The three musketeers by alexandre dumas

THE THREE MUSKETEERS This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license Title: The Three Musketeers Author: Alexandre Dumas, Pere Release Date: March 01, 1998 [EBook #1257] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THREE MUSKETEERS, BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS, PERE *** Produced by John P Roberts III, Roger Labbe, Scott David Gray, Sue Asscher, Anita Martin and David Widger THE THREE MUSKETEERS By Alexandre Dumas, Pere First Volume of the d'Artagnan Series CONTENTS AUTHOR'S PREFACE THE THREE PRESENTS OF D'ARTAGNAN THE ELDER THE ANTECHAMBER OF M DE TREVILLE THE AUDIENCE THE SHOULDER OF ATHOS, THE BALDRIC OF PORTHOS AND THE HANDKERCHIEF OF ARAMIS THE KING'S MUSKETEERS AND THE CARDINAL'S GUARDS HIS MAJESTY KING LOUIS XIII CONCERNING A COURT INTRIGUE D'ARTAGNAN SHOWS HIMSELF 10 A MOUSETRAP IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 11 IN WHICH THE PLOT THICKENS 12 GEORGE VILLIERS, DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM 13 MONSIEUR BONACIEUX 14 THE MAN OF MEUNG 15 MEN OF THE ROBE AND MEN OF THE SWORD 16 IN WHICH M SEGUIER, KEEPER OF THE SEALS, LOOKS MORE THAN ONCE FOR THE BELL 17 BONACIEUX AT HOME 18 LOVER AND HUSBAND 19 PLAN OF CAMPAIGN 20 THE JOURNEY 21 THE COUNTESS DE WINTER 22 THE BALLET OF LA MERLAISON 23 THE RENDEZVOUS 24 THE PAVILION 25 PORTHOS 26 ARAMIS AND HIS THESIS 27 THE WIFE OF ATHOS 28 THE RETURN 29 HUNTING FOR THE EQUIPMENTS 30 D'ARTAGNAN AND THE ENGLISHMAN 31 ENGLISH AND FRENCH 32 A PROCURATOR'S DINNER 33 SOUBRETTE AND MISTRESS 35 A GASCON A MATCH FOR CUPID 36 DREAM OF VENGEANCE 37 MILADY'S SECRET 38 HOW, WITHOUT INCOMMDING HIMSELF, ATHOS PROCURES HIS EQUIPMENT 39 A VISION 40 A TERRIBLE VISION 41 THE SEIGE OF LA ROCHELLE 42 THE ANJOU WINE 43 THE SIGN OF THE RED DOVECOT 44 THE UTILITY OF STOVEPIPES 45 A CONJUGAL SCENE 46 THE BASTION SAINT-GERVAIS 47 THE COUNCIL OF THE MUSKETEERS 48 A FAMILY AFFAIR 49 FATALITY 50 CHAT BETWEEN BROTHER AND SISTER 51 OFFICER 52 CAPTIVITY: THE FIRST DAY 53 CAPTIVITY: THE SECOND DAY 54 CAPTIVITY: THE THIRD DAY 55 CAPTIVITY: THE FOURTH DAY 56 CAPTIVITY: THE FIFTH DAY 57 MEANS FOR CLASSICAL TRAGEDY 58 ESCAPE 60 IN FRANCE 61 THE CARMELITE CONVENT AT BETHUNE 62 TWO VARIETIES OF DEMONS 63 THE DROP OF WATER 64 THE MAN IN THE RED CLOAK 65 TRIAL 66 EXECUTION 67 CONCLUSION EPILOGUE AUTHOR'S PREFACE In which it is proved that, notwithstanding their names' ending in OS and IS, the heroes of the story which we are about to have the honor to relate to our readers have nothing mythological about them A short time ago, while making researches in the Royal Library for my History of Louis XIV, I stumbled by chance upon the Memoirs of M d'Artagnan, printed as were most of the works of that period, in which authors could not tell the truth without the risk of a residence, more or less long, in the Bastille at Amsterdam, by Pierre Rouge The title attracted me; I took them home with me, with the permission of the guardian, and devoured them It is not my intention here to enter into an analysis of this curious work; and I shall satisfy myself with referring such of my readers as appreciate the pictures of the period to its pages They will therein find portraits penciled by the hand of a master; and although these squibs may be, for the most part, traced upon the doors of barracks and the walls of cabarets, they will not find the likenesses of Louis XIII, Anne of Austria, Richelieu, Mazarin, and the courtiers of the period, less faithful than in the history of M Anquetil But, it is well known, what strikes the capricious mind of the poet is not always what affects the mass of readers Now, while admiring, as others doubtless will admire, the details we have to relate, our main preoccupation concerned a matter to which no one before ourselves had given a thought D'Artagnan relates that on his first visit to M de Treville, captain of the king's Musketeers, he met in the antechamber three young men, serving in the illustrious corps into which he was soliciting the honor of being received, bearing the names of Athos, Porthos, and Aramis We must confess these three strange names struck us; and it immediately occurred to us that they were but pseudonyms, under which d'Artagnan had disguised names perhaps illustrious, or else that the bearers of these borrowed names had themselves chosen them on the day in which, from caprice, discontent, or want of fortune, they had donned the simple Musketeer's uniform From the moment we had no rest till we could find some trace in contemporary works of these extraordinary names which had so strongly awakened our curiosity The catalogue alone of the books we read with this object would fill a whole chapter, which, although it might be very