TASK DEFINITION: You will be given a summary of a story. You need to create a question that can be answered from the story. You can create a question about characters, events, facts and beliefs, etc. Your question should be specific, try not to use pronouns instead of full names. As the stories are sometimes movie plots, they will contain actor names in parentheses. You should not use those names. Only use character names. Try to ask a question about all parts of the plot, not just the beginning.
PROBLEM: The novel begins in the 1790s in the coastal town of Monkshaven (modeled on Whitby, England) against the background of the practice of impressment during the early phases of the Napoleonic Wars. Sylvia Robson lives happily with her parents on a farm, and is passionately loved by her rather dull Quaker cousin Philip. She, however, meets and falls in love with Charlie Kinraid, a dashing sailor on a whaling vessel, and they become secretly engaged. When Kinraid goes back to his ship, he is forcibly enlisted in the Royal Navy by a press gang, a scene witnessed by Philip. Philip does not tell Sylvia of the incident nor relay to her Charlie's parting message and, believing her lover is dead, Sylvia eventually marries her cousin. This act is primarily prompted out of gratefulness for Philip's assistance during a difficult time following her father's imprisonment and subsequent execution for leading a revengeful raid on press-gang collaborators. They have a daughter. Inevitably, Kinraid returns to claim Sylvia and she discovers that Philip knew all the time that he was still alive. Philip leaves her in despair at her subsequent rage and rejection, but she refuses to live with Kinraid because of her child.
Philip joins the army under a pseudonym, and ends up fighting in the Napoleonic wars, where he saves Kinraid's life. Kinraid returns to Britain, and marries. His wife, who knows nothing of their history together, informs Sylvia that her husband is a great military leader. Kinraid's marriage suggests to Sylvia that he was not as faithful to her as she had remained to him, and she then realizes she is actually in love with Philip. Philip, meanwhile horribly disfigured by a shipboard explosion, returns to the small Northumbrian village to try to secretly get a glimpse of his child. He ends up staying with the sister of a servant of Sylvia's deceased parents, and rescues his child when she nearly drowns. He is fatally injured while saving his daughter, but his identity then becomes known and he is reconciled with his wife on his deathbed.

SOLUTION: In what century does the story begin?

PROBLEM: John Girdlestone owns the firm of Girdlestone. It is a very lucrative business and John Girdlestone and his son Ezra Girdlestone are respected by everyone. Both father and son are cynics and have no other thought but for their business; after giving a donation of 25 for charity, John Girdlestone remarks to himself that it is not a bad "investment", as it will make a favorable impression on the collector, who is a Member of Parliament, whose influence he hopes to use some day. Ezra, his son, is even more of a cynic, as the elder Girdlestone's cynicism is mitigated by his supposed religiosity. However, he manifests a great acumen for business, sometimes, even surpassing his father's sharpness in business matters. A series of disastrous speculations by the elder Girdlestone financially ruins the firm. After keeping the impending bankruptcy a secret from everyone for a time, he tells his son (whom he has fooled with a dummy ledger) about it, who is disgusted by his father's rashness.
They resort to chicanery to save the firm. They plan to send an agent to the Ural mountains who will claim to have found diamond mines. They speculate that the resulting plunge in the prices of diamonds in England and South Africa will force the dealers to get rid of their diamonds quickly at absurdly cheap rates to avoid total financial ruin, which would eventually fall on them if diamonds from the Urals start pouring in the market. They will then step in and buy as many diamonds as their remaining money would allow them. Once their capital is exhausted, their agent will disappear and the discovery that the Ural diamond mines were a hoax would skyrocket the prices of diamonds once again, leaving them rich men.
Their plan works perfectly and the prices go down just as they had expected. Ezra Girdlestone travels to South Africa to buy from the dealers there while John Girdlestone starts buying in London. After they spend all their money on diamonds and get ready to call their agent back from the Urals, their plan collapses with the discovery of bona fide diamond mines in South Africa. As a fellow conspirator tells Ezra in South Africa: "Russia or no Russia, the prices will not go up!" He goes back to England and both of them sell their diamonds cheaply, which leaves them in an even more precarious situation than they already were in.
A very old friend of John Girdlestone had entrusted his daughter to him before dying. She was heir to 40,000 which she would inherit upon coming of age. John Girdlestone persuades his son to seduce the girl and marry her so that they could get their hands on the money. Ezra fails miserably not only because he is totally inept in romance, but because the girl is already in love with another man. Having exhausted all their means, John Girdlestone decides on a sinister plan. His friend's will provides that if the girl dies before coming of age, John Girdlestone becomes the sole heir. He plans to murder the girl. His son does not favour this plan, but his father persuades him, telling him that it will make the firm rich again.

