Rupert of Hentzau plot
Rupert of Hentzau, conspirator against the exiled king of Ruritania and thought dead, secretly returns to Ruritania. Along the way, he intercepts a letter from the hapless Queen Flavia summoning her English lover, Rudolph Rassendyll, who was once able, because of his striking resemblance to the monarch, to pose as the king and rescue him from conspirators who had vowed to kill him. Rupert kills the king and, intending to use the stolen love letter to establish himself on the throne, threatens Rudolph that he will reveal the letter's contents unless his conditions are met.