instructive, would certainly afford our readers but little amusement It will suffice, then, to tell them that at the moment at which, discouraged by so many fruitless investigations, we were about to abandon our search, we at length found, guided by the counsels of our illustrious friend Paulin Paris, a manuscript in folio, endorsed 4772 or 4773, we not recollect which, having for title, "Memoirs of the Comte de la Fere, Touching Some Events Which Passed in France Toward the End of the Reign of King Louis XIII and the Commencement of the Reign of King Louis XIV." It may be easily imagined how great was our joy when, in turning over this manuscript, our last hope, we found at the twentieth page the name of Athos, at the twenty-seventh the name of Porthos, and at the thirty-first the name of Aramis The discovery of a completely unknown manuscript at a period in which historical science is carried to such a high degree appeared almost miraculous We hastened, therefore, to obtain permission to print it, with the view of presenting ourselves someday with the pack of others at the doors of the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, if we should not succeed a very probable thing, by the by in gaining admission to the Academie Francaise with our own proper pack This permission, we feel bound to say, was graciously granted; which compels us here to give a public contradiction to the slanderers who pretend that we live under a government but moderately indulgent to men of letters Now, this is the first part of this precious manuscript which we offer to our readers, restoring it to the title which belongs to it, and entering into an engagement that if (of which we have no doubt) this first part should obtain the success it merits, we will publish the second immediately In the meanwhile, as the godfather is a second father, we beg the reader to lay to our account, and not to that of the Comte de la Fere, the pleasure or the ENNUI he may experience This being understood, let us proceed with our history THE THREE PRESENTS OF D'ARTAGNAN THE ELDER On the first Monday of the month of April, 1625, the market town of Meung, in which the author of ROMANCE OF THE ROSE was born, appeared to be in as perfect a state of revolution as if the Huguenots had just made a second La Rochelle of it Many citizens, seeing the women flying toward the High Street, leaving their children crying at the open doors, hastened to don the cuirass, and supporting their somewhat uncertain courage with a musket or a partisan, directed their steps toward the hostelry of the Jolly Miller, before which was gathered, increasing every minute, a compact group, vociferous and full of curiosity In those times panics were common, and few days passed without some city or other registering in its archives an event of this kind There were nobles, who made war against each other; there was the king, who made war against the cardinal; there was Spain, which made war against the king Then, in addition to these concealed or public, secret or open wars, there were robbers, mendicants, Huguenots, wolves, and scoundrels, who made war upon everybody The citizens always took up arms readily against thieves, wolves or scoundrels, often against nobles or Huguenots, sometimes against the king, but never against cardinal or Spain It resulted, then, from this habit that on the said first Monday of April, 1625, the citizens, on hearing the clamor, and seeing neither the red-andyellow standard nor the livery of the Duc de Richelieu, rushed toward the hostel of the Jolly Miller When arrived there, the cause of the hubbub was apparent to all A young man we can sketch his portrait at a dash Imagine to yourself a Don Quixote of eighteen; a Don Quixote without his corselet, without his coat of mail, without his cuisses; a Don Quixote clothed in a woolen doublet, the blue color of which had faded into a nameless shade between lees of wine and a heavenly azure; face long and brown; high cheek bones, a sign of sagacity; the maxillary muscles enormously developed, an infallible sign by which a Gascon may always be detected, even without his cap and our young man wore a cap set off with a sort of feather; the eye open and intelligent; the nose hooked, but finely chiseled Too big for a youth, too small for a grown man, an experienced eye might have taken him for a farmer's son upon a journey had it not been for the long sword which, dangling from a leather baldric, hit against the calves of its owner as he walked, and against the rough side of his steed when he was on horseback For our young man had a steed which was the observed of all observers It was a Bearn pony, from twelve to fourteen years old, yellow in his hide, without a hair in his tail, but not without windgalls on his