Part 1 (1/2)

The Man in the Iron Mask

by Alexandre Dumas, Pere

Introduction:

In the azine Le Siecle, the first portion of a story appeared, penned by the celebrated playwright Alexandre Dumas It was based, he claimed, on some manuscripts he had found a year earlier in the Bibliotheque Nationale while researching a history he planned to write on Louis XIV They chronicled the adventures of a youngParis, becaues, international politics, and ill-fated affairs between royal lovers Over the next six years, readers would enjoy the adventures of this youth and his three famous friends, Porthos, Athos, and Aramis, as their exploits unraveled behind the scenes of solish history

Eventually these serialized adventures were published in novel fornan Romances known today Here is a brief summary of the first two novels:

The Three Musketeers (serialized March--July, 1844): The year is 1625

The young D'Artagnan arrives in Paris at the tender age of 18, and almost immediately offends three musketeers, Porthos, Ara, the four are attacked by five of the Cardinal's guards, and the courage of the youth isthe battle

The four beconan's landlord to find hiswife, embark upon an adventure that takes theland in order to thwart the plans of the Cardinal Richelieu Along the way, they encounter a beautiful young spy, narace Queen Anne of Austria before her husband, Louis XIII, and take her revenge upon the four friends

Twenty Years After (serialized January--August, 1845): The year is now 1648, twenty years since the close of the last story Louis XIII has died, as has Cardinal Richelieu, and while the crown of France ent for the young Louis XIV, the real power resides with the Cardinal Mazarin, her secret husband

D'Artagnan is now a lieutenant of musketeers, and his three friends have retired to private life Athos turned out to be a nobleman, the Comte de la Fere, and has retired to his hoelonne

Aramis, whose real na the musketeer's cassock for the priest's robes, and Porthos has married a wealthy woman, who left hi in both France and England Cromwell ainst Charles I, and at honan brings his friends out of retirelish e his mother's death at the musketeers' hands, thwarts their valiant efforts Undaunted, our heroes return to France just in ti Louis XIV, quiet the Fronde, and tweak the nose of Cardinal Mazarin

The third novel, The Vicoelonne (serialized October, 1847--January, 1850), has enjoyed a strange history in its English translation It has been split into three, four, or five volumes at various points in its history The five-voluive titles to the smaller portions, but the others do In the three-voluelonne, Louise de la Valliere, and The Man in the Iron Mask For the purposes of this etext, I have chosen to split the novel as the four-voluelonne, Ten Years Later, Louise de la Valliere, and The Man in the Iron Mask In the first three etexts:

The Vicoelonne (Etext 2609): It is the year 1660, and D'Artagnan, after thirty-five years of loyal service, has beco Louis XIV while the real power resides with the Cardinal Mazarin, and has tendered his resignation He e Charles II to the throne of England, and, with the help of Athos, succeeds, earning hinan returns to Paris to live the life of a rich citizen, and Athos, after negotiating the 's brother, to Princess Henrietta of England, likewise retires to his own estate, La Fere Meanwhile, Mazarin has finally died, and left Louis to assuns of poith the assistance of M Colbert, formerly Mazarin's trusted clerk Colbert has an intense hatred for M Fouquet, the king's superintendent of finances, and has resolved to use anyabout his fall With the new rank of intendant bestowed on hi two of Fouquet's loyal friends tried and executed He then brings to the king's attention that Fouquet is fortifying the island of Belle-Ile-en-Mer, and could possibly be planning to use it as a base for sonan out of retire hi-promised promotion to captain of the nan discovers that the engineer of the fortifications is, in fact, Porthos, now the Baron du Vallon, and that's not all

The blueprints for the island, although in Porthos's handwriting, show evidence of another script that has been erased, that of Aranan later discovers that Aramis has become the bishop of Vannes, which is, coincidentally, a parish belonging to M Fouquet Suspecting that D'Artagnan has arrived on the king's behalf to investigate, Ara around Vannes in search of Porthos, and sends Porthos on an heroic ride back to Paris to warn Fouquet of the danger Fouquet rushes to the king, and gives hi any suspicion, and at the sa Colbert, justan audience with the king

Ten Years Later (Etext 2681): As 1661 approaches, Princess Henrietta of England arrives for her e, and throws the court of France into coham, who is in love with her, nearly occasions a war on the streets of Le Havre, thankfully prevented by Raoul's tih, Monsieur Philip becohahts a duel with M de Wardes at Calais De Wardes is a nan, and, by the same token, that of Athos, Aramis, Porthos, and Raoul as well Both land to recover

