Man in the Iron Mask (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

by Alexandre Dumas

  “Monsieur Colbert, we have a promise to fulfil with M. d’Artagnan, who so well keeps his. This is to inform you that the time is come for performing it. All provisions for this purpose you shall be furnished with in due time.—LOUIS.”

  In consequence of this, Colbert, who detained the envoy of d‘Artagnan, placed in the hands of that messenger a letter from himself for d’Artagnan, and a small coffer of ebony inlaid with gold, which was not very voluminous in appearance, but which, without doubt, was very heavy, as a guard of five men was given to the messenger, to assist him in carrying it. These people arrived before the place which d‘Artagnan was besieging, towards daybreak and presented themselves at the lodgings of the general. They were told that M. d’Artagnan, annoyed by a sortie which the governor, an artful man, had made the evening before, and in which the works had been destroyed, seventy-seven men killed, and the reparation of the breaches commenced, had just gone, with half a score companies of grenadiers, to reconstruct the works.

  M. Colbert’s envoy had orders to go and seek M. d‘Artagnan wherever he might be, or at whatever hour of the day or night. He directed his course, therefore, towards the trenches, followed by his escort, all on horseback. They perceived M. d’Artagnan in the open plain with his gold-laced hat, his long cane, and his large gilded cuffs. He was biting his white moustache, and wiping off, with his left hand, the dust which the passing balls threw up from the ground they ploughed near him. They also saw, amidst this terrible fire, which filled the air with its hissing whistle, officers handling the shovel, soldiers rolling barrows, and vast fascines, rising by being either carried or dragged by from ten to twenty men, cover the front of the trench, re-opened to the centre by this extraordinary effort of the general animating his soldiers. In three hours, all had been reinstated. D‘Artagnan began to speak more mildly; and he became quite calm, when the captain of the pioneers approached him, hat in hand, to tell him that the trench was again lodgeable. This man had scarcely finished speaking when a ball took off one of his legs, and he fell into the arms of d’Artagnan. The latter lifted up his soldier; and quietly, with soothing words, carried him into the trench, amidst the enthusiastic applause of the two regiments. From that time, it was no longer ardour: it was delirium; two companies stole away up to the advanced posts, which they destroyed instantly.

  When their comrades, restrained with great difficulty by d‘Artagnan, saw them lodged upon the bastions, they rushed forward likewise; and soon a furious assault was made upon the counterscarp, upon which depended the safety of the place. D’Artagnan perceived there was only one means left of stopping his army, and that was to lodge it in the place. He directed all his force to two breaches, which the besieged were busy in repairing. The shock was terrible; eighteen companies took part in it, and d‘Artagnan went with the rest, within half cannonshot of the place, to support the attack by échelons. The cries of the Dutch who were being poniarded upon their guns by d’Artagnan’s grenadiers, were distinctly audible. The struggle grew fiercer with the despair of the governor, who disputed his position foot by foot. D’Artagnan, to put an end to the affair, and silence the fire, which was unceasing, sent a fresh column, which penetrated like a wimble through the posts that remained solid; and he soon perceived upon the ramparts, through the fire, the terrified flight of the besieged, pursued by the besiegers.

  It was at this moment, the general, breathing freely and full of joy, heard a voice behind him, saying, “Monsieur, if you please, from M. Colbert.”

  He broke the seal of a letter which contained these words:—

  “Monsieur D’Artagnan,—

  The King commands me to inform you that he has nominated you Marshal of France, as a reward of your good services, and the honour you do to his arms. The King is highly pleased, monsieur, with the captures you have made; he commands you in particular, to finish the siege you have commenced, with good fortune to you and success for him.”

  D’Artagnan was standing with a heated countenance and a sparkling eye. He looked up to watch the progress of his troops upon the walls, still enveloped in red and black volumes of smoke. “I have finished,” replied he to the messenger; “the city will have surrendered in a quarter of an hour.” He then resumed his reading:—

  “The accompanying box, Monsieur d’Artagnan, is my own present. You will not be sorry to see that, whilst you warriors are drawing the sword to defend the King, I am animating the pacific arts to ornament the recompenses worthy of you. I commend myself to your friendship, Monsieur le Marshal, and beg you to believe in all mine.

  —Colbert.”

