Chapter 21: The Countess de Winter

Summary

     On the way to the duke’s hotel, d’Artagnan tells him about all his adventures during his journey to London. Dumas praises d’Artagnan overmuch in my opinion, but I’ll let it slide. When they reach the hotel, the duke leaps off his exhausted horse without caring what happens to it. D’Artagnan dismounts also, but looks back to make sure some hotel people take care of the horses. Oh, so now d’Artagnan cares about horses, but not the Fearsome Four’s servants? Regardless, the duke hurries d’Artagnan into the hotel, and taking a gold key off a gold necklace, opens a little secret alcove. Inside the room lies…a shrine to Queen Anne. Good grief. It has a gigantic portrait of her above a platform where the casket with the studs is placed. The duke kneels down, almost as if he is praying to the queen, and kisses each stud. To complete the religious comparison, he blatantly says that Queen Anne is his god. He explains to d’Artagnan that he wishes to be buried with the studs and is devastated to part with them. He really sounds self-righteous in his grief.

     As he thus worships each stud, he suddenly notices what we have known all along. Two studs are missing! After mentally retracing his actions, he realizes that the Countess de Winter (Milady) must have stolen them at the ball. He springs into action, summoning both his goldsmith/jeweler and secretary. Because he is ridiculously wealthy and powerful, he tells his secretary to put an embargo on all ships or vessels to France. He pretends that he plans to go to war with France. Drastic measures! He tells d’Artagnan that this way, if the two studs have not left England yet, they cannot leave now. He then literally locks the goldsmith in a room and makes him recreate the two studs. He pays him handsomely for the craftsmanship and trouble caused. After two days, the studs are complete, and cannot be told apart from the originals. D’Artagnan and the duke talk awhile about the next step. The duke insists on keeping the casket for his own pleasure. Yeesh. So d’Artagnan will return with only the studs; hopefully the missing casket will not be noticed! D’Artagnan admits to the duke that he does not like him very much. D’Artagnan respects him and will give up his life for him, but he does not like how careless the duke is with money, orders, and people. The duke takes this oddly harsh confession quite well, and the two part as friends. The duke has set up an elaborate system to get d’Artagnan home in which he travels to special taverns and says a secret password (it is “forward!”), which gets him any supply or help he needs, and a freshly rested horse. D’Artagnan travels on persistently and reaches Paris in twelve hours. There, exhausted, he runs to M. de Treville’s. That worthy gentlemen subtly directs him to the Louvre.

Reaction

    The duke’s reluctance to give up the studs and martyr-like air is surprising and idiotic. His words seem to imply that he considers himself wronged by the queen, since she gave him a gift and is now asking for it back. For crying out loud! If he loves the queen so much, he really ought to be more gracious about returning the studs. Granted, he cherishes them for their symbolism (he’s far too wealthy to care about their value). However, Queen Anne is in deep trouble and he can help her out, so his unwillingness to give her what she so desperately needs and his keeping the casket comes across as selfish. Remember, he has only met the queen four times! Also, she gave him the studs because she was afraid he would die soon, and he demanded some token before he would leave. That’s not very romantic at all. One last question: where is Planchet? The previous chapter mentioned that the “the poor lad's strength was almost exhausted” when they arrived in London, but surely he would have recovered in the two days it took for the studs to be made. Did d’Artagnan forget him in London?!? He’s probably wandering around, alone – he can’t even speak English, so he’ll be doubly lost!

     My favorite lines highlight why I like d’Artagnan better than the duke:

 “‘Now, my young friend,’ said [the duke], ‘England is all our own. What do you wish for? What do you desire?’

‘A bed, my Lord,’ replied d'Artagnan. ‘At present, I confess, that is the thing I stand most in need of.’

Buckingham gave d'Artagnan a chamber adjoining his own. He wished to have the young man at hand--not that he at all mistrusted him, but for the sake of having someone to whom he could constantly talk of the queen.”

 Good grief, how tiresome.