legs, which, though going with his head lower than his knees, rendering a martingale quite unnecessary, contrived nevertheless to perform his eight leagues a day Unfortunately, the qualities of this horse were so well concealed under his strange-colored hide and his unaccountable gait, that at a time when everybody was a connoisseur in horseflesh, the appearance of the aforesaid pony at Meung which place he had entered about a quarter of an hour before, by the gate of Beaugency produced an unfavorable feeling, which extended to his rider And this feeling had been more painfully perceived by young d'Artagnan for so was the Don Quixote of this second Rosinante named from his not being able to conceal from himself the ridiculous appearance that such a steed gave him, good horseman as he was He had sighed deeply, therefore, when accepting the gift of the pony from M d'Artagnan the elder He was not ignorant that such a beast was worth at least twenty livres; and the words which had accompanied the present were above all price "My son," said the old Gascon gentleman, in that pure Bearn PATOIS of which Henry IV could never rid himself, "this horse was born in the house of your father about thirteen years ago, and has remained in it ever since, which ought to make you love it Never sell it; allow it to die tranquilly and honorably of old age, and if you make a campaign with it, take as much care of it as you would of an old servant At court, provided you have ever the honor to go there," continued M d'Artagnan the elder, " an honor to which, remember, your ancient nobility gives you the right sustain worthily your name of gentleman, which has been worthily borne by your ancestors for five hundred years, both for your own sake and the sake of those who belong to you By the latter I mean your relatives and friends Endure nothing from anyone except Monsieur the Cardinal and the king It is by his courage, please observe, by his courage alone, that a gentleman can make his way nowadays Whoever hesitates for a second perhaps allows the bait to escape which during that exact second fortune held out to him You are young You ought to be brave for two reasons: the first is that you are a Gascon, and the second is that you are my son Never fear quarrels, but seek adventures I have taught you how to handle a sword; you have thews of iron, a wrist of steel Fight on all occasions Fight the more for duels being forbidden, since consequently there is twice as much courage in fighting I have nothing to give you, my son, but fifteen crowns, my horse, and the counsels you have just heard Your mother will add to them a recipe for a certain balsam, which she had from a Bohemian and which has the miraculous virtue of curing all wounds that not reach the heart Take advantage of all, and live happily and long I have but one word to add, and that is to propose an example to you not mine, for I myself have never appeared at court, and have only taken part in religious wars as a volunteer; I speak of Monsieur de Treville, who was formerly my neighbor, and who had the honor to be, as a child, the play-fellow of our king, Louis XIII, whom God preserve! Sometimes their play degenerated into battles, and in these battles the king was not always the stronger The blows which he received increased greatly his esteem and friendship for Monsieur de "Yes, I know you are a man of a stout heart, monsieur," said the cardinal, with a voice almost affectionate; "I can therefore tell you beforehand you shall be tried, and even condemned." "Another might reply to your Eminence that he had his pardon in his pocket I content myself with saying: Command, monseigneur; I am ready." "Your pardon?" said Richelieu, surprised "Yes, monseigneur," said d'Artagnan "And signed by whom by the king?" And the cardinal pronounced these words with a singular expression of contempt "No, by your Eminence." "By me? You are insane, monsieur." "Monseigneur will doubtless recognize his own handwriting." And d'Artagnan presented to the cardinal the precious piece of paper which Athos had forced from Milady, and which he had given to d'Artagnan to serve him as a safeguard His Eminence took the paper, and read in a slow voice, dwelling upon every syllable: "Dec 3, 1627 "It is by my order and for the good of the state that the bearer of this has done what he has done "RICHELIEU" The cardinal, after having read these two lines, sank into a profound reverie; but he did not return the paper to d'Artagnan "He is meditating by what sort of punishment he shall cause me to die," said the Gascon to himself "Well, my faith! he shall see how a gentleman can die." The young Musketeer was in excellent disposition to die heroically Richelieu still continued thinking, rolling and unrolling the paper in