It was spring at Bellecour—the spring of 1789, a short three months before the fall of the Bastille came to give the nobles pause, and make them realize that these new philosophies, which so long they have derided, were by no means the idle vapors they had deemed them. By the brook, plashing its glittering course through the park of Bellecour, wandered La Boulaye, his long, lean, figure clad with a sombreness that was out of harmony in that sunlit, vernal landscape. But the sad-hued coat belied that morning a heart that sang within his breast as joyously as any linnet of the woods through which he strayed. That he was garbed in black was but the outward indication of his clerkly office, for he was secretary to the most noble the Marquis de Fresnoy de Bellecour, and so clothed in the livery of the ink by which he lived. His face was pale and lean and thoughtful, but within his great, intelligent eyes there shone a light of newborn happiness. Under his arm he carried a volume of the new philosophies which Rousseau had lately given to the world, and which were contributing so vastly to the mighty change that was impending. But within his soul there dwelt in that hour no such musty subject as the metaphysical dreams of old Rousseau. His mood inclined little to the "Discourses upon the Origin of Inequality" which his elbow hugged to his side. Rather was it a mood of song and joy and things of light, and his mind was running on a string of rhymes which mentally he offered up to his divinity. A high-born lady was she, daughter to his lordly employer, the most noble Marquis of Bellecour. And he a secretary, a clerk! Aye, but a clerk with a great soul, a secretary with a great belief in the things to come, which in that musty tome beneath his arm were dimly prophesied.

The Trampling of the Lilies is novel by Rafael Sabatini, published in 1906.

The events that fateful spring morning sealed M. la Boulaye's fate. It started with an idyll in the garden with the object of his heart's desire; it ended when the Marquis found them in the garden. The Marquis came slowly forward, his angrily inquiring glance wandering from his daughter to M. la Boulaye. At last he said -- "Well?" he demanded. "What is the matter?" "It is nothing," his daughter answered him. "A trifling affair 'twixt M. la Boulaye and me, with which I will not trouble you." "It is not nothing, my lord," cried La Boulaye, his voice vibrating oddly.

When La Boulaye recovered consciousness he was lying on his back in the middle of the courtyard of the Chateau de Bellecour. From a great stone balcony above, a little group, of which Mademoiselle de Bellecour was the centre, observed the scene about the captive, who was being resuscitated that he might fittingly experience the Seigneur's vengeance.

DigiCat presents to you this unique Rafael Sabatini collection, formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents: Novels: Scaramouche Captain Blood The Lovers of Yvonne The Tavern Knight Bardelys the Magnificent The Trampling of the Lilies Love-at-Arms The Shame of Motley St. Martin's Summer Mistress Wilding The Lion's Skin The Strolling Saint The Gates of Doom The Sea Hawk The Snare Fortune's Fool The Carolinian Short Stories: The Justice of the Duke: The Honour of Varano The Test Ferrante's jest Gismondi's wage The Snare The Lust of Conquest The pasquinade The Banner of the Bull: The Urbinian The Perugian The Venetian Other Stories: The Red Mask The Curate and the Actress The Fool's Love Story The Sacrifice The Spiritualist Mr. Dewbury's Consent The Baker of Rousillon Wirgman's Theory The Abduction Monsieur Delamort The Foster Lover The Blackmailer The Justice of the Duke The Ordeal The Tapestried Room The Wedding Gift The Camisade In Destiny's Clutch The Vicomte's Wager Sword and Mitre The Dupes The Malediction The Red Owl Out of the Dice Box The Marquis' Coach Tommy The Lottery Ticket The Duellist's Wife The Ducal Rival The Siege of Savigny The Locket The Devourer of Hearts The Matamorphasis of Colin Annabel's Wager The Act of The Captain of the Guard The Copy Hunter Sequestration Gismondi's Wage Playing with Fire The Scourge Intelligence The Night of Doom The Driver of the Hearse The Plague of Ghosts The Risen Dead The Bargain Kynaston's Reckoning Duroc The Poachers The Opportunist The Sentimentalist Casanova's Alibi The Augmentation of Mercury The Priest of Mars The Oracle Under the Leads The Rooks and the Hawk The Polish Duel Casanova in Madrid The Outlaw of Falkensteig D'Aubeville's Enterprise The Nuptials of Lindenstein The Outlaw and the Lady The Jealousy of Delventhal The Shriving of Felsheim Loaded Dice Of What Befel at Bailienochy After Worcester Field The Chancellor's Daughter... Historical Works: The Life of Cesare Borgia Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition The Historical Nights' Entertainment – 1st and 2nd Series