Pierre Alexis Ponson du Terrail, Viscount (1829–1871) is one of the most famous French writers of the second half of the 19th century; the author of sensational novels, which were published in unprecedented editions for those years and were translated into many languages, including Russian. Ponson du Terrail became best known for his series of adventure novels about Rocambole, an outlaw, a member of a criminal secret society that arose in Parisian high society. Both novels presented in this volume, “The Lovely Jeweler” and “The Mistress of the King of Navarre,” are united by the name of Marguerite of Valois , Queen of France and Navarre. Contemporaries called her Minerva, patroness of the arts and sciences. Descendants will call her one of the first feminists. Competing with men in science and art, she also defended women’s right to freedom of choice in love. On the pages of this book, the reader will meet not only the Valois princess, but also the young Henry of Navarre - the future king of France, their friends and enemies, rivals and lovers.