14 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 398 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 398 pagesAbout this book
What happens when the cause you pledge your sword to threatens the love you want to keep?
France has a child king, and Philippe, Duke of Orléans, rules as Regent. Raoul, Chevalier d'Harmental, has courage and skill with a sword, but little money and few prospects. Drawn into the Duchess of Maine's circle, he joins a plot against the Regent. Secret meetings and hired swords give his uncertain life a dangerous new purpose.
Then his love for Bathilde, a gentle orphan who lives by modest work, pulls him toward something warmer and more honest. Around them, the Duchess gathers allies while Abbé Dubois watches for trouble. In this historical adventure by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet, Paris streets and palace rooms become the setting for a struggle between honour, political loyalty and love.
What you’ll discover
- A sword without prospects Follow a brave young soldier whose poor fortunes draw him toward a dangerous cause.
- Love against the plot Discover how Bathilde's quiet dignity offers Raoul a life his fellow conspirators cannot.
- A Regent with wit Meet a ruler whose courage and love of pleasure complicate the portrait of a tyrant.
- Secret meetings and sharp steel Enter a world of hired swords, watchful spies and a duchess determined to overturn power.
- The weight of loyalty Consider what honour demands when loyalty to a cause clashes with loyalty to a person.
Who will love it
This book is for readers who love swordplay and banter, secret societies and masked balls, and real history told with a smile.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A private quarrel opens a dangerous door
- Wounded ambition becomes a political weapon
- A neighboring window gives love room
- The regent slips beyond the ambush
- Buvat gives kindness a lasting home
- Secret papers reach an unsuspecting copyist
- Love must look beyond social rank
- Small objects connect different worlds
- Quiet choices carry public weight
Who’s who
- Raoul d'HarmentalA brave young chevalier and former colonel who seeks a new future, joins a plot against the regent, and falls in love with Bathilde.
- BathildeA gifted young singer and painter, raised by Buvat, who knows her noble origins and gives her heart to her neighbor.
- Jean BuvatA kind, timid library clerk and master of handwriting, who works for a king that never pays him and loves his ward like a daughter.
- Captain RoquefinetteA swaggering old soldier of fortune with a very long sword, who sells his skills to whoever pays and loves good wine.
- Duchesse de MaineA fiery, tiny princess who hates the regent and gathers friends, money and Spanish support to bring him down.
- Abbe BrigaudA calm, sly priest and secretary to the duchess, who plans every move of the plot and finds lodgings for its young hero.
- Duc d'OrleansThe regent of France, witty and brave, who treats danger as a joke and loves music, painting and his friends.
- Abbe DuboisThe regent's ugly, quick-witted adviser, who runs a hidden network of spies and wants to become an archbishop.
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The Conspirators; Or, the Chevalier d'Harmental
by Alexandre Dumas; Auguste Maquet · 1843
A stranger on the Pont Neuf is hired as a duelist, and a plot to kidnap the regent of France follows.
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“Little insects inflict large stings.”
In short
A young cavalier waits on his Spanish horse at the end of the Pont Neuf on a March morning in 1718. He needs a stranger to stand beside him in a duel, and he picks the first swaggering soldier who looks the part.
The Conspirators; Or, the Chevalier d'Harmental at a glance
- Reading time
- About 8 h 25 min6 h 40 min fast, 10 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 120,600 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1843by Alexandre Dumas; Auguste Maquet
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A borrowed sword starts a quarrel over love
Baron de Valef needs a third man for a duel at half past nine. None of his friends is at home, so he waits on the Pont Neuf for the first gentleman who passes. The man who comes is Captain Roquefinette, a soldier with a faded orange shoulder knot and a very long sword. He agrees at once and rides off to fight a quarrel he knows nothing about.
On the road, Valef explains. His friend, the Chevalier Raoul d'Harmental, heard three courtiers say that his mistress had agreed to receive the regent. He called the speaker a liar, and the challenge was set. In a quiet clearing, Roquefinette disarms the hot-headed young Ravanne twice and scolds him gently as a teacher would. D'Harmental wounds Lafare, and Valef and Fargy wound each other and part as friends.
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A stranger on the Pont Neuf is hired as a duelist, and a plot to kidnap the regent of France follows.
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Details
- First published
- 1843
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 9 h 40 min
- Level
- Medium level
- Paperback
- 398 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 398 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 676 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print hardcover
- 676 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Delivery and returns
- Printed when you order. Usually here in 12 to 14 days.Arrives Tue 1 Dec to Mon 7 Decto United States, printed for you at cost
For Christmas, order by Thu 12 Nov
Cite this edition
Dumas, Alexandre, and Auguste Maquet. The Conspirators; Or, the Chevalier d'Harmental. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-conspirators-or-the-chevalier-dharmental.
Dumas, A., & Maquet, A. (2026). The conspirators; or, the Chevalier d'Harmental. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-conspirators-or-the-chevalier-dharmental (Original work published 1843)
Dumas, Alexandre, and Auguste Maquet. The Conspirators; Or, the Chevalier d'Harmental. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-conspirators-or-the-chevalier-dharmental.
@book{dumas2026conspirators,
author = {Dumas, Alexandre and Maquet, Auguste},
title = {The Conspirators; Or, the Chevalier d'Harmental},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-conspirators-or-the-chevalier-dharmental},
note = {First published 1843}
}
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What is The Conspirators by Alexandre Dumas about?
It follows the Chevalier d'Harmental, a young colonel who joins a real plot in 1718 to kidnap the regent of France and carry him to Spain. Along the way, he falls in love with his neighbor Bathilde.
Is The Conspirators a true story?
It is built on the real Cellamare conspiracy of 1718 and uses real people such as the regent, Dubois and the Duchesse de Maine. Dumas places his fictional lovers among historical figures and freely adds scenes.
Who is Jean Buvat in The Conspirators?
Buvat is a gentle, plain library clerk and expert copyist who raises the orphan Bathilde. He lives across the street from the hero, and his fine handwriting draws him into the plot without his knowing it.
The author
Alexandre Dumas
1802–1870 · French novelist and playwright
Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870) was a French novelist and playwright. He was born in Villers-Cotterêts, lived in Paris, and died in Puys, near Dieppe. He wrote The Three Musketeers (1844), The Count of Monte Cristo (1844–1846), Twenty Years After (1845), and The Black Tulip (1850).
“Little insects inflict large stings.”
More by Alexandre Dumas; Auguste Maquet
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