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The Three Musketeers
By ALEXANDRE DUMAS "ALL for one; and one for all!" This was the oath of the four comrades: of d'Artagnan, the young guardsman, and of Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, the three musketeers. Only three months had d'Artagnan been in Paris, yet already he was the chosen companion of the noblest three in M. de Treville's picked company of Musketeers, in the service of Louis XIII. A true Gascon, fiercely proud, ready to fight at a word, the eighteen-year-old provincial lad had won the respect of the glorious three by challenging them, and their friendship by helping them to drive off the cardinal's guards who would have . arrested them for dueling. Indeed, this latter exploit had won for d'Artagnan more than a glance from the king himself, who was not displeased to see Richelieu's men worsted by his own. At Meung, even before reaching Paris, d'Artagnan had had an honorable encounter, his adversary being a tall, commanding stranger of olivine complexion and scarred on the cheek. A beautiful woman had accompanied this man. Both their faces were stamped on d'Artagnan's memory. Before he could be admitted to the Musketeers d'Artagnan was to serve probation as a guardsman; but already he was a Musketeer in spirit and his comrades longed as keenly as he for the day when he would be allowed to join their company. Athos, Porthos, and Aramis were alike only in soldierly qualities. Athos was of noble bearing, and when he was drunk he would talk of a secret sorrow; Porthos was a great lover of ladies, and declared that his conquests would bring his downfall; Aramis, who had friends in the Church and a sweetheart at court, pretended that he was only temporarily a Musketeer, and would willingly change his plumed hat for al monk's cowl when the time came. One day d'Artagnan's landlord, Bonancieux, burst intd the room with news that Mme. Bonancieux, a pretty seamstress in the service of the queen, had just been abducted. From the landlord's description d'Artagnan recognized the abductor as his man of Meung and was anxious to help, the more so when he learned that the object of the abduction was to force the lady to tell what she knew of the love-affair between the queen and George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, who was coming secretly to Paris. It was in their resolve to protect Mme. Bonancieux, for whom the impressionable d'Artagnan had suddenly conceived an undying affection, that the four comrades came together in their oath. "Remember," said Aramis, "henceforth we are at issue with the cardinal." Aided by d'Artagnan, who fought off the cardinal's officers, the lady contrived to escape. He declared his love for her, but she would promise nothing. Next time he saw her she was conducting the Duke of Buckingham, disguised as a musketeer, toward the royal palace. If d'Artagnan had followed he would have learned that the queen did indeed love Buckingham, but was loyal to the king. As a token she gave Buckingham twelve diamond studs that the king had given her. A spy reported this to Richelieu, who saw in it an opportunity to attack the king, the queen, and the duke all at once. First Richelieu asked the king to give a ballet for the queen and to ask her to wear the diamond studs, and then he sent a message to Lady de Winter in London, telling her to steal two of the studs from Buckingham. Learning of this plot through Mme. Bonancieux, d'Artagnan resolved to serve both his lady and his queen by recovering the jewels. For London the four comrades set out. Beset by the cardinal's men on the road, three were wounded, and only d'Artagnan reached London. There was just time to replace the stolen studs and return to Paris, which d'Artagnan reached on the night of the ballet, foiling Richelieu's plot. He now set out to find his comrades. Porthos he found in bed at an inn, Aramis disputing with doctors of theology, and Athos drunk in a wine-cellar, airing his secret sorrow and defying the landlord to eject him. In his youth, Athos confessed, he had been tricked into marriage with a beautiful fiend, who, he later discovered, carried on her shoulder the executioner's brand, the fleur-de-lys. Horror-stricken, he had slain her. In church next day d'Artagnan's eye was caught by a very beautiful lady whom he recognized as the one who had been with the stranger at Meung. Following her from the church, he saw her talking with an English-man, and, drawing close, he heard her call this man her brother-in-law, Lord de Winter. D'Artagnan fell deeply in love with Lady de Winter, but his ardor cooled when he learned that she was a cardinalist plotter. By a trick he obtained from her a sapphire ring, which he showed to Athos. "Where did you get this?" cried Athos. "It was my mother's." D'Artagnan told him. "Renounce that woman," said Athos. "She is a fatal creature." That night d'Artagnan accused Lady de Winter of treachery. She rushed upon him and, in avoiding her blow, he pulled her dress from her shoulder. There was the executioner's brand-the fleur-de-lys. At this time the war between England and France was at its height and the siege of La Rochelle was beginning. Richelieu, learning all that d'Artagnan had done, tried to buy him into his own service. D'Artagnan re-fused, knowing that refusal might cost him his life. The three musketeers set out now to discover the cardinal's next move. Eaves-dropping, they heard Richelieu instruct Lady de Winter to go to London and there tell Buckingham to order that the English surrender, warning him that if the war continued Richelieu would expose the queen. If Buckingham refused, he was to be assassinated. For her part, the lady asked Richelieu for the death of d'Artagnan, who knew her secret, and of Mme. Bonancieux, who had thwarted her so often. Half an hour later Athos was alone with the woman. "The Count de la Fere ! " she cried, deathly pale. "Yes, my lady," said Athos. "You thought me dead, as I thought you dead, and the name of Athos concealed the Count de la Fere, as the name of Lady de Winter concealed Anne de Breuil." Athos took from his false wife the carte-blanche passport Richelieu had given her and sent her to the coast, where a boat waited to take her to England. She could not disobey, knowing that Athos could expose her. Back to the siege the four comrades then went, and, in order to be together to discuss their plans, they spent an hour in the Bastion of St. Gervais, withstanding all assaults. Between attacks they talked, and as a result they sent messages to Lord de Winter, exposing his false sister-in-law and heiress, and to an influential friend of Aramis, asking for the name of the convent where Mme. Bonancieux was confined. Thus on her arrival in England Lady de Winter was seized and imprisoned in her brother-in-law's castle; but, exercising her wiles upon her young jailer, she contrived to escape, and so poisoned the jailer's ears against Buckingham that he was ready to do her deadly work. Sent by de Winter as a messenger to the duke, he plunged a dagger into Buckingham's side. De Winter arrived in London one minute too late to save the duke, but a messenger from Paris was just in time to deliver to Buckingham the queen's pledge of love. He died with the queen's name on his lips. Now Mme. de Winter had fled to France-to the convent of Bethune, where Mme. Bo- nancieux was. By poison she accomplished her purpose, and when d'Artagnan and his comrades arrived at the convent they found the body of the pretty seamstress. They set out in pursuit of the murderess, and when they found her they held a formal trial and condemned her to death. An executioner was found - the very man who had put the brand upon her shoulder years before. The next day d'Artagnan was arrested and taken before the cardinal, his captor being none other than his "man of Meung," who now called himself the Chevalier de Rochefort. D'Artagnan told the cardinal of the crimes of Lady de Winter, and finally produced the cardinal's own passport, absolving the bearer. Admiration overcame anger in the cardinal. Instead of ordering d'Artagnan's imprisonment, he wrote out there and then a lieutenant's commission in the Musketeers. D'Artagnan offered the commission to his three friends in turn. All three refused it, protesting they did not deserve it. Besides, Aramis announced that he was about to enter the Church,; and Porthos said he was about to be married. Athos thereupon wrote upon the blank commission the name of d'Artagnan. As for Rochefort, d'Artagnan fought him many times, but at last they decided that they were both too good to die, and they became friends. |