Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel successfully pleaded with her husband not to take the traitorous Lord Kulmsted (see 'The Traitor' in The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel) on his latest mission. Several members of the league would have liked to extend the prohibition to young Lord Fanshawe, who, despite a keen start, is wilful & obstinate – an inveterate gambler who is apt to turn very nasty if matters don't go the way he desires. Fanshawe has, for several years, been in love with Aline, the daughter of The Comte d'Ercourt, whom he first met before the revolution when she was a child of sixteen.
Romantic hero Romantic hero include: Romantic hero The Romantic hero is a literary archetype referring to a character that rejects established norms and conventions, has been rejected by society, and has himself (or herself) as the center of his or her own existence. The Romantic hero is often the protagonist in a literary work, and the primary focus is on the character's thoughts rather than his or her actions. Literary critic Northrop Frye noted that the Romantic hero is often "placed outside the structure of civilization and therefore represents the force of physical nature, amoral or ruthless, yet with a sense of