The Honour of Savelli: A Romance
Public-domain ebook
The Honour of Savelli: A Romance
Language: en6,017 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Historical Novels·Romance·Novels
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #38250.
About this book
The Honour of Savelli is a historical romance set amid the turbulent Italian wars of the early sixteenth century. The novel opens with a vivid camp scene in Arezzo, where the narrator, Ugo di Savelli, is caught in a sudden accusation of theft after a tense exchange with the flamboyant Crepin D’Entrangues. The dialogue is brisk, the atmosphere charged, and the narrative quickly introduces a cast of soldiers, mercenaries, and aristocrats, all tangled in intrigue over stolen jewels and a mysterious thief. The author, S. Levett Yeats, explicitly frames his work as an attempt to capture the “spirit of the true Romance,” borrowing from Dumas while striving for an authentic sixteenth‑century Italian voice. The opening therefore promises a blend of battlefield drama, courtly intrigue, and personal honor, anchored in a richly detailed historical backdrop.
The prose reflects the late‑Victorian fascination with swash‑buckling adventure, employing a formal, occasionally florid style that echoes the author’s admiration for Alexandre Dumas and the melodramatic romances of his era. Dialogue is punctuated with archaic spelling and elaborate description, giving the text a period flavor that will appeal to readers who enjoy immersive historical settings and the theatricality of classic adventure tales. Those who appreciate intricate plots, vivid military tableaux, and the moral ambiguities of honor‑bound characters will find this novel a rewarding, if demanding, reading experience.
Characters in The Honour of Savelli
- Ugo di SavelliYoung Italian nobleman in early 1500s, dark hair, trimmed beard, polished steel armor, crimson cloak
- Crepin D’EntranguesFlamboyant mercenary with flamboyant doublet, feathered hat, gaudy colors, mustache, sword at side
The opening · free to read
New York D. Appleton and Company 1895
Copyright, 1895, By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
PREFACE.
Is writing this book the Author has made no effort to point a moral; all that has been done is an attempt to catch the "spirit of the true Romance," and to amuse. The book was partly written in the intervals of work in India, and was completed during the leisure allowed by furlough on medical certificate. In dealing with this period of Italian history, in which the story is set, the Author would say he has taken Dumas for his model, but hopes that he has worked out his scheme on original lines; and he has used, as far as possible, the language in which an Italian living in the beginning of the sixteenth century would express himself. At the time the book was written the Author had not read Mr. Stanley Weyman's brilliant novel, "A Gentleman of France." Had he done so the style of the present book would doubtless have been much improved from the lessons taught by a master-hand. The Author, in bringing this to the notice of the reader, would humbly add that he is making no challenge to break a lance with so redoubted a knight as the creator of Gaston de Marsac.
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