The Lovers of Yvonne — Rafael Sabatini

After a brief stint in the business world, Sabatini went to work as a writer. He wrote short stories in the 1890s and his first novel came out in 1902. It took Sabatini roughly a quarter of a century of hard work before he attained success with Scaramouche in 1921. "You are not a coward, Monsieur," said the dark lady. "I have been accounted many unsavory things, Madame, but my bitterest enemies never dubbed me that." "Why, then, did you run away?" "Why? Ma foi because in the excessive humility of my soul I recognized myself unfit to die." It was a day that set events in motion that shaped history for centuries to come.