The Man in the Iron Mask Read online

  Produced by John Bursey

  THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK

  by Alexandre Dumas

  The Vicomte de Bragelonne is the final volume of D'Artagnan Romances:it is usually split into three or four parts, and the final portionis entitled The Man in the Iron Mask. The Man in the Iron Mask we'refamiliar with today is the last volume of the four-volume edition.[Not all the editions split them in the same manner, hence some of theconfusion...but wait...there's yet more reason for confusion.]

  We intend to do ALL of The Vicomte de Bragelonne, split into fouretexts entitled The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Ten Years Later, Louise de laValliere, and The Man in the Iron Mask.

  One thing that may be causing confusion is that the etext we have now,entitled Ten Years Later, says it's the sequel to The Three Musketeers.While this is technically true, there's another book, Twenty YearsAfter, that comes between. The confusion is generated by the two factsthat we published Ten Years Later BEFORE we published Twenty YearsAfter, and that many people see those titles as meaning Ten and TwentyYears "After" the original story...however, this is why the differentwords "After" and "Later"...the Ten Years "After" is ten years afterthe Twenty Years later...as per history. Also, the third book of theD'Artagnan Romances, while entitled The Vicomte de Bragelonne, has thesubtitle Ten Years Later. These two titles are also given to differentvolumes: The Vicomte de Bragelonne can refer to the whole book, or thefirst volume of the three or four-volume editions. Ten Years Latercan, similarly, refer to the whole book, or the second volume of thefour-volume edition. To add to the confusion, in the case of our etexts,it refers to the first 104 chapters of the whole book, covering materialin the first and second etexts in the new series. Here is a guide to theseries which may prove helpful:

  The Three Musketeers: Etext 1257--First book of the D'Artagnan Romances.Covers the years 1625-1628.

  Twenty Years After: Etext 1259--Second book of the D'Artagnan Romances.Covers the years 1648-1649. [Third in the order that we published, butsecond in time sequence!!!]

  Ten Years Later: Etext 1258--First 104 chapters of the third book of theD'Artagnan Romances. Covers the years 1660-1661.

  The Vicomte de Bragelonne: Etext 2609 (first in the new series)--First75 chapters of the third book of the D'Artagnan Romances. Covers theyear 1660.

  Ten Years Later: Etext 2681 (second in the new series)--Chapters76-140 of that third book of the D'Artagnan Romances. Covers the years1660-1661. [In this particular editing of it]

  Louise de la Valliere: Etext 2710 (third in the new series)--Chapters141-208 of the third book of the D'Artagnan Romances. Covers the year1661.

  The Man in the Iron Mask: Etext 2759 (our next text)--Chapters209-269 of the third book of the D'Artagnan Romances. Covers the years1661-1673.

  Here is a list of the other Dumas Etexts we have published so far:

  Sep 1999 La Tulipe Noire, by AlexandreDumas[Pere#6/French][tlpnrxxx.xxx]1910 This is an abridged edition inFrench, also see our full length English Etext Jul 1997 The Black Tulip,by Alexandre Dumas[Pere][Dumas#1][tbtlpxxx.xxx] 965 Jan 1998 The Countof Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas[Pere][crstoxxx.xxx]1184

  Many thanks to Dr. David Coward, whose editions of the D'ArtagnanRomances have proved an invaluable source of information.

  Introduction:

  In the months of March-July in 1844, in the magazine Le Siecle, thefirst portion of a story appeared, penned by the celebrated playwrightAlexandre Dumas. It was based, he claimed, on some manuscripts he hadfound a year earlier in the Bibliotheque Nationale while researching ahistory he planned to write on Louis XIV. They chronicled the adventuresof a young man named D'Artagnan who, upon entering Paris, became almostimmediately embroiled in court intrigues, international politics, andill-fated affairs between royal lovers. Over the next six years, readerswould enjoy the adventures of this youth and his three famous friends,Porthos, Athos, and Aramis, as their exploits unraveled behind thescenes of some of the most momentous events in French and even Englishhistory.

  Eventually these serialized adventures were published in novel form,and became the three D'Artagnan Romances known today. Here is a briefsummary of the first two novels:

  The Three Musketeers (serialized March--July, 1844): The year is 1625.The young D'Artagnan arrives in Paris at the tender age of 18, andalmost immediately offends three musketeers, Porthos, Aramis, and Athos.Instead of dueling, the four are attacked by five of the Cardinal'sguards, and the courage of the youth is made apparent during the battle.The four become fast friends, and, when asked by D'Artagnan's landlordto find his missing wife, embark upon an adventure that takes themacross both France and England in order to thwart the plans of theCardinal Richelieu. Along the way, they encounter a beautiful young spy,named simply Milady, who will stop at nothing to disgrace Queen Anne ofAustria before her husband, Louis XIII, and take her revenge upon thefour friends.

