Chapter 64: The Man in the Red Cloak

Summary

     Athos summons the servants, and gives them some instructions. Hmm, I should make a name for the group of servants. They deserve a good one. How about the Hungry Quadruplets of Joy? Yes, that’ll do nicely. So Athos tells the Hungry Quadruplets of Joy that they are to each leave for Armentieres by a different route, and seek Milady. They have an advantage since they know Milady, but she does not know them. Ha! I knew Milady would regret omitting the servants in her list of threats! Planchet is to use the route that Rochefort’s servant took by carriage, because he’s cool like that. If they find Milady, three of them will guard her, and the other will go back, inform the Fearsome Four, and lead them to Milady. The Hungry Quadruplets of Joy head off on their mission dutifully. Athos also leaves the hotel himself. It is about 10 o’clock in the evening. Then, Athos proceeds to say a few words to local people, watch them overdramatically recoil in terror, and be pointed a certain direction. After a while of these tedious locals helping him out, Athos reaches his destination. The man-who-Dumas-will-not-name takes Athos into an eerie little lab with jars and experiments and lizards, and invites him to take a look. He’s currently assembling a skeleton. Wow, this is getting weird.  The man is pale, with black hair and a black beard. Athos is impatient with the lab equipment, and wants to talk of other things. Athos then requests something of the man-who-Dumas-will-not-name. He follows the local custom of recoiling in fear, but eventually acquiesces. Athos shows him a piece of paper with two lines and a seal on it, and then goes home.

     In the morning, d’Artagnan demands to know what they are going to do. Athos says that they must wait. Presently, Madame Bonacieux’s funeral takes place. It is a solemn affair, but it has a nice choir.  D’Artagnan is feeling pretty blue during the burial ceremony, and tries to catch Athos’s eye for comfort. But Athos is gone! He left to continue his mission. Wow, rude. Athos follows Milady’s footsteps out of the garden, and finds where she entered the carriage. His suspicions confirmed, he heads back to the hotel. There, he finds Planchet impatiently waiting for him. Planchet, too, had followed Milady’s footsteps, but had gone even further than Athos. He went to an inn and pretended to be an out-of-work servant, and managed to find out that a lady had arrived shortly before, saying that she would stay for a while. So, basically, the Hungry Quadruplets of Joy have found Milady. In the evening, Athos fetches the mysterious man, who is wearing a red cloak. The whole party – including Lord de Winter and excluding Grimaud, Mousqueton, and Bazin, who are guarding Milady’s location – is present. Everyone is a bit confused about Athos’s new friend, but they don’t question it. Then, Planchet begins to lead the way to Milady’s hideout.

Reaction

     I adore how far the Hungry Quadruplets of Joy have come. They used to be minor characters, but now they have basically become some of the most indispensible people on the royalist side. Planchet, especially, has come a long way. From a hobo, “making rings and splashing in the water” under a bridge, to a veritable hero! The man in the red cloak being kept a secret from everyone is kind of silly though – why, does Athos want a big dramatic reveal or something? Also, Madame Bonacieux’s funeral would have been sadder if Dumas actually tried to focus on her for even a second. Like I said, she’s become a plot point – the focus was never on her.

     My favorite line is the melodramatic introduction of the man in the red cloak: “The man whom Athos had come so far to seek, and whom he had found with so much trouble, introduced him into his laboratory, where he was engaged in fastening together with iron wire the dry bones of a skeleton. All the frame was adjusted except the head, which lay on the table.” Uh…is this The Three Musketeers or a cannibal thriller mystery novel?!