  D‘Artagnan, intoxicated with joy, made a sign to the messenger, who approached, with his box in his hands. But at the moment the marshal was going to look at it, a loud explosion resounded from the ramparts, and called his attention towards the city. “It is strange,” said d’Artagnan, “that I don’t see the King’s flag upon the walls, or hear the drums beat.” He launched three hundred fresh men, under a high-spirited officer, and ordered another breach to be beaten. Then, being more tranquil, he turned towards the box which Colbert’s envoy held out to him. It was his treasure, he had won it.

  D‘Artagnan was holding out his hand to open the box, when a ball from the city crushed the box in the arms of the officer, struck d’Artagnan full in the chest, and knocked him down upon a sloping heap of earth, whilst the fleur-de-lised baton, escaping from the broken sides of the box, came rolling under the powerless hand of the marshal. D’Artagnan endeavoured to raise himself up. It was thought he had been knocked down without being wounded. A terrible cry broke from the group of his terrified officers; the marshal was covered with blood; the paleness of death ascended slowly to his noble countenance. Leaning upon the arms which were held out on all sides to receive him, he was able once more to turn his eyes towards the place, and to distinguish the white flag at the crest of the principal bastion; his ears, already deaf to the sounds of life, caught feebly the rolling of the drum which announced the victory. Then, clasping in his nerveless hand the baton ornamented with its fleur-de-lis, he cast down upon it his eyes, which had no longer the power of looking upwards towards heaven, and fell back, murmuring those strange words, which appeared to the soldiers cabalistic words,—words which had formerly represented so many things upon earth, and which none but the dying man longer comprehended.

  “Athos—Porthos, farewell till we meet again! Aramis, adieu for ever!”

  Of the four valiant men whose history we have related, there now no longer remained but one single body; God had resumed the souls.

  Endnotes

  1 (p. 7) She concealed beneath a rich toilette and the most exquisite taste, an age which Ninon de l‘Enclos alone could have smiled at with impunity: Born Anne de Lenclos in Paris, Ninon de Lenclos (1620-1705) was a courtesan of great and enduring beauty. She organized a philosophical salon in her home in the spirit of free-thinking skeptics. Among her lovers was the King’s cousin, Louis II de Bourbon, prince de Condé (1621-1686). She was once imprisoned on orders of Louis XIV’s mother, Anne of Austria, because of her opinions on religion. The most famous noblemen, artists, and writers, including novelist Marie-Madeleine, comtesse de La Fayette (1634-1693), Madame de Maintenon (1635-1719), and even the young Voltaire (1694-1778), met at de Lenclos’s salon to discuss art, politics, and literature, particularly her favorite writers, Montaigne and Epicurius.

  2 (p. 9) “but I knew you were a friend of M. Fouquet’s ”: Nicolas Fouquet (1615-1680) was France’s last surintendant (superintendent) of finances, a position similar to the U.S. secretary of the treasury, which included responsibility for collecting the king’s taxes. A tradition of poor record keeping and generous emoluments allowed holders of this title to amass great wealth. In this chapter, the King of France will order Fouquet to pay for the festivities at Fontainebleau, one of the royal residences outside Paris. Fouquet also pays for the elaborate celebrations at Vaux-le-Vicomte, his stunningly beautiful chateau outside Paris. The celebration at
Vaux-le-Vicomte includes banquets and fireworks displays organized by François Vatel and a specially commissioned play by the comic actor and writer Molière. (See the 2000 Roland Joffé film vatel, starring Gérard Depardieu, for a recreation of this historic event.)

  3 (p. 10) “Suffice it to know that I learnt you had returned from Vannes, and I sent to one of our friends, M. le Comte de la Fère”: In The Three Musketeers this character used the name Athos, in part to hide his identity. In this book he will still be called Athos by his friends Porthos, Aramis, and d’Artagnan. His intimate though brief relationship with the Duchesse de Chevreuse led to the birth of their son, Vicomte Raoul de Bragelonne. Though Athos has raised his son since birth, he has never revealed to him that the Duchesse is his mother. In the eyes of Raoul de Bragelonne, his father is also his beloved tutor and benefactor.