  Twenty Years After (serialized January--August, 1845): The year is now1648, twenty years since the close of the last story. Louis XIII hasdied, as has Cardinal Richelieu, and while the crown of France may situpon the head of Anne of Austria as Regent for the young Louis XIV,the real power resides with the Cardinal Mazarin, her secret husband.D'Artagnan is now a lieutenant of musketeers, and his three friends haveretired to private life. Athos turned out to be a nobleman, the Comte dela Fere, and has retired to his home with his son, Raoul de Bragelonne.Aramis, whose real name is D'Herblay, has followed his intention ofshedding the musketeer's cassock for the priest's robes, and Porthos hasmarried a wealthy woman, who left him her fortune upon her death. Buttrouble is stirring in both France and England. Cromwell menaces theinstitution of royalty itself while marching against Charles I, and athome the Fronde is threatening to tear France apart. D'Artagnan bringshis friends out of retirement to save the threatened English monarch,but Mordaunt, the son of Milady, who seeks to avenge his mother's deathat the musketeers' hands, thwarts their valiant efforts. Undaunted, ourheroes return to France just in time to help save the young Louis XIV,quiet the Fronde, and tweak the nose of Cardinal Mazarin.

  The third novel, The Vicomte de Bragelonne (serialized October,1847--January, 1850), has enjoyed a strange history in its Englishtranslation. It has been split into three, four, or five volumes atvarious points in its history. The five-volume edition generally doesnot give titles to the smaller portions, but the others do. In thethree-volume edition, the novels are entitled The Vicomte de Bragelonne,Louise de la Valliere, and The Man in the Iron Mask. For the purposes ofthis etext, I have chosen to split the novel as the four-volume editiondoes, with these titles: The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Ten Years Later,Louise de la Valliere, and The Man in the Iron Mask. In the first threeetexts:

  The Vicomte de Bragelonne (Etext 2609): It is the year 1660, andD'Artagnan, after thirty-five years of loyal service, has becomedisgusted with serving King Louis XIV while the real power resides withthe Cardinal Mazarin, and has tendered his resignation. He embarks onhis own project, that of restoring Charles II to the throne of England,and, with the help of Athos, succeeds, earning himself quite a fortunein the process. D'Artagnan returns to Paris to live the life of a richcitizen, and Athos, after negotiating the marriage of Philip, the king'sbrother, to Princess Henrietta of England, likewise retires to his ownestate, La Fere. Meanwhile, Mazarin has finally died, and left Louis toassume the reigns of power, with the assistance of M. Colbert, formerlyMazarin's trusted clerk. Colbert has an intense hatred for M. Fouquet,the king's superintendent of finances, and has resolved to use anymeans necessary to bring about his fall. With the new rank of intendantbestowed on him by Louis, Colbert succeeds in having two of Fouquet'sloyal friends tried and executed. He then brings to the king's attentionthat Fouquet is fortifying the island of Belle-Ile-e
n-Mer, and couldpossibly be planning to use it as a base for some military operationagainst the king. Louis calls D'Artagnan out of retirement and sendshim to investigate the island, promising him a tremendous salary and hislong-promised promotion to captain of the musketeers upon his return. AtBelle-Isle, D'Artagnan discovers that the engineer of the fortificationsis, in fact, Porthos, now the Baron du Vallon, and that's not all.The blueprints for the island, although in Porthos's handwriting,show evidence of another script that has been erased, that of Aramis.D'Artagnan later discovers that Aramis has become the bishop of Vannes,which is, coincidentally, a parish belonging to M. Fouquet. Suspectingthat D'Artagnan has arrived on the king's behalf to investigate, Aramistricks D'Artagnan into wandering around Vannes in search of Porthos,and sends Porthos on an heroic ride back to Paris to warn Fouquet ofthe danger. Fouquet rushes to the king, and gives him Belle-Isle as apresent, thus allaying any suspicion, and at the same time humiliatingColbert, just minutes before the usher announces someone else seeking anaudience with the king.

  Ten Years Later (Etext 2681): As 1661 approaches, Princess Henrietta ofEngland arrives for her marriage, and throws the court of France intocomplete disorder. The jealousy of the Duke of Buckingham, who isin love with her, nearly occasions a war on the streets of Le Havre,thankfully prevented by Raoul's timely and tactful intervention. Afterthe marriage, though, Monsieur Philip becomes horribly jealous ofBuckingham, and has him exiled. Before leaving, however, the dukefights a duel with M. de Wardes at Calais. De Wardes is a malicious andspiteful man, the sworn enemy of D'Artagnan, and, by the same token,that of Athos, Aramis, Porthos, and Raoul as well. Both men areseriously wounded, and the duke is taken back to England to recover.Raoul's friend, the Comte de Guiche, is the next to succumb toHenrietta's charms, and Monsieur obtains his exile as well, though DeGuiche soon effects a reconciliation. But then the king's eye falls onMadame Henrietta during the comte's absence, and this time Monsieur'sjealousy has no recourse. Anne of Austria intervenes, and the king andhis sister-in-law decide to pick a young lady with whom the kingcan pretend to be in love, the better to mask their own affair. Theyunfortunately select Louise de la Valliere, Raoul's fiancee. While thecourt is in residence at Fontainebleau, the king unwitting overhearsLouise confessing her love for him while chatting with her friendsbeneath the royal oak, and the king promptly forgets his affection forMadame. That same night, Henrietta overhears, at the same oak, DeGuiche confessing his love for her to Raoul. The two embark on theirown affair. A few days later, during a rainstorm, Louis and Louiseare trapped alone together, and the whole court begins to talk of thescandal while their love affair blossoms. Aware of Louise's attachment,the king arranges for Raoul to be sent to England for an indefiniteperiod.

