La cuerda del ahorcado / Últimas aventuras de Rocambole: I El Loco de Bedlam

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

27695

Title

La cuerda del ahorcado / Últimas aventuras de Rocambole: I El Loco de Bedlam

Language

es

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

In this thrilling installment of the Rocambole series, Ponson du Terrail weaves a tale of underground peril and high-stakes intrigue. Trapped beneath London by collapsing tunnels, the intrepid hero Rocambole faces a crumbling vault and a mysterious barrel of ancient gunpowder. Meanwhile, a separate narrative unfolds involving a disguised Englishman, a mysterious Indian guide, and a desperate quest for justice within the confines of Bedlam asylum. Blending action, romance, and social commentary, this adventure captures the essence of 19th-century French...

Summary up to 500 words

In Ponson du Terrail's *La cuerda del ahorcado*, the narrative unfolds through a convergence of high-stakes adventure and intricate domestic intrigue set against the backdrop of Victorian London. The story opens with Rocambole and his companions trapped in a collapsing underground gallery beneath the city. Following a violent tremor that seals their exit with a massive rock, Rocambole demonstrates his characteristic heroism and engineering prowess. He devises a daring plan to utilize a two-hundred-year-old barrel of volatile gunpowder found in the ruins. By constructing a massive retaining wall behind the barrel, the group creates the necessary pressure to blow the obstruction into the Thames, allowing them to escape the crumbling subterranean world just as police forces approach. Parallel to this action is a complex subplot involving Sir Jorge, formerly Sir Evandale. Having disguised himself as an Indian named Nizam after surviving a tiger attack in India, he returns to England to reclaim his family's title. He reveals his true identity to his brother, Lord William, and his love interest, Miss Anna. Sir Jorge proposes a bold scheme: he will assume the title of Lord Pembleton if his brother is declared dead, allowing him to marry Miss Anna and secure the family fortune. This plan relies on the precarious balance of life and death, as the group must ensure Lord William appears deceased without actually killing him. The narrative also delves into the dark underbelly of London through the eyes of Betzy, the wife of the criminal Tom. Imprisoned in Bedlam, Betzy orchestrates a daring escape with the help of mysterious "Dames" who swap habits with her. She retrieves crucial documents hidden in a bust of Wellington and hides them in an empty grave in a Protestant cemetery to protect them from the Fenians, a radical Irish group seeking to exhume their dead. Betzy spends months evading capture, using her imprisonment as a cover to pass messages to her husband. The story concludes with the tragic deaths of Tom and Betzy, yet Lord William and his family survive. The resolution of the legal and romantic conflicts remains open, leaving the fate of the Pembleton legacy and the truth behind the Fenian plots to be determined by the forces of justice and the cunning of the protagonists.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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Categories

• Adventure
• Fiction