Le Chevalier des Touches

In a rain‑soaked December evening at the close of France’s Restoration, the quiet square of Valognes is shattered by the clatter of two draggling sabots and a mournful howl of dogs. A lone rider, his silhouette barely visible beneath a tilted umbrella, draws the attention of the sleepy town guards as they awaken to an unsettling presence. The atmosphere is thick with superstition, the nearby “Gibbet Heath” once a place of executions, now a forbidden stretch that heightens the sense of dread.

The narrative follows this mysterious chevalier, a man bound by a code of honor inherited from his forebears, who arrives amid whispers of civil conflict and lingering Napoleonic loyalties. As he seeks refuge in the town’s inn, he meets a group of eleven companions, each bearing scars of past battles and a quiet determination to uphold a fading chivalry. Their first night together sets the stage for a tense drama where personal valor clashes with the political turmoil that has frayed the region.