  4 (p. 14) the Fronde: A series of revolts from 1648 to 1652, “la Fronde” was first led by the judicial body called the Parlement de Paris, which refused to accept new taxation from Jules Cardinal Mazarin (1602-1661), who, with the Regent Anne of Austria (1601-1666), was managing King Louis XIV’s affairs during his minority. In 1648 armed citizens chased the royal family and its courtiers from Paris to Saint-Germain. This insurrection, called “la Fronde parlementaire,” was put down by the nobility in April 1649, but having become disenchanted with Mazarin and Anne of Austria, the nobles started “la Fronde des princes,” in January 1650, during which most of the great princes and peers of the realm challenged royal authority. Among the noble insurrectionists were the Duchesse de Chevreuse, the Duc de Beaufort, and Gaston d‘Orléans, the King’s uncle. The leaders of the Parlement de Paris joined the nobility in their revolt. In 1652 the Prince de Condé, the most important royal dissident, was defeated and the King returned to Paris. The young Louis XIV, marked for life by these twin revolts, would remove his court to Versailles, out of the Parisians’ reach, and work to weaken the authority of the nobility by centralizing power in his hands. The absolute monarchy, only a vision for Cardinal Richelieu, became a reality under Louis XIV.

  5 (p. 23) she opened the door of the garden, leading into another street, and hurried towards the Rue Croix des Petits Champs, where M. Colbert resided: Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683) was the intendant of finances employed by the aging Cardinal Mazarin at the beginning of the story. As such he was nominally the employee of the surintendant of finances, Fouquet, but he surreptitiously undermined Fouquet’s credibility and authority with the King. Ultimately Colbert’s conniving ruined Fouquet’s reputation and brought about his arrest and imprisonment. Colbert continued the work of centralizing power in the hands of the King and developed such industries as the Manufacture des Gobelins, a state-owned tapestry workshop that continues to this day. He also tried to strengthen the French navy as a counterweight to English domination of the seas. Colbert also founded the first observatory in Paris and the Academy of Sciences.

  6 (p. 40) in the most guarded and polished phrases, they had fulminated every variety of imprecation against Mademoiselle de la Vallière: Louise de La Vallière (1644-1710) has just replaced her own mistress, Henriette d’Angleterre (1644-1670), in the King’s heart. Though she comes from provincial nobility, she has captivated the King through her innocence and virtue. Louis XIV forces the court to accept her despite the resistance of the Queen-Mother, Madame, and his own wife, Queen Marie-Thérèse (1638-1683). Unfortunately, Raoul de Bragelonne also loves Louise, whom he has known since early childhood. His feelings remain unrequited, for the King and Louise love each other with a shared passion. Louise and the King will have two children, Marie-Anne de Bourbon (1666-1739), called Mademoiselle de Blois, and Louis de Bourbon, comte de Vermandois (1667-1683). Louise will live out the last years of her life in a convent.

  7 (p. 57) M. Vatel was most resolutely painstaking in keeping up the reputation of the house: Fouquet’s majordomo, François Vatel, will prepare the banquets, fireworks displays, and plays for the king at Vaux-le-Vicomte. After Fouquet’s arrest, he will direct the household staff for the Prince de Condé. Probably one of the first practitioners of what the French call la cuisine du marché, Vatel sought out the freshest vegetables, the best fowl and fish. Legend has it that, when one of his banquets at the Prince de Condé’s chateau turned into a disaster, Vatel committed suicide rather than face dishonor.

  8 (p. 104) “Why have I not a determined inveterate enemy—that serpent de Wardes, for instance”: The Comte de Wardes, son of the count who appeared in The Three Musketeers, is a portrait in villainy. He insults Raoul and duels with the Duke of Buckingham and the Comte de Guiche, whom he seriously wounds. Dumas scholar Claude Schopp believes that this fictitious character resembles a historic figure, le Marquis de Vardes, who was a gallant soldier. He was disgraced and exiled from court after an affair with Madame.

  9 (p. 140) “I know you are in a poetical vein; but try not to sink from Apollo to Phœbus”: Apollo is the god of prophecy, poetry, music, and purification, and is frequently associated with the sun. Louis XIV, called the Sun King, took Apollo as a symbol. He danced the part of Apollo in the ballet Les Noces de Pélée et Thétis, by Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687).

  10 (p. 174) “You are taking me to the Bastille, I perceive, ” said Athos: A fortress constructed for the defense of Paris in 1370, the Bastille in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries served as a prison housing mainly political and religious prisoners, but also writers band others who had earned the ire of the crown. The storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, began the French Revolution. In 1790 the fortress, as an unpleasant symbol of the monarchy, was razed. Some of its famous prisoners were Fouquet, le Masque de Fer, Voltaire, and the Marquis de Sade (1740-1814).

