The Sire de Malétroit's Door

by Robert Louis Stevenson

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Summary

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Introduction

Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Sire de Maletroit’s Door” is a suspenseful short story that combines elements of mystery and horror to create a tale of tension and interest that draws readers in and holds them until the end. In 1878, the story first appeared in Temple Bar, a British magazine; just four years later, Stevenson included it in his first short story collection, the 1882 New Arabian Nights.

“The Sire de Maletroit’s Door” is set in the village of Chateau Landon in Burgundy, France, in September 1429. That year is important, as it places the tale amid the Hundred Years War, a conflict between England and France about claims to the French monarchy. The story’s protagonist, Denis de Beaulieu, is a French soldier who finds himself in a town controlled by English forces. While he has “safe conduct”—permission to be there—he soon finds himself in a difficult situation, one that grows increasingly worse throughout the story.

Plot Summary

The story opens with Denis de Beaulieu setting out in the early evening to visit a friend. He stays at his friend’s house later than he intended; black night has fallen by the time he sets out for home. Unsurprisingly, Denis gets lost and finds himself in danger. In the darkness of the night, he realizes his safe-conduct permissions will make no difference to the groups of English soldiers that patrol the village streets. If they find him, they will kill him without asking questions or listening to explanations.

Soon, one such group of soldiers begins chasing Denis. He tries to hide in the shadows but trips and makes a noise, alerting the men to his presence. They chase him onto the porch of a grand house, where he gets ready to fight. He positions himself with his back to a door, but when he leans against it, he is surprised when it opens noiselessly. Denis has no choice but to enter. “For some inexplicable reason,” the door closes behind him, leaving him no way to escape.

Denis stands in the dark, listening to a faint sobbing and sighing, until he notices a “vertical thread of light.” He follows it into a “large apartment of polished stone.” An old man sits in a chair beside the chimney, and Denis recognizes as Alain, Sire de Maletroit. The Sire greets Denis as though he has been expecting him, inviting the confused younger man to sit and assuring him: “You arrive uninvited, but believe me, very welcome.”

Before long, Denis realizes he must be talking to a madman. When the Sire calls the young man “dear nephew.” Denis quickly realizes that he is, for all practical purposes, the Sire’s prisoner. The Sire then takes Denis into the adjoining chapel, where he sees a young woman dressed as a bride. “Shame and exhaustion” fill her expression, and she cries out that Denis is not the man; she has never seen him before.

Denis knows that such is true, but the Sire neither believes nor cares about her claims, as the young woman, his niece, Blanche, has disgraced the family. Now, he explains, she must pay the consequences. She and Denis will marry. They have two hours to get to know each other, and Denis has a choice: a wedding or death.

When the two are alone, Blanche explains the situation. She was seeing a soldier; while she proclaims her innocence, her uncle maintains that her behavior was inappropriate and demands extreme measures such as these. Denis decides he would rather die than compromise his honor or force Blanche into a marriage she does not want.

Blanche, however, quickly falls in love with this man who is willing to die for her; the longer the two talk, the more Denis falls for her. When the Sire de Maletroit enters the room two hours later, he finds the young couple kissing. He merely chuckles, wishing “his new nephew a good morning.”

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