A mad run through 17th Century France with swordfights, rebellions, disguise, identity theft, and an extremely star-crossed love affair between a leading courtier of Louis XIII (Bardelys, known as "The Magnificent") and the beautiful Roxalanne of Lavédan. Set in the same milieu as Dumas' "Three Musketeers" stories. Bardelys of the title wagers that he can win the hand of the lovely but reluctant Roxalanne of Lavédan; but he becomes entangled in the Orléanist rebellion, and a case of mistaken identity that furthers his romantic mission but seems destined to make him fodder for the Hangman. Danger, excitement, swordplay, romantic interludes--all captured in the literate but driving style that made Sabatini such a favorite writer, and the foremost author of adventure novels in the 20th Century.