his hands At length he raised his head, fixed his eagle look upon that loyal, open, and intelligent countenance, read upon that face, furrowed with tears, all the sufferings its possessor had endured in the course of a month, and reflected for the third or fourth time how much there was in that youth of twenty-one years before him, and what resources his activity, his courage, and his shrewdness might offer to a good master On the other side, the crimes, the power, and the infernal genius of Milady had more than once terrified him He felt something like a secret joy at being forever relieved of this dangerous accomplice Richelieu slowly tore the paper which d'Artagnan had generously relinquished "I am lost!" said d'Artagnan to himself And he bowed profoundly before the cardinal, like a man who says, "Lord, Thy will be done!" The cardinal approached the table, and without sitting down, wrote a few lines upon a parchment of which two-thirds were already filled, and affixed his seal "That is my condemnation," thought d'Artagnan; "he will spare me the ENNUI of the Bastille, or the tediousness of a trial That's very kind of him." "Here, monsieur," said the cardinal to the young man "I have taken from you one CARTE BLANCHE to give you another The name is wanting in this commission; you can write it yourself." D'Artagnan took the paper hesitatingly and cast his eyes over it; it was a lieutenant's commission in the Musketeers D'Artagnan fell at the feet of the cardinal "Monseigneur," said he, "my life is yours; henceforth dispose of it But this favor which you bestow upon me I not merit I have three friends who are more meritorious and more worthy " "You are a brave youth, d'Artagnan," interrupted the cardinal, tapping him familiarly on the shoulder, charmed at having vanquished this rebellious nature "Do with this commission what you will; only remember, though the name be blank, it is to you I give it." "I shall never forget it," replied d'Artagnan "Your Eminence may be certain of that." The cardinal turned and said in a loud voice, "Rochefort!" The chevalier, who no doubt was near the door, entered immediately "Rochefort," said the cardinal, "you see Monsieur d'Artagnan I receive him among the number of my friends Greet each other, then; and be wise if you wish to preserve your heads." Rochefort and d'Artagnan coolly greeted each other with their lips; but the cardinal was there, observing them with his vigilant eye They left the chamber at the same time "We shall meet again, shall we not, monsieur?" "When you please," said d'Artagnan "An opportunity will come," replied Rochefort "Hey?" said the cardinal, opening the door The two men smiled at each other, shook hands, and saluted his Eminence "We were beginning to grow impatient," said Athos "Here I am, my friends," replied d'Artagnan; "not only free, but in favor." "Tell us about it." "This evening; but for the moment, let us separate." Accordingly, that same evening d'Artagnan repaired to the quarters of Athos, whom he found in a fair way to empty a bottle of Spanish wine an occupation which he religiously accomplished every night D'Artagnan related what had taken place between the cardinal and himself, and drawing the commission from his pocket, said, "Here, my dear Athos, this naturally belongs to you." Athos smiled with one of his sweet and expressive smiles "Friend," said he, "for Athos this is too much; for the Comte de la Fere it is too little Keep the commission; it is yours Alas! you have purchased it dearly enough." D'Artagnan left Athos's chamber and went to that of Porthos He found him clothed in a magnificent dress covered with splendid embroidery, admiring himself before a glass "Ah, ah! is that you, dear friend?" exclaimed Porthos "How you think these garments fit me?" "Wonderfully," said d'Artagnan; "but I come to offer you a dress which will become you still better." "What?" asked Porthos "That of a lieutenant of Musketeers." D'Artagnan related to Porthos the substance of his interview with the cardinal, and said, taking the commission from his pocket, "Here, my friend, write your name upon it and become my chief." Porthos cast his eyes over the commission and returned it to d'Artagnan, to the great astonishment of the young man "Yes," said he, "yes, that would flatter me very much; but I should not have time enough to enjoy the distinction During our expedition to Bethune the husband of my duchess died; so, my dear, the coffer of the defunct holding out its arms to me, I shall marry the widow Look here! I was trying on my wedding suit Keep the lieutenancy, my dear, keep it." The young man then entered the apartment of Aramis He found him kneeling before a PRIEDIEU with his head leaning on an open prayer book He described to him his interview with