"Le cochon dans les trèfles" by Mark Twain is a novel written in the late 19th century. It is a satirical transatlantic comedy about aristocratic titles, American democracy, and imposture, following the principled English heir Lord Berkeley and the irrepressible American dreamer Colonel Mulberry Sellers, with Washington Hawkins and Sally (styled Lady Gwendolen) at the center of the schemes. The opening of Le cochon dans les trèfles sets up a clash of claims to the ancient Rossmore title: in England, stern Lord Rossmore quarrels with his idealistic son Berkeley, who wants to cross the Atlantic and yield the family honors to an American claimant if the case is just. A flamboyant letter from Mulberry Sellers in Washington announces the death of the prior pretender and his own succession, prompting scorn abroad while, at home, we meet Sellers in his shabby “manor,” his loyal wife, and their friend Washington Hawkins. Between get-rich notions—a “Pig in the Clover” puzzle and a grandiose plan to “materialize” the dead—Sellers and Hawkins also plot to nab a one-armed bank robber for a reward, arranging a coded rendezvous. Sally returns from finishing school, earning by day as a gifted dress designer and playing the titled daughter by night as her father festoons the house with mock heraldry; meanwhile Berkeley sails for America, and upon arriving in Washington resolves to shed his rank—just as a hotel fire abruptly ends the scene.
Abridged translation of: The American claimant.