SOLUTION: What is discovered after the Girdlestone's spend all their money buying diamonds?

PROBLEM: The story starts in 1784, before the French revolution. Wealthy Paul D roul de has offended the young Vicomte de Marny by speaking disrespectfully of his latest infatuation, Ad le de Monterch ri. D roul de had not intended to get into the quarrel but has a tendency to blunder into things -- "no doubt a part of the inheritance bequeathed to him by his bourgeois ancestry."
Incensed at the slur on Ad le, whom he sees as a paragon of virtue, the Vicomte challenges D roul de to a duel, a fight which D roul de does not want - for he knows and respects the boy's father, the Duc de Marny. Swords drawn, the fight ensues in the centre of the salon but despite his noble lineage, the Vicomte de Marny is no match for D roul de's swordplay, especially when addled with wine and rage. D roul de disarms his opponent and having won the duel, draws back but the boy refuses to back down without complete satisfaction and demands that D roul de get down on his knees and apologize.
Finally losing his temper with the young Vicomte, D roul de raises his sword to disarm his protagonist once more, however de Marny lunges wildly at his opponent's breast and manages to literally throw himself on D roul de's weapon. The boy is dead and D roul de can do nothing but leave the establishment.
On hearing of the death of his only son, the Duc de Marny (by now a cripple and almost a dotard) is distraught. The Duc summons his fourteen-year-old daughter, Juliette, to his side and forces her to swear an oath to ruin D roulede in revenge for her brother's death, telling her that her brother's soul will remain in torment until the final judgement day should she break her promise.
The story picks up ten years later, and Citizen D roul de, though no longer rich, is a lawyer popular with the people and is allowed to go his own way, for Marat has said of him "Il n'est pas dangereux". He leads a quiet life, living alone with his mother and his orphaned cousin Anne Mie in the Rue Ecole de M decine.
At 6 pm on August 19, 1793, Juliette Marny walks into the Rue Ecole de M decine and stopping just outside the house belonging to Citizen-Deputy D roul de, suddenly starts to draw attention to herself, invoking the anger of the crowd through her proud aristocratic manner. She hammers on D roul de's door as the crowd shout and lash out at her, but just before they can drag her away, the door opens and she is pulled inside.
Having tricked her way into D roulede's home Juliette is invited to stay for her own safety. She agrees and eventually reveals her identity, but even after hearing D roulede's side of the story, she fails to realise that he only wishes to make amends for the death of her brother and continues to plot revenge on her host.
Unaware of her intentions, D roulede tells Juliette that he has accepted the post of Governor of the Conciergerie prison where Queen Marie Antoinette is imprisoned. Later he is visited at home by Sir Percy Blakeney and Juliette overhears Sir Percy warning his friend off a scheme to free the queen, for it is doomed to failure. He advises D roulede to burn a bundle of papers relating to the plot, which if found would result in him being arrested for treason and sentenced to death.
Juliette sees her chance and posts a letter denouncing her host, but realises too late that she has failed to take account of the fact that not only has Paul D roulede fallen madly in love with her, she has also come to love the man she has vowed to destroy.
When soldiers arrive to search D roulede's home, Juliette hides the letter box, then escapes to her room where she attempts to burn it. She places the burnt remains among her belongings, and when the soldiers discover them, they arrest her. Because the search turned up nothing suspicious against D roulede he is allowed to remain free.
During her trial, Juliette keeps to the story that the burnt letterbox contained love letters. However, D roulede defends his love and admits that the letters are his own and that he has committed treason. Both of them are sentenced to death.
The Scarlet Pimpernel and his comrades manage to rescue the condemned couple on their journey from the courthouse to the prison.

SOLUTION:
Why does the Vicomte de Marny challenge Paul Deroulede to a duel?