the cardinal, and said, for the third time drawing his commission from his pocket, "You, our friend, our intelligence, our invisible protector, accept this commission You have merited it more than any of us by your wisdom and your counsels, always followed by such happy results." "Alas, dear friend!" said Aramis, "our late adventures have disgusted me with military life This time my determination is irrevocably taken After the siege I shall enter the house of the Lazarists Keep the commission, d'Artagnan; the profession of arms suits you You will be a brave and adventurous captain." D'Artagnan, his eye moist with gratitude though beaming with joy, went back to Athos, whom he found still at table contemplating the charms of his last glass of Malaga by the light of his lamp "Well," said he, "they likewise have refused me." "That, dear friend, is because nobody is more worthy than yourself." He took a quill, wrote the name of d'Artagnan in the commission, and returned it to him "I shall then have no more friends," said the young man "Alas! nothing but bitter recollections." And he let his head sink upon his hands, while two large tears rolled down his cheeks "You are young," replied Athos; "and your bitter recollections have time to change themselves into sweet remembrances." EPILOGUE La Rochelle, deprived of the assistance of the English fleet and of the diversion promised by Buckingham, surrendered after a siege of a year On the twenty-eighth of October, 1628, the capitulation was signed The king made his entrance into Paris on the twenty-third of December of the same year He was received in triumph, as if he came from conquering an enemy and not Frenchmen He entered by the Faubourg St Jacques, under verdant arches D'Artagnan took possession of his command Porthos left the service, and in the course of the following year married Mme Coquenard; the coffer so much coveted contained eight hundred thousand livres Mousqueton had a magnificent livery, and enjoyed the satisfaction of which he had been ambitious all his life that of standing behind a gilded carriage Aramis, after a journey into Lorraine, disappeared all at once, and ceased to write to his friends; they learned at a later period through Mme de Chevreuse, who told it to two or three of her intimates, that, yielding to his vocation, he had retired into a convent only into which, nobody knew Bazin became a lay brother Athos remained a Musketeer under the command of d'Artagnan till the year 1633, at which period, after a journey he made to Touraine, he also quit the service, under the pretext of having inherited a small property in Roussillon Grimaud followed Athos D'Artagnan fought three times with Rochefort, and wounded him three times "I shall probably kill you the fourth," said he to him, holding out his hand to assist him to rise "It is much better both for you and for me to stop where we are," answered the wounded man "CORBLEU I am more your friend than you think for after our very first encounter, I could by saying a word to the cardinal have had your throat cut!" They this time embraced heartily, and without retaining any malice Planchet obtained from Rochefort the rank of sergeant in the Piedmont regiment M Bonacieux lived on very quietly, wholly ignorant of what had become of his wife, and caring very little about it One day he had the imprudence to recall himself to the memory of the cardinal The cardinal had him informed that he would provide for him so that he should never want for anything in future In fact, M Bonacieux, having left his house at seven o'clock in the evening to go to the Louvre, never appeared again in the Rue des Fossoyeurs; the opinion of those who seemed to be best informed was that he was fed and lodged in some royal castle, at the expense of his generous Eminence *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THREE MUSKETEERS, BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS, PERE *** A Word from Project Gutenberg We will update this book if we find any errors This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1257 Creating the works from 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THREE MUSKETEERS, BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS, PERE *** Produced by John P Roberts III, Roger Labbe, Scott David Gray, Sue Asscher, Anita Martin and David Widger THE THREE MUSKETEERS By Alexandre Dumas, ... of the captain to all the people in the antechamber In an instant, from the door of the cabinet to the street gate, the whole hotel was boiling "Ah! The king's Musketeers are arrested by the. .. love he bore them which made him speak thus They stamped upon the carpet with their feet; they bit their lips till the blood came, and grasped the hilts of their swords with all their might All