When Laurent returns to France in 1814, Napoleon has already been defeated, but the court intrigues are rife with treason and treachery. In such a climate, he and his best friend Aymar get arrested on a false charge of sending crucial information to the enemy. Moreover, it is almost certain that Aymar will be killed. Can Laurent handle the change of circumstances? Will Aymar be saved?What will happen to these two friends who are deeply attached to each other? "The lady who was writing at the rosewood escritoire near the window paused, and with the feather end of the quill traced along the days of the month on a little calendar headed "1814" which was propped up behind the ink-stand."April the twelfth," she murmured, and wrote it at the top of the already finished letter under her hand.She was not young—forty-five at least—but she was distinctly charming in her very short-waisted, close-fitting gown of lilac sarcenet."
Author
Dorothy Kathleen Broster (1877 - 1950) produced 15 popular historical novels between 1911 and 1947. The Yellow Poppy (1920) about the adventures of an aristocratic couple during the French Revolution, was later adapted by Broster and W. Edward Stirling for the London stage in 1922. She produced her bestseller Scottish historical novel, The Flight of the Heron, in 1925. Broster stated she had consulted eighty reference books before beginning the novel. She followed it up with two successful sequels, The Gleam in the North and The Dark Mile. She wrote several other historical novels, successful and much reprinted in their day, although this Jacobite trilogy (inspired by a five-week visit to friends in Scotland), featuring the dashing hero Ewen Cameron, remains the best known. The Flight of the Heron was adapted for BBC Radio twice, in 1944, starring Gordon Jackson as Ewen Cameron, and again in 1959, starring Bryden Murdoch as Cameron. Murdoch also starred in radio adaptations of the book's sequels, The Gleam in the North and The Dark Mile.
