Chapter 11: In Which the Plot Thickens

Summary

     The chapter is titled quite aptly. Intrigue! D’Artagnan is wandering around the streets, madly in love with Madame Bonacieux. He seems to believe they love each other and is rather glad M. Bonacieux is out of the picture. Rather than dwell on this newly irritating d’Artagnan, the plot luckily moves ahead when d’Artagnan notices a disguised woman nearing Aramis’s house. He laughs to himself, instantly thinking of the doctor of theology’s daughter from two chapters ago. He crouches down to spy on the meeting, hoping to see Aramis with the woman. To his complete shock, a woman opens the door. Even more weirdly, the visiting lady hands her a handkerchief just like the one that caused his initial fight with Aramis, and one he had seen on Madame Bonacieux! The lady in disguise soon leaves, and d’Artagnan follows her, and eventually confronts her. It is Madame Bonacieux! He immediately confesses his love, and she kind of smiles and brushes it off. Poor, stupid d’Artagnan. Strangely, she claims not to know Aramis, and says she is on a secret mission. Wow, she is actually kind of awesome. 


     In an even more irritating manner, d’Artagnan calls her adorable. Adorable?!? This woman is hardcore! She is on a spy mission! Why is he being condescending? But d’Artagnan pays me no heed, and embarrasses himself by trying to force her to tell all her secrets. His ‘reasoning’ is that he loves her so much that there ought to be no secrets. Her logic is that she will tell him any secret she has, but these are other people’s secrets and she cannot divulge them. Of course, he just goes on about how she abuses his love. She agrees to let him accompany her to her next secret destination, but only if he promises to leave once she gets there, and not watch her or spy on her. He acquiesces reluctantly. After they reach, he obnoxiously asks her if she agrees to return his love. She replies that she cannot promise any such thing, and that while she is thankful to him for saving her life, she does not love him right now. All d’Artagnan hears is the ‘not now’ and is ecstatic, even more obnoxiously taking her words as a love promise. He finally leaves, and keeps his promise to not spy on her.

     When he gets back to his apartment, he is in for a nasty shock. A sorrowful Planchet is standing amidst a ransacked apartment. He explains all. Athos has been arrested! The guards thought he was d’Artagnan when he visited the apartment, and dragged him away. Athos did not correct them, in order to ensure that d’Artagnan’s mission would not be interrupted. Aw, that’s very noble of Athos. D’Artagnan instructs Planchet to stay at the apartment and make sure none of the other Musketeers arrives and gets in trouble. Planchet bravely replies in the affirmative, and says that he is willing to give up his life to protect the Fearsome Four.

     D’Artagnan runs off to inform M. de Treville of the goings on.  So, he tries to get to the Louvre. On his way, he spots Madame Bonacieux in disguise, walking arm-in-arm with a man! D’Artagnan thinks the man looks like Aramis, and gets very jealous and angry. He is furious at her, and thinks he has been betrayed and cheated on. Here, even Dumas admits that d’Artagnan is being ridiculous. He has known Madame Bonacieux for three hours, and is getting carried away. She does not owe him anything except maybe gratitude for saving her life. Anyway, he leaps confrontationally in front of the couple, and is about to duel the man, when he realizes that it is not Aramis, but the Duke of Buckingham! D’Artagnan begs his pardon, using the excuse of love, and tells the man that he is at his service. The Duke accepts the apology and d’Artagnan’s service. Soon, d’Artagnan finds Porthos and Aramis in the Pomme-de-Pinne (some sort of diner, I presume).

Reaction

     I really dislike d’Artagnan’s behavior in this chapter, for a few reasons.

1. It is silly that d’Artagnan really believes himself in love with Madame Bonacieux despite only knowing her for three hours and observing her clear rebuffs.
2. He keeps acting as if she owes him her love, which is  presumptuous and awful behavior.
3. He keeps compromising her awesome spy missions by acting incredibly ridiculous and making a public scene.
4. However, his dramatic rage and aggressive rush at the Duke seem like the old d’Artagnan, which was a bit of a relief though it is still terrible behavior.

     To my surprise, I also find myself liking Madame Bonacieux. She handles d’Artagnan’s appalling conduct very well; being kind yet firm. She also is a spy, which is just cool. In other news, I am so proud of Planchet in this chapter. Even irritating d’Artagnan admires his courage!