The Secret Bureau 4: The Marquis de Lupiano

The Marquis de Lupiano (1858) is the fourth and final volume in a sprawling saga that tells the story of the secret government’s spy network, the Secret Bureau, that intercepts and opens all private mail.

In this tome, we finally discover the hidden origins of the mercurial Marquis de Lupiano and his connection to the accursed Hulet family. The secret master of the various conspiracies, such as the Sleepers’ Club, the Brothers of Death and the Red Brotherhood, now plots to change the course of history by freeing Napoleon from Saint-Helena. We also learn of the final fate of Gregorio Matiphous, the cunning Maltese who fell in love with Georgiana, the so-called “bloodied girl.” We see how the web of fate that has trapped the Hulets for generations collides with the bandit Rempailleux, who is now the head of the Secret Bureau.

Charles Rabou (1803-1871) was one of the founders of the prestigious Revue de Paris and a friend of Honoré de Balzac, whose unfinished novels he completed after the latter’s death. He was also a master of the roman noir (crime novel). The Secret Bureau is an important link between the works of Jules Janin and Frédéric Soulié on the one hand, and Paul Féval and Ponson du Terrail on the other.