Summary
In the shadowy underbelly of fin-de-siècle Paris, Valentin Marquis de Sombreuil, a figure of enigmatic power known only as Monsieur Simon, orchestrates a clandestine syndicate of Parisian Apaches. This cabal, dispensing its own brutal brand of vigilante justice through the chilling 'court of St. Simon,' becomes a perverse crucible for Eugene, a thrill-seeking young American. Lured by Valentin into witnessing the tribunal's macabre proceedings, Eugene finds himself ensnared, eventually condemned to a punitive prison sentence for a crime orchestrated by the very gang he was drawn to. Years later, after shedding his dark mantle and forging a new identity as the respectable husband to Virginia Arlen, a woman of impeccable aristocratic lineage, Valentin's meticulously constructed world shatters. He discovers, with a profound and agonizing horror, that Eugene, the innocent he had so callously ruined, is none other than his beloved wife's brother. The revelation ignites a tempest of betrayal and unforgiveness, driving a wedge between Valentin and Virginia. Yet, from the ashes of their fractured union, a new life emerges—their child—whose innocent presence slowly, inexorably, stitches the fabric of their reconciliation.
Synopsis
Valentin Marquis de Sombreiul, alias Monsieur Simon, is known as the great master because he is the leader of a band of Parisian Apaches who mete out their own private justice to individuals who have violated their code in a secret tribunal known as the court of St. Simon. In an effort to cure Eugene, a young American longing for excitement, Valentin induces the young man to witness these horrors with the result that the youth is drawn into the Apache gang and sentenced to prison for one of their crimes. Later, after the master has disbanded his secret society and married Virginia Arlen, a charming girl from an aristocratic family, he discovers to his horror that the boy whose life he has ruined is his wife's brother. When Virginia learns the truth, she refuses to forgive Valentin, but after a period of separation, the two are reconciled by their child.
