He goes, and she seduces him, exchanging sex for the promise that he will kill the Comte, whom she says has greatly insulted her. After a night of lovemaking, Milady presses d'Artagnan for details: how, specifically, does he plan to kill the Comte? D'Artagnan decides that enough is enough, and tells her that it was he she slept with as the Comte, and produces the ring to prove it. Milady is overcome with fury, and attacks d'Artagnan. In the scuffle, he tears her shirt, revealing that she has a Fleur-de-Lis branded on her left shoulder.
Shocked and horrified, d'Artagnan escapes the dagger-wielding Milady, and runs out onto the street. This section concludes the first half of The Three Musketeers. Lady de Winter, after spending the first half of the novel operating in the background, has become the book's most important antagonist. Beneath her aggression and cunning, at this point in the novel she is still a richly mysterious character.
Is she Athos's murdered wife? If so, how did she survive? She claims to be an Englishwoman, yet she speaks perfect French; where is she from?
What did she do to earn that Fleur-de-Lis? What is her connection to Madame Bonacieux's kidnapping, and to the Cardinal's schemes in general? To a very great extent, Dumas has spent this closing portion of part I posing all these questions, in order to devote part II to answering them. In fact, one of the most common criticisms leveled against The Three Musketeers is that Milady dominates part II in a way that tampers with the novel's structural balance.
Milady indeed is the driving force behind the rest of the work. The power she holds over d'Artagnan ensures her ability to spur the musketeers into action.
With each new revelation about her past, d'Artagnan promises himself more sternly that he will have nothing to do with her; but in her presence he is powerless. Milady possesses extraordinary powers of persuasion.
For his part, d'Artagnan has undergone some interesting changes, particularly in this last section of the story. Milady rears up and tries to kill d'Artagnan and as they scuffle, her nightgown is torn and d'Artagnan sees the mark of a convict branded on one of her shoulders.
The discovery of this secret is so terrible that Milady vows that d'Artagnan will die. By a stroke of good fortune, however, and some help from Kitty, d'Artagnan escapes. Relating the adventure to Athos later, the two men discover that Milady is Athos's wife, a woman whom he thought he hanged after he discovered that she was a branded criminal.
Athos and d'Artagnan decide to sell Milady's "tainted" ring — which originally belonged to Athos's family — and now they are both able to buy their equipment for the siege of La Rochelle. Meantime, Porthos has obtained his equipment from his aging, miserly mistress, and Aramis has obtained his equipment from his beloved friend, Madame de Chevreuse.
Before d'Artagnan and the musketeers leave in their separate regiments for the siege, the king becomes ill, and d'Artagnan's group moves out first, leaving the musketeers behind for the time being to await the king. Later, during a dangerous mission that d'Artagnan is leading, the same two assassins again try to kill him. When this attempt fails, Milady decides to have some poisoned wine delivered to d'Artagnan -compliments of "the three musketeers. Instead, another soldier drinks the wine — and falls dead.
Meanwhile, the three musketeers are enjoying their leisure time, drinking and joking, and, by chance, they meet the cardinal, who is going to a meeting with Milady, who is staying at the inn which the musketeers just left. The musketeers accompany the cardinal and listen through a broken stovepipe to the conversation.
Milady, they learn, is going to London to make sure that the duke of Buckingham is killed; in return, the cardinal will take revenge against d'Artagnan. The musketeers immediately decide on a plan to warn d'Artagnan and Buckingham. Thus, when Milady arrives in England, she is taken prisoner by her brother-in-law, de Winter.
However, she cleverly corrupts her jailer, convinces him a religious puritan fanatic that Buckingham deserves to be put to death, and he obeys her. She then escapes to France, where she is determined to complete her revenge against d'Artagnan. She goes to the convent where the queen has placed Constance Bonacieux, d'Artagnan's beloved, for protection, and there Milady wins the young girl's confidence. Precisely when d'Artagnan and the musketeers arrive to rescue Constance, Milady poisons her and escapes.
D'Artagnan and the musketeers track her down, accuse her of her many crimes — and execute her. When the entire story is revealed later to the cardinal, he is horrified at the extent of Milady's evil web of death, and he is extremely impressed with d'Artagnan's laudable actions.
Consequently, he writes out a commission for d'Artagnan to become a lieutenant in the King's Musketeers. After offering the commission to Athos, Porthos, and Aramis and being refused by all three, d'Artagnan accepts the prestigious commission at the early age of twenty-one.
Learn how your comment data is processed. Search Search for:. Chateau de Castelmore, Lupiac, Gascony. Alexandre Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers. Like this: Like Loading This article truly one the interesting bits of history that I love. Thanks Like Like.
Thank you Marge. I have to admit — I loved writing this one! She does sound interesting — maybe a future post … Like Like. Thank you, as always, Brittius. All the best for , Sharon. Great post! Thanks Anna! I loved writing this one. Thanks Melisende. I love anything on the Man in the Iron Mask! Thank you Carole. What a wonderful family history! Good luck and Best wishes, Sharon Like Like. Pingback: 4 Musketeers Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:.
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