While the basic story is engaging, at 14 chapters this short story is overblown by today's standards. It has many tangential embellishments such as references to the French Directory and to Guy Fawkes that by today's standards seem overly showey.

I found that it was a bit of a chore to read through all of the conjecture and obvious literary bits to get to the story underneath. I had read this story while in college and remembered that I didn't really care for it. As part of my attempt to become a better writer myself I decided that the time was ripe to re-read a few of the "classics" that I hadn't enjoyed and to see if an older but wiser reader made more of them than a callow youth.

In this case, at least... I have to side with the youth.