Chapter 3: The Audience

Summary

     D’Artagnan is welcomed politely by M. de Treville, despite the latter’s grumpiness. M. de Treville then promptly puts poor d’Artagnan into an uncomfortable situation when he asks him to wait awhile, because M. de Treville needs to talk to some of the Musketeers first. He bellows for Aramis, Porthos, and Athos, rather hilariously and rapidly switching between an urgent and furious voice. Aramis and Porthos show up, a bit apprehensive. M. de Treville glares at them for a prolonged moment, and proceeds to angrily tell them what the cardinal told him the other day. Apparently, the Musketeers, including the aforementioned three, have lost a fight with the cardinal’s Musketeers, and the cardinal was spreading the embarrassing tale. M. de Treville is terribly agitated, and keeps exclaiming “Morbleu!” in dramatic tones. All the other Musketeers are eavesdropping on this conversation, and are also terribly upset, and screams of “Morbleu!” are heard left, right, and center.

      M. de Treville dramatically bluffs that he is so ashamed of them that he plans to resign as leader of the Musketeers. He, even more theatrically, tells Porthos and Aramis that they do not deserve their Musketeer-hood, and makes fun of Porthos’s fanciness, Aramis’s inclination toward being an abbe, and Athos’s absence. Porthos and Aramis are furious, but love M. de Treville so much that they believe all he says is amazing, and do not contradict him. The eavesdropping Musketeers are also furious, and keep mouthing the insults in indignation. Poor d’Artagnan feels incredibly awkward standing in the corner, and wishes the floor would swallow him up.

      Aramis and Porthos finally explain the truth of the situation to their melodramatic boss. The battle was an unfair one, and Athos is absent because he was severely wounded due to his bravery. M. de Treville softens, and is about to speak more, when Athos appears! He is handsome, pale, and looks like he is still in pain from his wound. At this sight, the excitable M. de Treville totally loses his mind and begins yelling about how brave his Musketeers are, and how much he loves them. As he does so, he affectionately squeezes Athos’s hand, which causes even greater pain to poor Athos, who winces and turns even paler. The oblivious man has completely changed his tune, and keeps grabbing Athos’s hand. He finally notices the unsubtle eavesdroppers (who are now cheering at seeing Athos and the pacification of M. de Treville), and is about to reprimand them, when Athos faints.

     M. de Treville loses it once again and calls frantically for a surgeon. The loyal Musketeers run into the room, all pretense of subtlety abandoned, and hover over Athos’s prone body. Despite their concern and affection, no one in the room actually goes to get a surgeon though, so it is merely pure luck that saves the unconscious Athos. A surgeon just happens to be nearby, and happens to hear M. de Treville’s bellows. The surgeon, Porthos, and Aramis carry Athos into another room, where he is tended to. The Musketeers are told to disband by a calmer M. de Treville, and they do so.

     Now, d’Artagnan and M. de Treville are left alone in the room. D’Artagnan, highly impressed by the Musketeers, manages to screw up the courage to get M. de Treville’s attention. Awkwardly, M. de Treville cannot remember who d’Artagnan is or why he is there at first, until d’Artagnan reminds him all over again. After that glitch, the little job interview goes on quite well. They bond over their Gascon origins, and M. de Treville even apologizes for the delay, explaining that the Musketeers are like little children, and he is like their father. However, d’Artagnan finds that without the letter, M. de Treville cannot admit him into the Musketeers straight away – he has to undergo two years of training at an academy. D’Artagnan, disappointed, decides to tell M. de Treville about his remarkable experience with the fancy-pants-letter-thief. M. de Treville seems to recognize the stranger as an enemy of his, and gets quite indignant right along with d’Artagnan. However, all of a sudden M. de Treville also gets a trifle suspicious.

      M. de Treville begins to suspect that d’Artagnan is a spy for the cardinal, and decides to test him. With a wily look in his eye, M. de Treville lies to the innocent d’Artagnan about his friendship and respect for the cardinal (who he actually hates). D’Artagnan believes him (as a spy would not), proving his innocence, and also making him think that he must be very respectful of the cardinal at all times. The suspicious man is appeased slightly, but still not fully satisfied, and keeps a close eye on d’Artagnan. Nonetheless, he writes d’Artagnan a letter of recommendation for the training academy. Just when he is about to hand it to d’Artagnan, our protagonist suddenly springs up. With furious yells, he calls to M. de Treville that he just saw the letter thief! D’Artagnan then runs out. M. de Treville is left alone, confused, and still slightly suspicious. He suspects that d’Artagnan ran away just to escape, because his secret spy mission failed. Meanwhile, d’Artagnan charges wildly out of the office after the stranger, with murderous intentions in his little Gascon heart. Cliffhanger!

Reaction

     M. de Treville is amusingly dramatic, and I love how quickly he switches from furious and self-pitying to loving and encouraging. However, why is he so suspicious of poor d’Artagnan? Dumas makes is quite clear that d’Artagnan makes a favorable impression on M. de Treville, so the excessive lack of trust seems unwarranted. Nevertheless, the entertainment value of his melodrama and hysterics more than makes up for him tricking d’Artagnan about the cardinal. I particularly enjoyed the random screaming from him and the eavesdropping Musketeers. Morbleu! Morbleu! It’s just such a fun word to say. It sounds so tragic and urgent.

     My favorite line is actually not Morbleu! It’s about the immense awkwardness d’Artagnan feels during all the yelling and running around. Here goes: “D'Artagnan looked for some tapestry behind which he might hide himself, and felt an immense inclination to crawl under the table.” Ha! One could argue that had he followed that inclination, he would have gotten M. de Treville’s attention sooner…but then again, that would be even more awkward of an introduction.