St Martin's Summer

This rollicking story set in 17th-Century France centres on the young heiress, Valerie de la Vauvraye, and the crisis surrounding her marriage. Betrothed to Florimond de Condillac, who is fighting in Italy, Valerie finds herself being forced into marriage to Marius, the son of Florimond's step-mother, the Marquise de Condillac. The Marquise has her eyes on Valerie's wealth and plots to thwart the betrothal of Valerie and Florimond. In desperation Valerie writes to the Queen of France for her assistance. The Queen sends the noble Martin Marie Rigobert de Garnache, the novel's hero, and tasks him with protecting Valerie's honour. Replete with duels, deception, trickery, and double-dealing, the novel runs along at a cracking pace as contending forces seek to impose their will on Valerie. The novel was also known as 'The Queen's Messenger'. - Summary by KiwiReader24