Cerise: A Tale of the Last Century

George John Whyte-Melville (1821 – 1878) was a Scottish novelist much concerned with field sports, and also a poet. Most of his works are set in the realms of the hunting field or historical romance. He took a break in the mid-1850s to serve as an officer of Turkish irregular cavalry in the Crimean War.

Excerpt from the book:

"But Versailles was not France, and at Versailles nothing seemed free but the birds and the children."