Queen of the jesters, and her strange adventures in old Paris

In Short

Max Pemberton’s Queen of the Jesters, and her Strange Adventures in Old Paris is a episodic adventure novel set during the reign of Louis XV. It chronicles the exploits of Corinne de Montesson, a wealthy and beautiful noblewoman who abandons traditional society to live in the Rue St. Paul. Surrounded by a circle of wits, savants, and outlaws, she uses her immense fortune, keen intelligence, and theatrical flair to save desperate rogues from the gallows, outwit the Lieutenant of Police, and stage grand rescue operations across France. It remains an entertaining historical romp through the dark corners of old Paris.

The Story

The narrative follows the adventures of Mademoiselle Corinne de Montesson, an heiress who establishes her headquarters at the Hôtel Beautreillis in the Rue St. Paul. Indifferent to the court at Versailles, Corinne dedicates her life to exploring the Parisian underworld and dispensing her own theatrical brand of justice.

In her first exploit, she takes in Ferdinand Dauberval, a starving young man from Avranches who arrives in Paris seeking his fortune. When Dauberval is hunted through her secret labyrinth of corridors by a terrifying hound, Corinne turns his desperation into an opportunity, testing his mettle before granting him a place in her service.

Her activities quickly draw the ire of Monsieur de Sartines, the Lieutenant of Police, who seeks to crush her influence over the city’s vagabonds. When the famous robber Coq le Roi is trapped in a well during a police raid, Corinne herself—disguised in a mask—helps the criminal escape through an underground tunnel, openly mocking Sartines’s authority. She even orchestrates a wager involving the King himself, declaring that Coq le Roi will go free only after stealing the diamond ring directly from Sartines’s finger.

Corinne's interventions extend to saving innocent lives from royal tyranny. When an old noble named Jacques de Serrefort is unjustly dragged into the horrifying dungeons of the Bombec Tower in the Conciergerie—where prisoners face damp misery and walls studded with blades—Corinne arranges his escape. She transforms his night of terror into an evening of luxury, dressing him in his old military uniform and restoring his dignity at her supper table.

Her escapades frequently involve elaborate theatrical deceptions. To rescue an abbé caught on the road, she stages a bizarre, scarlet-draped nocturnal spectacle in a forest, turning a potential robbery into an enchanting dinner party that safely guides the churchman to his destination. On another occasion, when young dragoon Eugène Sabatier is targeted by his treacherous brother Count Charles with a poisoned flask of Armagnac at the family château, Corinne's network uncovers the plot, ensuring Eugène survives to claim his rightful inheritance as Count of Brives.

As her fame grows, Corinne faces dangers from vengeful highwaymen and ruthless aristocrats. When the outlaw "La Force" captures her in a rough wooden chalet, she turns the tables by orchestrating a terrifying fake execution, building a scaffold in the courtyard outside his window overnight until the hardened criminal begs for mercy. Her grandest triumph comes when she intervenes at Ussy to save her lover from the machinations of Captain Villefort and the Chevalier Guibert. Aided by her loyal, scarlet-clad dwarf Yerut, Corinne uses her charm and cunning to win over Louis XV himself, securing a royal pardon and leaving her enemies humiliated as she walks hand-in-hand with her saved lover through the palace avenues.

How It Unfolds

The journey begins Ferdinand Dauberval arrives in Paris from Avranches starving and exhausted, stumbling into the Rue St. Paul where he is overheard by Mademoiselle Corinne de Montesson. After enduring a harrowing chase through her secret passageways by a fierce hound, his bold spirit earns him a place in her inner circle.

Outwitting the police When the Lieutenant of Police, Monsieur de Sartines, corners the thief Coq le Roi, a masked savior guides the robber down a well into an underground tunnel to safety. Sartines is left baffled, realize too late that he has been outsmarted by Corinne, who sets up a daring wager involving the King's own ring.

Rescue from the Bombec The aged Jacques de Serrefort is dragged down into the dark, slimy depths of the Conciergerie's notorious Bombec Tower, facing a grim imprisonment. Corinne whisk him away from the dungeon walls to her gilded cabinet, dressing the tearful veteran in his old uniform and restoring his pride over a lavish supper.

The scarlet spectacle An abbé traveling the road to Paris is intercepted by masked figures and carried off into a forest to face a bizarre court of red-clad phantoms. Stripped of his blindfold, he finds himself sitting at a magnificent feast in a room draped entirely in scarlet, hosted by Corinne to trick his pursuers and spirit him safely to Blois.

A poisoned inheritance Eugène Sabatier visits his brother, Count Charles, in a forbidding château where he is offered a deadly flask of poisoned Armagnac meant to secure his murder. Through Corinne's timely intervention and the warning of her physician, Eugène survives the night and rides back to claim his proper title as Count of Brives.

