Chapter 57: Means for a Classical Tragedy

Summary

     Milady continues her tale of woe. And guess what? She is a genius – she says that the man branded her with the fleur-de-lis so that she wouldn’t tell anyone what he did to her! Felton begs her pardon for being her guard, and falls at her feet, dazed with love. Oh lord – do none of these men have impulse control? Milady furthers his emotional torture by claiming that the man who kidnapped her was Buckingham! Puritans hate Buckingham, so this works for Felton. Then, she tells the first truthful bit of the whole story, saying that someone wrote to Lord de Winter to tell him about her branded shoulder. Felton says that he loves her and will help her escape and retain her honor. They even kiss. Wow, what a traitor! Hilariously, Lord de Winter then visits. He misses the kiss, but he sees them talking. Milady realizes that all is lost unless she does something drastic, so she stabs herself with the knife. She is a smart woman, so she aims it at her corset, so that her life is saved. She is bleeding though, and Lord de Winter fetches a physician.

Reaction

     Milady is a master of manipulation. I felt sad at seeing the noble Felton reduced to a pathetic puppet. Milady will stop at nothing. My favorite line was the final stages of Milady’s plan clicking into place: “‘Pardon! Pardon!’ cried Felton, ‘oh, pardon!’ Milady read in his eyes LOVE! LOVE!” I really like Dumas’s style sometimes.