Memoirs of Arsène Lupin

Before He Was a Legend, He Was a Man. Discover the Origin of Arsène Lupin. This is the story of the first adventure of Arsène Lupin, and it would have been published before the stories of the others if he had not so often and so resolutely opposed it. “No,” he would say, “there are one or two little matters yet to be settled between the Countess of Cagliostro and me. We must wait.” The waiting lasted longer than he foresaw. More than a quarter of a century passed before the final settlement; and only today am I permitted to relate the frightful duel of love and hate which brought a boy of twenty to grips with Cagliostro’s daughter. Before he became the world’s most elusive gentleman-thief, he was merely Ralph d'Andrésy—a passionate, headstrong twenty-year-old trying to win the hand of his forbidden first love, Clarice d’Étiges. But when he stumbles upon a dark, estate conspiracy to murder a mysterious woman, he is violently thrust into a world of ancient secrets. The target of the plot is none other than Josephine Balsamo, the captivating Countess of Cagliostro, a dangerous woman rumored to possess supernatural longevity and the key to a monumental, centuries-old treasure.