  11 (p. 175) “The coachman will take you to the barrier of the Cours-la-Reine”: The Cours-la-Reine, or Queen’s Drive, was a road along the Right Bank of the Seine. Queen Marie de Médicis, wife of King Henri IV of France, ordered it built in 1616. Paris was at the time a walled city with entry points called portes. The barrier at the Cours-la-Reine, which Dumas mentions, is another entry point, this one controlling river traffic.

  12 (p. 175) “you will have reached Havre, and from Havre across to England, where you will find the charming residence of which M. Monk made me a present”: George Monk (or Monck), the first duke of Albemarle (1608-1670), helped restore Charles II of England (1630-1685) to his throne in 1660, even though he had been an army general under Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658). D‘Artagnan, who earlier in Dumas’s work convinces Monk to aid the King, is here referring to the house and a farm of one hundred acres in England he received for his services.

  13 (p. 249) Percerin had ... invented that admirable Spanish costume in which Richelieu danced a saraband, made the costumes for the tragedy of Mirame: This tragic play, by Jean Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin (1595-1676), was the first to be performed at the theater in the new palace of Armand-Jean Du Plessis, Duc and Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642). Both the palace and theater were referred to as the Palais-Cardinal. Upon Richelieu’s death, the palace passed to the royal family and was renamed the Palais-Royal. The theater in the Palais-Royal, now known as Le Comédie Française, is today France’s national theater.

  14 (p. 263) Where, Probably, Molière Formed His First Idea of the Bourgeois Gentilhomme: Born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, son of the royal cloth merchant, Molière (1622-1673) was the greatest French comic actor and playwright of the seventeenth century. In Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, he satirizes the anxious social-climber Monsieur Jourdain, who yearns for acceptance by aristocrats to such an extent that he falls prey to every schemer promising him entry to this magical, closed world of the aristocracy. To perfect his graces he hires elocution and fencing masters, offers gifts to a “marquise” of dubious parentage, and spends lavishly on tasteless clothing and other finery. The scene in which M. Jourdain orders an elegant new waistcoat, breeches, and shirt is hilarious, and shows how far removed from aristocratic circles he truly is. In this chapter, Dumas invents a fictitious
source for that celebrated scene by having Molière help Porthos with his measurements for his outfit.

  15 (p. 274) “I tell you all this, ” continued La Fontaine, “because you are preparing a divertissement for Vaux, are you not?” “Yes, the Fâcheux ”: Nicolas Fouquet ordered Molière to write and stage the play Les Fâcheux, a comédie-ballet (comedy with dancing) . Jean-Baptiste Lully composed the music for this work, while Molière and his troop acted in the play. In fifteen days, the entire project was completed, the music written and the lines memorized. Presented to Louis XIV at Vaux-le-Vicomte in August 1661 as part of the festivities described in note 2, above, it was a true tour de force for the playwright, composer, and actors. For information on the site of this play and the fête, see the Web site: http://www. vaux-le-vicomte. com/eng/vv_histoire. htm.

  16 (p. 278) “I wish to make him sign a lettre de cachet”: This judicial instrument, signed by the king and countersigned by a minister, allowed for the imprisonment of the named person without trial or indeed any court proceedings whatsoever. A lettre de cachet was frequently employed with political adversaries, turbulent young men whose parents wanted to keep them away from gaming, women, or other vices, and immoral or libertine persons. Voltaire and Denis Diderot (1713-1784) spent time in the Bastille for their writings, as did the Marquis de Sade (1740-1814). In the melodrama Latude, by René-Charles-Guilbert de Pixérécourt (1773-1844), a lettre de cachet sends the hero, Henri-Jean Latude (1725-1805), to the Bastille. In fact, the real Latude was sent to the Bastille and other prisons a number of times.

  17 (p. 296) “I say not that he will pour out blood, like Louis XI, or Charles IX”: Louis XI (1423-1483) was the sixth king of the Valois branch of the French royal family, which, by the time of our story, had been replaced by the Bourbon line beginning with Henri IV Louis XI fought numerous battles to bring France’s boundaries to about where they are today. The defeat of Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, helped the king consolidate power in France as he seized some of the Duke’s possessions on his death. Charles IX (1550-1574), under the influence of his mother Catherine de Médicis (1519-1589), ordered the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew’s Day in August 1572 in which all the Protestants in Paris except the royal princes were slaughtered. (A 1994 film, Queen Margot, based on the Dumas novel by the same name, depicts the horrifying carnage begun on the night of August 23.)