Encouraged by friends who lauded his five-chapter tale of adventure set in contemporary Russia, Savage was inspired to rewrite and expand the story into a novel.

[3][4] Though not every review was so glowing,[5][6] The Times in London notably called it "a wonderful and clever tour de force, in which improbabilities and impossibilities disappear, under an air that is irresistible.

"[8] An 1896 synopsis of the novel: This clever skit is permeated by a Russian atmosphere, in which visions of the secret police, the Nihilists, and social life in St. Petersburg, are blended like the vague fancies of a trouble dream.

Lenox frustrates her design to assassinate the Emperor; after which Helene escapes by the aid of a Russian officer whom she has beguiled.

Minnie Seligman starred as Helene, and her wealthy husband but novice actor Robert L. Cutting, Jr. also played a role.

The German language film Eskapade (alternate titles: Seine Offizielle Frau and Gehemagentin Helene) based on the novel was released in 1936, starring Renate Müller, Georg Alexander, and Walter Franck.