AUTHOR’S PREFACE Chapter I. THE THREE PRESENTS OF D’ARTAGNAN THE ELDER Chapter II. THE ANTECHAMBER OF M. DE TRÉVILLE Chapter III. THE AUDIENCE Chapter IV. THE SHOULDER OF ATHOS, THE BALDRIC OF PORTHOS AND THE HANDKERCHIEF OF ARAMIS Chapter V. THE KING’S MUSKETEERS AND THE CARDINAL’S GUARDS Chapter VI. HIS MAJESTY KING LOUIS XIII. Chapter VII. THE INTERIOR OF THE MUSKETEERS Chapter VIII. CONCERNING A COURT INTRIGUE Chapter IX. D’ARTAGNAN SHOWS HIMSELF Chapter X. A MOUSETRAP IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY Chapter XI. IN WHICH THE PLOT THICKENS Chapter XII. GEORGE VILLIERS, DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM Chapter XIII. MONSIEUR BONACIEUX Chapter XIV. THE MAN OF MEUNG Chapter XV. MEN OF THE ROBE AND MEN OF THE SWORD Chapter XVI. IN WHICH M. SÉGUIER, KEEPER OF THE SEALS, LOOKS MORE THAN ONCE FOR THE BELL Chapter XVII. BONACIEUX AT HOME Chapter XVIII. LOVER AND HUSBAND Chapter XIX. PLAN OF CAMPAIGN Chapter XX. THE JOURNEY Chapter XXI. THE COUNTESS DE WINTER Chapter XXII. THE BALLET OF LA MERLAISON Chapter XXIII. THE RENDEZVOUS Chapter XXIV. THE PAVILION Chapter XXV. PORTHOS Chapter XXVI. ARAMIS AND HIS THESIS Chapter XXVII. THE WIFE OF ATHOS Chapter XXVIII. THE RETURN Chapter XXIX. HUNTING FOR THE EQUIPMENTS Chapter XXX. D’ARTAGNAN AND THE ENGLISHMAN Chapter XXXI. ENGLISH AND FRENCH Chapter XXXII. A PROCURATOR’S DINNER Chapter XXXIII. SOUBRETTE AND MISTRESS Chapter XXXIV. IN WHICH THE EQUIPMENT OF ARAMIS AND PORTHOS IS TREATED OF Chapter XXXV. A GASCON A MATCH FOR CUPID Chapter XXXVI. DREAM OF VENGEANCE Chapter XXXVII. MILADY’S SECRET Chapter XXXVIII. HOW, WITHOUT INCOMMDING HIMSELF, ATHOS PROCURES HIS EQUIPMENT Chapter XXXIX. A VISION Chapter XL. A TERRIBLE VISION Chapter XLI. THE SIEGE OF LA ROCHELLE Chapter XLII. THE ANJOU WINE Chapter XLIII. THE SIGN OF THE RED DOVECOT Chapter XLIV. THE UTILITY OF STOVEPIPES Chapter XLV. A CONJUGAL SCENE Chapter XLVI. THE BASTION SAINT-GERVAIS Chapter XLVII. THE COUNCIL OF THE MUSKETEERS Chapter XLVIII. A FAMILY AFFAIR Chapter XLIX. FATALITY Chapter L. CHAT BETWEEN BROTHER AND SISTER Chapter LI. OFFICER Chapter LII. CAPTIVITY: THE FIRST DAY Chapter LIII. CAPTIVITY: THE SECOND DAY Chapter LIV. CAPTIVITY: THE THIRD DAY Chapter LV. CAPTIVITY: THE FOURTH DAY Chapter LVI. CAPTIVITY: THE FIFTH DAY Chapter LVII. MEANS FOR CLASSICAL TRAGEDY Chapter LVIII. ESCAPE Chapter LIX. WHAT TOOK PLACE AT PORTSMOUTH AUGUST 23, 1628 Chapter LX. IN FRANCE Chapter LXI. THE CARMELITE CONVENT AT BÉTHUNE Chapter LXII. TWO VARIETIES OF DEMONS Chapter LXIII. THE DROP OF WATER Chapter LXIV. THE MAN IN THE RED CLOAK Chapter LXV. TRIAL Chapter LXVI. EXECUTION Chapter LXVII. 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 Tréville, 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 that 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 do not recollect which, having for title, “Memoirs of the Comte de la Fère, 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 Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, if we should not succeed—a very probable thing, by the by—in gaining admission to the Académie Française 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 Fère, the pleasure or the ennui he may experience.
This being understood, let us proceed with our history.
