The Republican's Fiancée

This small novel by Alexandre Dumas is also known under the title “Blanche de Beaulieu, or the Vendée Woman.” The story takes place in 1793 in France. While both internal and external enemies plot a conspiracy against the Republic, the Vendéans (people from the French province of Vendée, supporters of the monarchy) rise up with weapons in hand against the Republican soldiers.

Blanche, the daughter of the leader of the Vendée uprising, Count Beaulieu, is captured and presented for questioning before Generals Dumas and Marceau. But the beauty and resilience of the young woman enchant General Marceau, and he—at the risk of his life—hides her with his mother in Nantes. A sinister character of the Revolution, Delmar, a representative of the people, discovers the young woman’s hideout and arrests her.

In despair, Marceau confesses his love for Blanche, but it seems nothing can stop the course of revolutionary justice over the runaway’s daughter, condemned by the Convention.

One of the key characters in the book is General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, the father of the writer.