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Alexandre Dumas
Athos has a phrase the cardinal need not investigate: a family affair. Aramis has the lackeys. Porthos has the diamond. D'Artagnan has only a purchaser, and the name of Milady still stops his invention. After a gay breakfast with Monsieur de Tréville he wears a Musketeer's uniform bought from Aramis and shows it through the camp. At evening the four meet at Athos's lodging. They must write to Lord de Winter, write to the clever person at Tours, and choose who rides. Each man praises his own lackey. Athos cuts through: the one they send must hold all four virtues, and no such servant exists. Aramis says the real question is who loves money most. They must bet on faults, not virtues. Athos, who trusts things more than men, lists the road: France full of spies, a passport, English enough to ask the way to London. D'Artagnan insists they write only a family warning, not a state secret.
He tries a draft and Athos kills every line. Dear friend would get them quartered. A reminder that they saved de Winter's life is an offence. The pen passes to Aramis. Then Athos goes paler than usual and lets D'Artagnan speak the facts. The sister-in-law wished de Winter dead for his money. She could not marry his brother because she was already married in France. She was branded. Athos says he and D'Artagnan have seen the fleur-de-lis. Aramis asks if the husband still lives. Athos says, I am he. The room goes cold. Aramis writes a short letter in a small female hand: they crossed swords in the Rue d'Enfer; the relative left La Rochelle by night; if de Winter wants her history, he should read her left shoulder. Athos says even the cardinal could find that letter and not hang them. The lackey will get half the money with the paper and the rest for a reply.
D'Artagnan throws down the bag: seven thousand livres. Aramis writes a second letter to his cousin at Tours, all praise of the cardinal and a dream that the Englishman is dead. The address is Mademoiselle Michon, seamstress, Tours. Only Bazin can carry it. Planchet will take London. Milady once had him beaten from her door, and he has already been to England with D'Artagnan. Athos sets the pay: seven hundred each way for Planchet, three hundred each way for Bazin, a thousand livres each for the four, a thousand in reserve. Planchet will sew the letter into his coat and learn a copy by heart. He has sixteen days, back at eight in the evening or no money. Athos gives him his own watch, then promises to rip him if D'Artagnan is hurt. Porthos will skin him. Aramis will roast him. Planchet weeps. At dawn D'Artagnan adds a word he will not write: tell de Winter to watch Buckingham, for they mean to kill him.
Bazin returns on the eighth morning to the Parpaillot with Marie Michon's answer. She and her sister fear dreams, and this one, she hopes, is an illusion. The Swiss and the dragoon hear it as a love note. The harder wait is Planchet. D'Artagnan counts the days as forty-four hours and hears arrest in every noise. Athos tells them they are children, then starts when Porthos jokes that Milady is a woman of mark. At half past seven on the sixteenth day the retreat sounds. D'Artagnan says they are lost. Athos says they have lost, throws his pistoles on the table, and walks out. A shadow in the dark offers a cloak. It is Planchet, on the stroke of eight. He slips a note into D'Artagnan's hand. Athos will not hurry. In the tent they read half a line: Thank you; be easy. Athos burns it to a cinder, pays the seven hundred, and sends Planchet to his first real sleep in sixteen days. Athos admits he has not slept either.
A plan that cannot travel in your own name has to travel in someone else's pocket. The four men write a family letter, pay Planchet half now and half for a reply, and give him sixteen days to reach Lord de Winter and come back.
Before you send a person you cannot follow, write the deadline, the half pay, and the one sentence they must not invent.
Milady walks the deck like a lioness that has been put to sea. She begs the captain to put her ashore and hunt the men who insulted her. He refuses. The wind is contrary. Nine days out she sees only the blue coast of Finisterre.
What this chapter proves — the patterns beneath the scene
In this chapter: Loyalty When It Costs · Serving Two Masters.
The cards below name the patterns this chapter proves — carry them with you into Dumas's yard at Meung, the noon fight, the diamond road, the bastion breakfast, and the trial on the Lys.
Loyalty When It Costs
Porthos has the diamond. D'Artagnan has only a purchaser. They fund the English warning as a family affair. The queen's jewel becomes postage. Loyalty converts a gift into a ride.
Key Insight
When loyalty costs money, watch who sells the souvenir. A jewel that funded a warning was worth more than a jewel that stayed in a drawer to prove feeling.
Serving Two Masters
Athos has a phrase: a family affair. Aramis has the lackeys. Porthos has the diamond. They write to Lord de Winter and send Planchet with half the money and a sixteen-day clock. The letter serves the queen's friends, the Musketeers' honour, and a trap the minister must not be invited to read.
Key Insight
When you cannot tell the official master the real job, you invent a private label. Family affair is a useful lie. It is also a second chain of command.
Chapter 48
Athos had invented the phrase, family affair. A family affair was not subject to the investigation of the cardinal; a family affair concerned nobody. People might employ themselves in a family affair before all the world. Therefore Athos had invented the phrase, family affair. Aramis had discovered the idea, the lackeys. Porthos had discovered the means, the diamond. D’Artagnan alone had discovered nothing—he, ordinarily the most inventive of the four; but it must be also said that the very name of Milady paralyzed him. Ah! no, we were mistaken; he had discovered a purchaser for his diamond. The breakfast at…
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Draft an eight-line brief for Planchet using only this chapter: the family letter, the half pay, the sixteen-day clock, the threats, and the spoken sentence D'Artagnan will not write. Then cut one line you would be afraid to put on paper.
When did you send someone with a message you would not sign, and what clock or second payment did you forget to set?
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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.
A Trial Honour Will Not Name
Sit the trial on the Lys and ask what honour will not name.
Every Smile Hides a Warrant
Hear the court before you trust a smile or a warrant.
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