril?
The book shows that trust and loyalty matter more than glory. Fyffe learns that being useful beats looking noble, and that love needs faith in another person when the evidence seems to say otherwise.