After the untimely death of her beloved father, the valiant Chevalier St. Angouléme, innocent young Adelaide goes to live with her uncle and aunt, the Count and Countess St. Angouléme. Although the haughty and imperious Count keeps her confined nearly a prisoner within the castle walls, Adelaide is nonetheless happy in the company of her friend the Countess.
But things begin to take a sinister turn when a villainous peasant, De Launé, arrives at the castle with apparent proof that Adelaide is really his daughter, switched at birth with the true heiress to the estate. Still reeling from this revelation, Adelaide's situation grows even worse when she is kidnapped by banditti in the service of a lascivious marquis and imprisoned in a remote castle. Yet all is not what it seems, and Adelaide must solve the mystery of her parentage and unravel a dark conspiracy against her, before it is too late!
This 200th Anniversary Edition of Pyrenean Banditti (1811) reprints the unabridged text of the first edition of this engaging Gothic novel, which survives in only three known copies worldwide. Also included in this special edition is a new introduction in which the details of the life of the mysterious author, Eleanor Sleath, are revealed for the first time.