The mock scaffold Trapped in a woodland chalet by the highwayman "La Force," Corinne maintains her composure while her disguised followers set a terrifying psychological trap. Under cover of darkness, her men construct a full executioner's scaffold and coffin in the courtyard, breaking the robber's spirit until he collapses in terror.

Triumph at Ussy Supported by the mischievous red-clad dwarf Yerut, Corinne confronts Captain Villefort and her enemies on the estate grounds of Ussy. She turns her wit directly upon King Louis XV, winning the monarch's favor, saving her lover from execution, and securing her position as the undisputed Queen of the Jesters.

The People

• Corinne de Montesson: A wealthy, radiant noblewoman who rejects the gilded boredom of the court at Versailles to rule over the Paris underworld. She seeks excitement, justice, and the thrill of outwitting authority, using her fortune and dramatic genius to save rogues and innocents alike.
• Ferdinand Dauberval: A poor young man from Avranches who enters Paris penniless and starving. What stands in his way is his utter desperation, but after surviving Corinne's terrifying trial by hound, he proves his bravery and enters her trusted retinue.
• Monsieur de Sartines: The formidable Lieutenant of Police who desires total order over Paris. Standing in his path is Corinne's immense influence over the city's vagabonds, leaving him repeatedly humiliated, outwitted, and baffled by her daring schemes.
• Jacques de Serrefort: An elderly, white-haired veteran crushed by unjust imprisonment in the damp dungeons of the Bombec Tower. Fear and despair break his spirit until Corinne rescues him, rekindling his former pride by restoring his uniform and sword.
• Eugène Sabatier: A young dragoon whose life is targeted by his own sinister brother through a flask of poisoned wine. Ignorant of the murderous plot, he is saved by Corinne's network and evolves from a naive officer into the rightful Count of Brives.
• "La Force": A boastful highwayman who thinks he can hold Corinne captive in his secret wilderness shelter. His arrogance crumbles into weeping terror when Corinne turns her theatrical tricks against him, forcing him to face a mock scaffold built outside his window.
• Yerut: A shaggy-headed dwarf dressed in bright scarlet who rides an Arab horse and laughs in the face of royal captains. He acts as Corinne’s fiercely loyal accomplice, using his sharp tongue and bizarre appearance to mock her enemies and execute her wildest plans.

In Its Own Voice

When Ferdinand Dauberval stumbles out of his terrifying pursuit into the dark, panelled corridors of the Hôtel Beautreillis, the sheer horror of his situation overwhelms him:

Dread of the dog drove him onward recklessly.

Later, as the elderly Jacques de Serrefort is marched down into the bowels of the Conciergerie, the brutal reality of the city's subterranean prisons becomes painfully clear:

It is the prison of swords you enter, God help you.

And when the highwayman "La Force" peers out of his window in the dead of night, he realizes too late the terrifying scale of the trap Corinne has built around him:

The highwayman saw that these torches were held by men gowned as his mysterious visitor, all in deep black, with hoods covering their faces, and holes for their eyes, which gave them an ogreish aspect terrible to behold.

What It's Really About

Beneath its cloak-and-dagger thrillers and midnight rescues, the novel explores the power of theatricality as an instrument of justice. Corinne de Montesson turns the rigid social structures of eighteenth-century France upside down by treating the entirety of Paris as her personal stage. Where the official law of Monsieur de Sartines is corrupt, arbitrary, and brutal—relying on dark dungeon towers and summary gallows—Corinne introduces a counter-power built on mercy, spectacle, and illusion. The book asks whether true nobility is found in the aristocratic halls of Versailles or among the outcasts who show genuine loyalty to one another. Ultimately, it celebrates the victory of human wit, generosity, and individual liberty over oppressive state authority and cold, institutional cruelty.

Why Read It Today

Queen of the Jesters is a ideal find for readers who revel in classic French historical adventures like The Three Musketeers or The Scarlet Pimpernel. Max Pemberton captures the dark, atmospheric charm of pre-Revolutionary Paris with genuine affection, painting a vivid picture of a city divided between glittering salon drawing rooms and damp, rat-infested underground tunnels. Reading the book feels like slipping into a lavishly staged period melodrama filled with secret trapdoors, masked highwaymen, theatrical deceptions, and midnight rides through fog-shrouded forests.

The story moves at a rapid pace, sustained by Corinne’s irrepressible charisma and the outlandish flair of her companion Yerut the dwarf. Modern readers should be prepared for typical late-Victorian serial formatting—the novel functions as a collection of interconnected episodic adventures rather than a single tightly woven plotline—and a romanticized view of eighteenth-century outlaw life. Yet its brisk action, warm humor, and colorful gothic atmospheres make it an utterly captivating comfort read that leaves you wishing for your own invitation to the Rue St. Paul.