Citoyen Lauzet, Chief of section in the rural division of the department Seine et Oise, is perturbed by the Pimpernel's success in rescuing the Comte and Comtesse de Tournon-d'Agenay and their three children from under his nose.

After selecting some suitable bait in the form of Citizen Desèze, his invalid wife and pretty daughter, they are transported towards Paris in a diligence with a seemingly weak guard.. however the other travellers in the stagecoach are really soldiers in disguise – ready to strike back should the Pimpernel and his gang attack.

Cyrano and his gang fail to track down the witness, but back in court denounce Joséphine as an aristocrat whose real name is de Lamoignan and, much to the disgust of Achille, Gradin declares that he will marry her to get even with the mystery aristo...

It is only the following day that the Chief Commissary realises that one person is missing – Félicien Lézennes, chairman of the Club des Fils du Royanne – but where can he have gone and what fate now awaits his family, who are being watched by spies from the Committee of Public Safety?

A comic genius on the stage, witty, genial and handsome he is adored by women and respected by men, but his popularity has been noticed by the Committee of Public Safety, for they cannot allow a man to remain in such a position of strength.

However, as soon as Sir Percy climbs up the tower and through the window where the priests are being held, he realises that he has fallen into a trap – for waiting for him in the room are a dozen members of the Committee of Public Safety and his arch enemy Chauvelin.

After a brief fight where Percy gets a good thrashing, they tie him securely to a table and lock the door, leaving him a helpless prisoner, little more than an insentient log... Late September 1793 in a picturesque corner of Brittany and the Scarlet Pimpernel and Docteur Lescar are watching a schooner disappear over the horizon towards England and safety.

The old Docteur, who helped Sir Percy save the La Forest family (who are on the schooner), is voicing concern for the Englishman's safety – though not his own, asserting that "Even the most hot-headed patriot knows that the country could not afford to send all its doctors to the guillotine".

Lescar is popular in the area and the crowd in the tavern starts to get uneasy at the treatment of the good Doctor especially when it is revealed that the stranger is none other than Citizen Péret, a member of the Committee of Public Safety.

Péret senses the atmosphere and backs off, but before long his attention turns to a conversation between three mariners / smugglers who are discussing seeing an Englishman (who might be the Pimpernel) being attended by Docteur Lescar in the Rue des Pipots.

Several members of the league would have liked to extend the prohibition to young Lord Fanshawe, who, despite a keen start, is wilful & obstinate – an inveterate gambler who is apt to turn very nasty if matters don't go the way he desires.