Man in the Iron Mask

Alexandre Dumas Père

Description

pubOne.info present you this new edition. In the months of March-July in 1844, in the magazine Le Siecle, the first portion of a story appeared, penned by the celebrated playwright Alexandre Dumas. It was based, he claimed, on some manuscripts he had found a year earlier in the Bibliotheque Nationale while researching a history he planned to write on Louis XIV. They chronicled the adventures of a young man named D'Artagnan who, upon entering Paris, became almost immediately embroiled in court intrigues, international politics, and ill-fated affairs between royal lovers. Over the next six years, readers would enjoy the adventures of this youth and his three famous friends, Porthos, Athos, and Aramis, as their exploits unraveled behind the scenes of some of the most momentous events in French and even English history.

Sujets

• Historical fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Pub One Info
• Date de parution: 06 novembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9782819943051
• Langue: English

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THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK
by Alexandre Dumas
Introduction:
In the months of March-July in 1844, in the magazineLe Siecle, the first portion of a story appeared, penned by thecelebrated playwright Alexandre Dumas. It was based, he claimed, onsome manuscripts he had found a year earlier in the BibliothequeNationale while researching a history he planned to write on LouisXIV. They chronicled the adventures of a young man named D'Artagnanwho, upon entering Paris, became almost immediately embroiled incourt intrigues, international politics, and ill-fated affairsbetween royal lovers. Over the next six years, readers would enjoythe adventures of this youth and his three famous friends, Porthos,Athos, and Aramis, as their exploits unraveled behind the scenes ofsome of the most momentous events in French and even Englishhistory.
Eventually these serialized adventures werepublished in novel form, and became the three D'Artagnan Romancesknown today. Here is a brief summary of the first two novels:
The Three Musketeers (serialized March— July, 1844):The year is 1625. The young D'Artagnan arrives in Paris at thetender age of 18, and almost immediately offends three musketeers,Porthos, Aramis, and Athos. Instead of dueling, the four areattacked by five of the Cardinal's guards, and the courage of theyouth is made apparent during the battle. The four become fastfriends, and, when asked by D'Artagnan's landlord to find hismissing wife, embark upon an adventure that takes them across bothFrance and England in order to thwart the plans of the CardinalRichelieu. Along the way, they encounter a beautiful young spy,named simply Milady, who will stop at nothing to disgrace QueenAnne of Austria before her husband, Louis XIII, and take herrevenge upon the four friends.
Twenty Years After (serialized January— August,1845): The year is now 1648, twenty years since the close of thelast story. Louis XIII has died, as has Cardinal Richelieu, andwhile the crown of France may sit upon the head of Anne of Austriaas Regent for the young Louis XIV, the real power resides with theCardinal Mazarin, her secret husband. D'Artagnan is now alieutenant of musketeers, and his three friends have retired toprivate life. Athos turned out to be a nobleman, the Comte de laFere, and has retired to his home with his son, Raoul deBragelonne. Aramis, whose real name is D'Herblay, has followed hisintention of shedding the musketeer's cassock for the priest'srobes, and Porthos has married a wealthy woman, who left him herfortune upon her death. But trouble is stirring in both France andEngland. Cromwell menaces the institution of royalty itself whilemarching against Charles I, and at home the Fronde is threateningto tear France apart. D'Artagnan brings his friends out ofretirement to save the threatened English monarch, but Mordaunt,the son of Milady, who seeks to avenge his mother's death at themusketeers' hands, thwarts their valiant efforts. Undaunted, ourheroes return to France just in time to help save the young LouisXIV, quiet the Fronde, and tweak the nose of Cardinal Mazarin.
Meanwhile, the struggle for power continues betweenFouquet and Colbert. Although the Belle-Isle plot backfired,Colbert prompts the king to ask Fouquet for more and more money,and without his two friends to raise it for him, Fouquet is sorelypressed. The situation gets so bad that his new mistress, Madame deBelliere, must resort to selling all her jewels and her gold andsilver plate. Aramis, while this is going on, has grown friendlywith the governor of the Bastile, M. de Baisemeaux, a fact thatBaisemeaux unwittingly reveals to D'Artagnan while inquiring of himas to Aramis's whereabouts. This further arouses the suspicions ofthe musketeer, who was made to look ridiculous by Aramis. He hadridden overnight at an insane pace, but arrived a few minutes afterFouquet had already presented Belle-Isle to the king. Aramis learnsfrom the governor the location of a mysterious prisoner, who bearsa remarkable resemblance to Louis XIV— in fact, the two areidentical. He uses the existence of this secret to persuade a dyingFranciscan monk, the general of the society of the Jesuits, to namehim, Aramis, the new general of the order. On Aramis's advice,hoping to use Louise's influence with the king to counteractColbert's influence, Fouquet also writes a love letter to LaValliere, unfortunately undated. It never reaches its destination,however, as the servant ordered to deliver it turns out to be anagent of Colbert's.
