Secrets d'État by Tristan Bernard
Secrets d’État by Tristan Bernard is a satirical court-intrigue novel written in the early 20th century. It follows a young Frenchman swept into the inner circles of a fictional Central European monarchy, where a reserved, sharp-minded king and a powerful prime minister preside over a web of politics and private passions. Seen through the amused, observant eye of an outsider, the story blends romance, bureaucracy, and statecraft behind palace walls. The opening
of Secrets d’État begins with a playful frame: a pushy red‑haired intermediary bullies a writer into shaping confidential notes into a narrative, which then shifts to the first‑person account of a French tutor recruited to the principality of Bergensland. En route, he befriends Count Henry de Tolberg, who candidly sketches the court—its elusive king Charles XVI, commanding premier Baron de Herner, and Tolberg’s delicate attachment to Bertha—foreshadowing rivalries. In Schoenburg, the newcomer endures comic palace routines (notably the garrulous preceptor Bölmöller), dines with Herner, and gains a post analyzing French newspapers for the minister and the king. He meets the monarch at a rural residence and discovers a companionable, cultured intelligence, then samples city life, even a light liaison with a restaurant orchestra’s leader. When summoned again, he finds the king troubled after confirming a soldier’s execution and hearing him argue passionately against the death penalty and war, while the king’s confidant, Count von Herrenstein, provides somber musical interludes. The stage is set for discreet conflict as the outsider’s loyalties may be tested between Herner’s authority and Tolberg’s private hopes. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Bernard, Tristan, 1866-1947 |
|---|---|
| LoC No. | 09000859 |
| Title | Secrets d'État |
| Original Publication | Paris :Édition du Monde Illustré, 1908. |
| Credits | Laurent Vogel (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Books project.) |
| Language | French |
| LoC Class | PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese |
| Subject | Thrillers (Fiction) |
| Subject | French -- Foreign countries -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 78141 |
| Release Date | Mar 8, 2026 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 202 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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