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Alexandre Dumas
D'Artagnan finds Milady in a charming humour and knows the forged reply has landed. Kitty is too sad to notice. At ten he is smiled out. In her room a purse lies in the corner, gold on the carpet. He holds to the plan and names it vengeance. The lights are out so de Wardes can leave in the dark. He slips from the closet and answers in the count's name. In the dark he has to take love meant for the other man. She puts a sapphire set with brilliants on his finger and says keeping it does her a greater service than he imagines. She calls the Gascon a monster who barely failed to kill this count. He almost confesses, then stays silent. Vengeance dies. He hates her and adores her. She walks him to the stair. Kitty gets no word.
In the morning he tells Athos all. Athos says he was wrong to deceive her. Then Athos sees the ring. It reminds him of a family jewel. It fits his left hand and shows a scratch he remembers. He gave it away in a night of love, as it has been given now. He will not say the woman is the same. Almost as a father he asks D'Artagnan to renounce her. The Gascon pockets the ring and says she terrifies him. Athos asks God she may not leave a terrible trace.
Kitty waits, changed by one night. Her mistress wants to know when the false de Wardes will come again. D'Artagnan writes as the count: do not depend on me; I have other affairs; I will tell you when your turn comes. He says nothing about the sapphire. Kitty runs the letter home. Milady goes the colour of ash, crushes the paper, and pushes the maid away. She does not faint when insulted. She avenges herself.
Honour and appetite can share an hour and still not be the same choice. Athos fits the sapphire on his left hand, finds the scratch he remembers, says he gave that family jewel away in a night of love, and asks God that this woman may not leave a terrible trace.
When a trusted friend names a danger you already feel, take the gift off your finger before you send one more letter under a borrowed name.
That evening Milady orders that when D'Artagnan comes as usual he is to be admitted at once. He does not come. The next day Kitty tells him of the jealous anger, and he smiles, taking it for revenge. She repeats the order. He stays away a second night.
What this chapter proves — the pattern beneath the scene
In this chapter, the lesson is Honour vs. Necessity — A Trial Honour Will Not Name.
The card below names the pattern this chapter proves — carry it with you into Dumas's yard at Meung, the noon fight, the diamond road, the bastion breakfast, and the trial on the Lys.
Honour vs. Necessity
D'Artagnan woos Milady while he loves Constance and while he is already stealing letters from the house. He calls it war and appetite. The play ends when he needs Kitty's dress to run. Honour would have picked one table. Necessity wants the intelligence.
Key Insight
Desire that collects papers is not romance. If you would be ashamed to tell the first person the second person's use, you are already in the necessity column.
Chapter 35
The evening so impatiently waited for by Porthos and by D’Artagnan at last arrived. As was his custom, D’Artagnan presented himself at Milady’s at about nine o’clock. He found her in a charming humor. Never had he been so well received. Our Gascon knew, by the first glance of his eye, that his billet had been delivered, and that this billet had had its effect. Kitty entered to bring some sherbet. Her mistress put on a charming face, and smiled on her graciously; but alas! the poor girl was so sad that she did not even notice Milady’s condescension. D’Artagnan…
Public-domain chapter text, formatted for reading.
Draw the sapphire's path in this chapter only: Milady's finger, D'Artagnan's hand, Athos's left hand, then the pocket. Beside each stop, write what the wearer believes the ring is for.
When did a trusted friend go pale over an object in your hand, and did you pocket it or keep wearing it into the next meeting?
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Other theme-by-theme analyses from this book.
The Cassock He Asked For
Follow the Gascon who wants a cassock and is offered a commission.
The First Fight Was Not the One You Planned
Watch whom you stand beside when the first fight is not the one you planned.
Breakfast on a Bastion
Stay with the diamond run, the bastion, and the ride to Béthune.
Every Smile Hides a Warrant
Hear the court before you trust a smile or a warrant.
A Blank the Cardinal Already Signed
See what it costs to please a king and a cardinal at once.
Deep diving the literary elements.
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