The Vicomte de Bragelonne

Monsieur.

Henrietta of England, his wife, afterwards Duchesse d’Orléans, called Madame.

Cardinal Mazarin.

Bernouin, his valet.

Brienne, his secretary.

M. le Duc de Beaufort.

Prince de Condé.

Chavalier de Lorraine, favorite of Philippe d’Orléans.

Comte de Sainte-Aignan, attending on the king.

Mademoiselle Marie de Mancini, niece of Cardinal Marzarin.

Maids of Honor to Madame, Henrietta, Duchesse d’Orléans

• Mademoiselle Aure de Montalais.

• Mademoiselle Athenaïs de Tonnay-Charente, afterwards Madame de Montespan.

• Mademoiselle Louis de La Vallière

La Molina, Anne of Austria’s Spanish nurse.

Ladies of the French Court

• Duchesse de Chevreuse.

• Madame de Motteville.

• Madame de Navailles.

• Mademoiselle de Châtillon.

• Comtesse de Soissons.

Louise de Kéroualle, afterwards Duchess of Portsmouth.

Maréchal Grammont

Comte de Guiche, his son, in love with Madame Henrietta.

M. de Manicamp, friend of the Comte de Guiche.

M. de Malicorne, in love with Mademoiselle de Montalais.

M. d’Artagnan, Lieutenant, afterwards Captain, of the King’s Musketeers.

Comte de la Fère (Athos).

Raoul, Vicomte de Bragelonne, his son.

M. d’Herblay, afterwards Bishop of Vannes, General of the Order of Jesuits, and Duc d’Alméda (Aramis).

Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds (Porthos).

Jean Poquelin de Molière.

Vicomte de Wardes.

M. de Villeroy.

M. de Foquet, Superintendent of Finance.

Madame Foquet, his wife.

Messieurs Lyonne and Letellier, Foquet’s associates in the ministry.

Marquise de Bellière, in love with Foquet.

Friends of Foquet

• M. de La Fontaine.

• M. Gourville.

• M. Pélisson.

• M. Conrart.

• M. Loret.

L’Abbé Foquet, brother of the Superintendent.

M. Vanel, a Councillor of Parliament, afterwards Procureur-Général.

Marguerite Vanel, his wife, a rival of la Marquise de la Bellière.

M. de Saint-Remy, maître hotel to Gaston of Orléans.

Madame de Saint-Remy, his wife.

Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Intendant of Finance, afterwards Prime Minister.

Messieurs d’Imfreville, Destouches, and Forant, in Colbert’s service.

Messieurs Breteuil, Marin, and Hervart, colleagues of Colbert.

Messieurs d’Eymeris, Lyodot, and Vanin, Farmers-General.

Seldon, a prisoner at the Bastille.

No. 3, Bertaudière, afterwards “The Iron Mask.”

M. de Saint-Mars, Governor of Île Sainte Marguerite.

A Franciscan Friar, General of the Order of Jesuits.

Jesuits

• Baron von Wostpur.

• Monseigneur Herrebia.

• Meinheer Bonstett.

• Signor Marini.

• Lord MacCumnor.

• Grisart, a physician.

• Louis Constant de Pressigny, Captain of the King’s Frigate Pomona.

M. de Gesvres, Captain of the King’s Guards.

M. de Biscarrat, an officer of the King’s Guards.

M. de Friedrich, an officer of the Swiss Guards.

Messire Jean Percerin, the King’s tailor.

M. Valot, the King’s physician.

Planchet, a confectioner in the Rue des Lombards, former servant of d’Artagnan.

Madame Gechter, his housekeeper.

Daddy Célestin, Planchet’s servant.

Bazin, servant to M. d’Herblay.

Grimaud, and old servant of Athos.

Mousqueton, servant of Porthos.

Blasois, servant to Athos.

Olivain, servant of Vicomte de Bragelonne.

In the service of Foquet.

• Jupenet, a printer.

• Gétard, an architect.

• Danicamp.

Menneville, an adventurer.

M. Lebrun, painter.

M. Faucheux, a goldsmith.

Vatel, Foquet’s steward.

Toby, one of Foquet’s servants.

Yves, a sailor.

Keyser, a Dutch fisherman.

Maître Cropolé, of the hostelry of the Medici at Blois.

Pitrino, his assistant.

Madame Cropolé.

Landlord of the Beau Paon Hotel.

Superior of the Carmelite Convent at Chaillot.

Guénaud, Mazarin’s physician.

The Théatin Father, the Cardinal’s spiritual director.

English

• Charles II, King of England.

• Parry, his servant.

• General Monck, afterwards Duke of Albermarle.

• Digby, his aide-de-camp.

• General Lambert.

• James, Duke of York, brother of Charles II.

• George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham.

• Lord Rochester.

• Duke of Norfolk.

• Miss Mary Grafton.

• Miss Stewart.

• Host of the Stag’s Horn tavern.

The Vicomte de Bragelonne

Ten Years Later

Part I

The Vicomte de Braggelone

1

The Letter

Towards the middle of the month of May, in the year 1660, at nine o’clock in the morning, when the sun, already high in the heavens, was fast absorbing the dew from the ramparts of the castle of Blois, a little cavalcade, composed of three men and two pages, re-entered the city by the bridge, without producing any other effect upon the passengers of the quay beyond a first movement of the hand to the head, as a salute, and a second movement of the tongue to express, in the purest French then spoken in France: “There is Monsieur returning from hunting.” And that was all.

Whilst, however, the horses were climbing the steep acclivity which leads from the river to the castle, several shop-boys approached the last horse, from whose saddlebow a number of birds were suspended by the beak.

On seeing this, the inquisitive youths manifested with rustic freedom their contempt for such paltry sport, and, after a dissertation among themselves upon the disadvantages of hawking, they returned to their occupations; one only of the curious party, a stout, stubby, cheerful lad, having demanded how it was that Monsieur, who, from his great revenues, had it in his power to amuse himself so much better, could be satisfied with such mean diversions.

“Do you not know,” one of the standers-by replied, “that Monsieur’s principal amusement is to weary himself?”

The lighthearted boy shrugged his shoulders with a gesture which said as clear as day: “In that case I would rather be plain Jack than a prince.” And all resumed their labors.

In the meanwhile, Monsieur continued his route with an air at once so melancholy and so majestic, that he certainly would have attracted the attention of spectators, if spectators there had been; but the good citizens of Blois could not pardon Monsieur for having chosen their gay city for an abode in which to indulge melancholy at his ease, and as often as they caught a glimpse of the illustrious ennuyé, they stole away gaping, or drew back their heads into the interior of their dwellings, to escape the soporific influence of that long pale face, of those watery eyes, and that languid address; so that the worthy prince was almost certain to find the streets deserted whenever he chanced to pass through them.

Now, on the part of the citizens of Blois this was a culpable piece of disrespect, for Monsieur was, after the king⁠—nay, even perhaps, before the king⁠—the greatest noble of the kingdom. In fact, God, who had granted to Louis XIV, then reigning, the honor of being son of Louis XIII, had granted to Monsieur the honor of being son of Henry IV. It was not then, or, at least, it ought not to have been, a trifling source of pride for the city of Blois, that Gaston of Orléans had chosen it as his residence, and held his court in the ancient Castle of the States.

But it was the destiny of this great prince to excite the attention and admiration of the public in a very modified degree wherever he might be. Monsieur had fallen into this situation by habit.

It was not, perhaps, this which gave