The History of the Thirteen

A trilogy consisting of three works: Ferragus, The Duchesse de Langeais, and The Girl With the Golden Eyes.

• The History of the Thirteen is about a secret society led by a criminal Ferragus. A society of men "of courage and imagination, bored of the humdrum life they were leading and drawn to Oriental pleasures by urges so long repressed that they reasserted themselves with a furious intensity." A society of "pirates in yellow gloves and riding in carriages...a new society of Jesus on the side of the devil...with a foot in every salon, a hand in every safe, an elbow on every street and a head on every pillow." (Robb, 204-205) Sounds like it would make a good trailer or preview for a new movie.
• Ferragus (History of the Thirteen I,1819)
  About the devoted love of a husband and wife and a young admirer who catches the wife in the act of supposed infidelities. Who the wife secretly goes to visit in the afternoons while her husband is away at work and more importantly why, is not a question to be asked lightly. In fact, those who ask it seem to end up dead. The plot resembles that of a good movie. This work resembles "The Mysteries of Paris" by Eugene Sue. The ironic description of the famous Pere Lachais cemetery and all the Parisian institutions of death at the end is definitely worth reading.
  (Medium, Ferragus, frrgs10.txt)
• The Duchesse de Langeais (History of the Thirteen II, 1818-29) A story of personal vengeance in which "the innocent hero, Montriveau, is seduced by a bored society coquette who uses religion as 'a cold shower' when the heat of passion becomes too intense and then throws him away 'like a squeezed lemon'. Afterwards she comes to fear the anger of 'this man with the neck of a bull.'... True to his neck, Montriveau captures the Duchesse with the aid of the secret Society of the Thirteen and threatens to brand her with an iron. His real vengeance comes when she falls in love with him -- too late -- and retires to a convent." (Robb, 219)
  (Medium to Long, La Duchesse de Langeais, dlang10.txt)
• The Girl with the Golden Eyes (History of the Thirteen III, 1815)
  Among the curious tidbits of trivia associated with this story is the fact that the description of the boudoir was "reproduced in a woman's magazine as a source of handy hints on home decorating." The introduction describes "nineteenth-century urban and economic conditions." (Robb, 264, 385) (Medium, La Fille aux yeux d'or, gwtgi10.txt)