Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers: Chapter 9
100 Days of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers June 1 - August 31, 2024
100 Days of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers
June 1 - August 31, 2024
All for One and One for All: "The Three Musketeers" at 180
June 19
Chapter 9
Sacrebleu!!! The Pevear translation I am using did not have a footnote on the sarabande affair mentioned in Chapter 8 - it is discussed in the Richelieu biography I recommended - really appreciate the help of one of the readers who posted the Ellsworth transition note!!! IT’S BRILLIANT!!!
"THE EPISODE OF THE SARABANDE:
According to Court gossip, when Richelieu first left Marie de Médicis to come to Paris to serve Louis XIII, he was enamored of Queen Anne-or pretended to be-and sought ways to please her to curry Her Majesty's favor. The queen let it be known that she desired to see the new minister appear before her in Turkish attire and perform a sarabande, a sensuous Spanish dance. Richelieu did his awkward best to comply, but soon became aware that Anne and her ladies were mocking him behind their fans, a humiliation for which he never forgave the queen."
Thank you, Mike!!! NOW we understand just how the French count operated - intrigues and treachery all around!!!
AND parbleu!!! WHAT A CHAPTER!!! d'Artagnan gets to shine - and receive the appreciation of his inseparable companions!!! They are off to seek adventures while rolling in money and swimming in Beaugency - thanks to the hapless Bonacieux!!!
"Ah, well, so you have open credit with your landlord?" asked Porthos.
"Yes," replied d'Artagnan, "starting from today, and don't worry, if his wine is bad, we'll send him out for better."
"One must use, not abuse," Aramis said sententiously.
"I've always said that d'Artagnan had the best head of the four of us," said Athos…"
The mysterious stranger escaped once again, but d'Artagnan is ready to rush into intrigues of the court!!!
"But mind you," cried d'Artagnan, "there's a woman involved in this business, an abducted woman, a woman who is no doubt being threatened, who is perhaps being tortured, and all that because she's faithful to her mistress!"
Ah, the admonitions of the ever theologically inclined and philosophically predisposed Aramis!!!
"Take care, d'Artagnan, take care," said Aramis, "you're getting a bit too excited, in my opinion, about the fate of Mme Bonacieux. Woman was created for our ruin, and it is from her that all our miseries come."
At this pronouncement from Aramis, Athos frowned and bit his lips.”
What IS the secret of Athos?!?!?! A woman?!?!?! ALL shall be revealed!!!
D'Artagnan is literally dying to serve the queen - BUT she loves Spain - since she is a Hapsburg - see my earlier posts - AND England - both France’s enemies!!! And one Englishmen in particular - Lord Buckingham - see my earlier posts - who suspiciously looks just like Aramis!!! The plot thickens!!!
Aramis and the niece of a doctor of theology - ALL THESE ladies in the life of this abbe in training!!! - we mistaken for Buckingham and the queen!!!
"The Gascon's a real devil!" cried Athos. "Nothing escapes him!"
"The fact is," said Porthos, "that Aramis is the same size and has something of the same figure as the handsome duke. It seems to me, however, that the uniform of a musketeer..."
"I had an enormous cloak," said Aramis.”
The affair with the arrest of Bonacieux is masterfully handled by d'Artagnan!!!
"One moment," cried d'Artagnan, making a sign for them to push their half-drawn swords back into their scabbards, "one moment, it's not courage that's needed here, it's prudence."
He lets Bonacieux be arrested in order to disassociate the four friends from him - thus remaining free to pursue the search of Madame Bonacieux!!!
"You're a knave, my dear sir; you come to ask money from me—me, a musketeer! To prison, gentlemen, I say again, take him away to prison, and keep him under lock and key for as long as you can. That will give me time to pay."
Drinking with the guards was a stroke of genius!!!
"To your health, M. d'Artagnan!"
"And above all the rest," cried d'Artagnan, as if carried away by his enthusiasm, "to the health of the king and the cardinal."
The chief beagle would perhaps have doubted d'Artagnan's sincerity if the wine had been bad; but as the wine was good, he was convinced.”
The friends recognize d'Artagnan's superb strategic abilities - with Aramis exclaiming:
“D'Artagnan, you're a great man, and when you replace M. de Tréville, I'll ask for your patronage in getting myself an abbey."
Defeated by example, grumbling quietly, Porthos held out his hand, and the four friends repeated with one voice the formula dictated by d'Artagnan:
"All for one and one for all."
The great motto is pronounced!!! Forward!!!
D'Artagnan’s favorite wine?! Beaugency!!! Field trip!!! Those of the readers who are more wine savvy than your humble servant - you have a task for the next 3 summers - please comment on ALL the wines Dumas mentions!!! Start today!!! Thank you!!!
