The Emperor's Candlesticks

"The Emperor's Candlesticks" by Baroness Emmuska Orczy Orczy is a historical novel published in 1899. Set in pre-World War I Europe and Russia, the story follows two spies who both attempt to use a pair of hollow imperial candlesticks to smuggle secret messages. When the candlesticks vanish at the border, a Russian anarchist idealist and a beautiful Tsarist agent race desperately to retrieve them, knowing their lives hang in the balance.