In Paris during the Regency, we meet Henri, a young acrobat and swordsman nicknamed “Le petit parisien,” trained by Cocardasse and Passepoil. The court is abuzz with talk of the “trois Philippe”—d'Orléans, Gonzague, and Nevers—and rumors of a secret daughter born of the love between Nevers and Blanche de Caylus. While Lagardère proves himself for the first time, Gonzague's ambitions take shape and foreshadow the coming conspiracy, though it has not yet erupted.