Marie

Marie is a 1912 novel by H. Rider Haggard featuring Allan Quatermain. The plot concerns Quatermain as a young man and involves his first marriage, to the Boer farm girl, Marie Marais. Their romance is opposed by Marie's anti-English father, and her villainous cousin Hernan Pereira, who desires Marie. They are Voortrekkers who take part in the Great Trek whom Quatermain has to rescue. The novel describes Quatermain's involvement in the Sixth Xhosa War of 1835 and Weenen massacre. Real life people such as Piet Retief, Thomas Halstead, and the Zulu chief Dingane appear as characters. Events in Nada the Lily are frequently referred to. Plot The plot begins in Cradock, a District of Cape Colony, a wild place with a handful of white settlers. Fifteen miles from the Mission station where Allan and his father, who is a church of England clergyman, live, there resides a Boer called Henry Marais, who has a young daughter named Marie. Allan and Marie meet when they are given a tutor called Monsieur Leblanc who teaches them French language and other subjects. What starts as a childhood friendship slowly grows into a fully fledged love and deep affection, much to the chagrin of Marie's father, who tries everything within his power to separate them. One day, monsieur Leblanc goes to one of his Sunday riding expeditions. Being intoxicated with his Peach brandy, and after sleeping, he wakes up to find his horse missing. Thinking it stolen, he sets out to look for it when he by chance comes across two red Kaffirs leading it away though looking for its owner to restore it to him. On sighting them, he shoots the eldest son of the chief and he drops dead. When he fires again, he injures the other son on the thigh but he manages to run away to tell the tale. The result is that they trace the attacker to Maraisfontein and plans an ambush attack on it to avenge the death by killing all its inhabitants and driving away all their cattle. On hearing this, and with the little time available, Allan manages to raise support and tries as much as he can to save Maraisfontein. Though with initial success, with their supply of gunpowder dwindling, and almost losing the fight, they almost commit suicide when Henry Marais comes with other Boers from other camps and fires at the red Kaffirs thus bringing the matter to a happy conclusion. Allan saves Marie's life together with those of the servants save for Monsieur Leblanc who is captured and killed by the foe.