Raoul's friend, the Comte de Guiche, is the next to succumb to Henrietta's charh De Guiche soon effects a reconciliation But then the king's eye falls on Mada the comte's absence, and this time Monsieur's jealousy has no recourse Anne of Austria intervenes, and the king and his sister-in-law decide to pick a young lady ho can pretend to be in love, the better to mask their own affair They unfortunately select Louise de la Valliere, Raoul's fiancee While the court is in residence at Fontainebleau, the king unwitting overhears Louise confessing her love for hi with her friends beneath the royal oak, and the king proht, Henrietta overhears, at the sa his love for her to Raoul The two e a rainstorether, and the whole court begins to talk of the scandal while their love affair blossoes for Raoul to be sent to England for an indefinite period

Meanwhile, the struggle for power continues between Fouquet and Colbert

Although the Belle-Isle plot backfired, Colbert pro to ask Fouquet for more and more money, and without his two friends to raise it for hiets so bad that his newall her jewels and her gold and silver plate Araovernor of the Bastile, M de Baisenan while inquiring of him as to Aramis's whereabouts This further arouses the suspicions of the musketeer, as ht at an insane pace, but arrived a few minutes after Fouquet had already presented Belle-Isle to the king Araovernor the location of a mysterious prisoner, who bears a remarkable resemblance to Louis XIV--in fact, the two are identical He uses the existence of this secret to persuade a dying Franciscan eneral of the society of the Jesuits, to naeneral of the order On Ara to counteract Colbert's influence, Fouquet also writes a love letter to La Valliere, unfortunately undated It never reaches its destination, however, as the servant ordered to deliver it turns out to be an agent of Colbert's

Louise de la Valliere (Etext 2710): Believing D'Artagnan occupied at Fontainebleau and Porthos safely tucked away at Paris, Aramis holds a funeral for the dead Franciscan--but in fact, Aranan has left Fontainebleau, bored to tears by the _fetes_, retrieved Porthos, and is visiting the country-house of Planchet, his old lackey This house happens to be right next door to the graveyard, and upon observing Ara with a nan, suspicions aroused, resolves to make a little trouble for the bishop He presents Porthos to the king at the sa the wily prelate Aramis's professions of affection and innocence do only a little to allay D'Artagnan's concerns, and he continues to regard Aramis's actions with a curious and wary eye

Meanwhile,as a result of his presentation, and with D'Artagnan's guidance, 's marked favor

The mysterious woman turns out to be the duchesse de Chevreuse, a notorious sche more bad news for Fouquet, who is already in trouble, as the king has invited hinificent mansion, that will surely bankrupt the poor superintendent The duchesse has letters from Mazarin that prove that Fouquet has received thirteen million francs from the royal coffers, and she wishes to sell these letters to Aramis Aramis refuses, and the letters are instead sold to Colbert Fouquet, meanwhile, discovers that the receipt that proves his innocence in the affair has been stolen from him Even worse, Fouquet, desperate for money, is forced to sell the parliamentary position that renders his As part of her deal with Colbert, though, Chevreuse also obtains a secret audience with the queen- secret--Louis XIV has a twin brother, long believed, however, to be dead

Meanwhile, in other quarters, De Wardes, Raoul's inveterate enemy, has returned from Calais, barely recovered froain to insult people, particularly La Valliere, and this tie him

The duel leaves De Guiche horribly wounded, but enables Mada at court The _fetes_, however, co has been more than obvious about his affections for Louise, and Madame, the queen-mother, and the queen join forces to destroy her She is dishonorably discharged from court, and in despair, she flees to the convent at Chaillot Along the way, though, she runs into D'Artagnan, whoof what has taken place By literally begging Madaes to secure Louise's return to court--but Madame still places every obstacle possible before the lovers They have to resort to building a secret staircase and nan, where Louis has a painter create a portrait of Louise But Madame recalls Raoul from London and shows him these proofs of Louise's infidelity Raoul, crushed, challenges Saint-Aignan to a duel, which the king prevents, and Athos, furious, breaks his sword before the king The king has D'Artagnan arrest Athos, and at the Bastile they encounter Ara Baisemeaux another visit Raoul learns of Athos's arrest, and with Porthos in tow, they effect a daring rescue, surprising the carriage containing D'Artagnan and Athos as they leave the Bastile

Although quite inan has already secured Athos's pardon fro Instead, everybody switches nan and Porthos take the horses back to Paris, and Athos and Raoul take the carriage back to La Fere, where they intend to reside per is now their sworn enemy, Raoul cannot bear to see Louise, and they have no s in Paris