The mysterious woman turns out to be the Duchesse deChevreuse, a notorious schemer and former friend of Anne ofAustria. She comes bearing more bad news for Fouquet, who isalready in trouble, as the king has invited himself to a fete at Vaux, Fouquet's magnificent mansion, that willsurely bankrupt the poor superintendent. The Duchesse has lettersfrom Mazarin that prove that Fouquet has received thirteen millionfrancs from the royal coffers, and she wishes to sell these lettersto Aramis. Aramis refuses, and the letters are instead sold toColbert. Fouquet, meanwhile, discovers that the receipt that proveshis innocence in the affair has been stolen from him. Even worse,Fouquet, desperate for money, is forced to sell the parliamentaryposition that renders him untouchable by any court proceedings. Aspart of her deal with Colbert, though, Chevreuse also obtains asecret audience with the queen-mother, where the two discuss ashocking secret— Louis XIV has a twin brother, long believed,however, to be dead.
Meanwhile, in other quarters, De Wardes, Raoul'sinveterate enemy, has returned from Calais, barely recovered fromhis wounds, and no sooner does he return than he begins again toinsult people, particularly La Valliere, and this time the comte deGuiche is the one to challenge him. The duel leaves De Guichehorribly wounded, but enables Madame to use her influence todestroy De Wardes's standing at court. The fetes , however,come to an end, and the court returns to Paris. The king has beenmore than obvious about his affections for Louise, and Madame, thequeen-mother, and the queen join forces to destroy her. She isdishonorably discharged from court, and in despair, she flees tothe convent at Chaillot. Along the way, though, she runs intoD'Artagnan, who manages to get word back to the king of what hastaken place. By literally begging Madame in tears, Louis manages tosecure Louise's return to court— but Madame still places everyobstacle possible before the lovers. They have to resort tobuilding a secret staircase and meeting in the apartments of M. deSaint-Aignan, where Louis has a painter create a portrait ofLouise. But Madame recalls Raoul from London and shows him theseproofs of Louise's infidelity. Raoul, crushed, challengesSaint-Aignan to a duel, which the king prevents, and Athos,furious, breaks his sword before the king. The king has D'Artagnanarrest Athos, and at the Bastile they encounter Aramis, who ispaying Baisemeaux another visit. Raoul learns of Athos's arrest,and with Porthos in tow, they effect a daring rescue, surprisingthe carriage containing D'Artagnan and Athos as they leave theBastile. Although quite impressive, the intrepid raid is in vain,as D'Artagnan has already secured Athos's pardon from the king.Instead, everybody switches modes of transport; D'Artagnan andPorthos take the horses back to Paris, and Athos and Raoul take thecarriage back to La Fere, where they intend to reside permanently,as the king is now their sworn enemy, Raoul cannot bear to seeLouise, and they have no more dealings in Paris.
Aramis, left alone with Baisemeaux, inquires thegovernor of the prison about his loyalties, in particular to theJesuits. The bishop reveals that he is a confessor of the society,and invokes their regulations in order to obtain access to thismysterious prisoner who bears such a striking resemblance to LouisXIV. . .
John Bursey
Chapter I. The Prisoner.
Since Aramis's singular transformation into aconfessor of the order, Baisemeaux was no longer the same man. Upto that period, the place which Aramis had held in the worthygovernor's estimation was that of a prelate whom he respected and afriend to whom he owed a debt of gratitude; but now he felt himselfan inferior, and that Aramis was his master. He himself lighted alantern, summoned a turnkey, and said, returning to Aramis, “I amat your orders, monseigneur. ” Aramis merely nodded his head, asmuch as to say, “Very good”; and signed to him with his hand tolead the way. Baisemeaux advanced, and Aramis followed him. It wasa calm and lovely starlit night; the steps of three men resoundedon the flags of the terraces, and the clinking of the keys hangingfrom the jailer's girdle made itself heard up to the stories of thetowers, as if to remind the prisoners that the liberty of earth wasa luxury beyond their reach. It might have been said that thealteration effected in Baisemeaux extended even to the prisoners.The turnkey, the same who, on Aramis's first arrival had shownhimself so inquisitive and curious, was now not only silent, butimpassible. He held his head down, and seemed afraid to keep hisears open. In this wise they reached the basement of theBertaudiere, the two first stories of which were mounted silentlyand somewhat slowly; for Baisemeaux, though far from disobeying,was far from exhibiting any eagerness to obey. On arriving at thedoor, Baisemeaux showed a disposition to enter the prisoner'schamber; but Aramis, stopping him on the threshold, said, “Therules do not allow the governor to hear the prisoner's confession.”
Baisemeaux bowed, and made way for Aramis, who tookthe lantern and entered; and then signed to them to close the doorbehind him. For an instant he remained standing, listening whetherBaisemeaux and the turnkey had retired; but as soon as he wasassured by the sound of their descending footsteps that they hadleft the tower, he put the lantern on the table and gazed around.On a bed of green serge, sim