CROWNED BY THE FRENCH ACADEMY Fair Touraine, lovely in the fullness of summer . . . yet all is not so placid and peaceful as the slow-flowing River Loire -- for young Henri, Marquis de Cing-Mars, and his friend De Thou are undertaking one of the most daring exploits of the seventeenth century -- a conspiracy against Cardinal Richelieu! The first romantic novel of France, Cinq-Mars, ou Une Conjuration sous Louis XIII, was written by Alfred-Victor, Count de Vigny, under the spell of Sir Walter Scott"s adventure-filled historical romances. Himself once a member of the Mousquetaires Rouges, Vigny filled his majestic novel of 1826 with ringing authenticity and lavish historical detail.