The novel by the classic French writer Alexandre Dumas “Sylvandire” belongs to the period when Dumas’s creativity was at its peak—when “The Three Musketeers” and “The Count of Monte Cristo” were written. The setup of the novel resembles the opening chapters of “The Three Musketeers”: a young man from an ancient but impoverished family arrives in Paris with nothing but a sword and a half-empty purse. In the first days, thanks to his courtesy and excellent courage in a duel, he wins noble friends. But that’s where the resemblance ends. Roger arrives in the capital with a different goal, in a completely different time, and in France, over the years that have passed, much has changed.