  Meanwhile, the struggle for power continues between Fouquet and Colbert.Although the Belle-Isle plot backfired, Colbert prompts the king to askFouquet for more and more money, and without his two friends to raise itfor him, Fouquet is sorely pressed. The situation gets so bad that hisnew mistress, Madame de Belliere, must resort to selling all her jewelsand her gold and silver plate. Aramis, while this is going on, has grownfriendly with 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 of themusketeer, who was made to look ridiculous by Aramis. He had riddenovernight at an insane pace, but arrived a few minutes after Fouquethad already presented Belle-Isle to the king. Aramis learns from thegovernor the location of a mysterious prisoner, who bears a remarkableresemblance to Louis XIV--in fact, the two are identical. He usesthe existence of this secret to persuade a dying Franciscan monk, thegeneral of the society of the Jesuits, to name him, Aramis, the newgeneral of the order. On Aramis's advice, hoping to use Louise'sinfluence with the king to counteract Colbert's influence, Fouquet alsowrites a love letter to La Valliere, unfortunately undated. It neverreaches its destination, however, as the servant ordered to deliver itturns out to be an agent of Colbert's.

  Louise de la Valliere (Etext 2710): Believing D'Artagnan occupied atFontainebleau and Porthos safely tucked away at Paris, Aramis holds afuneral for the dead Franciscan--but in fact, Aramis is wrong in bothsuppositions. D'Artagnan has left Fontainebleau, bored to tears bythe _fetes_, retrieved Porthos, and is visiting the country-house ofPlanchet, his old lackey. This house happens to be right next doorto the graveyard, and upon observing Aramis at this funeral, and hissubsequent meeting with a mysterious hooded lady, D'Artagnan, suspicionsaroused, resolves to make a little trouble for the bishop. He presentsPorthos to the king at the same time as Fouquet presents Aramis, therebysurprising the wily prelate. Aramis's professions of affection andinnocence do only a little to allay D'Artagnan's concerns, and hecontinues to regard Aramis's actions with a curious and wary eye.Meanwhile, much to his delight, Porthos is invited to dine with the kingas a result of his presentation, and with D'Artagnan's guidance, managesto behave in such a manner as to procure the king's marked favor.

  The mysterious woman turns out to be the Duchesse de Chevreuse, anotorious schemer and former friend of Anne of Austria. She comesbearing more bad news for Fouquet, who is already in trouble, as theking has invited himself to a _fete_ at Vaux, Fouquet's magnificentmansion, that will surely bankrupt the poor superintendent. The Duchessehas letters from Mazarin that prove that Fouquet has received thirteenmillion francs from the royal coffers, and she wishes to sell theseletters to Aramis. Aramis refuses, and the letters are instead sold toColbert. Fouquet, meanwhile, discovers that the receipt that proves hisinnocence in the affair has been stolen from him. Even worse, Fouquet,desperate for money, is forced to sell the parliamentary position thatrenders him untouchable by any court proceedings. As part of her dealwith Colbert, though, Chevreuse also obtains a secret audience with thequeen-mother, where the two discuss a shocking secret--Louis XIV has atwin brother, long believed, however, to be dead.

  Meanwhile, in other quarters, De Wardes, Raoul's inveterate enemy, hasreturned from Calais, barely recovered from his wounds, and no soonerdoes he return than he begins again to insult people, particularly LaValliere, and this time the comte de Guiche is the one to challenge him.The duel leaves De Guiche horribly wounded, but enables Madame to useher influence to destroy De Wardes's standing at court. The _fetes_,however, come to an end, and the court returns to Paris. The king hasbeen more than obvious about his affections for Louise, and Madame,the queen-mother, and the queen join forces to destroy her. She isdishonorably discharged from court, and in despair, she flees to theconvent at Chaillot. Along the way, though, she runs into D'Artagnan,who manages to get word back to the king of what has taken place. Byliterally begging Madame in tears, Louis manages to secure Louise'sreturn to court--but Madame still places every obstacle possible beforethe lovers. They have to resort to building a secret staircase andmeeting in the apartments of M. de Saint-Aignan, where Louis has apainter create a portrait of Louise. But Madame recalls Raoul fromLondon and shows him these proofs of Louise's infidelity. Raoul,crushed, challenges Saint-Aignan to a duel, which the king prevents,and Athos, furious, breaks his sword before the king. The king hasD'Artagnan arrest Athos, and at the Bastile they encounter Aramis, whois paying Baisemeaux another visit. Raoul learns of Athos's arrest,and with Porthos in tow, they effect a daring rescue, surprising thecarriage containing D'Artagnan and Athos as they leave the Bastile.Although quite impressive, the intrepid raid is in vain, as D'Artagnanhas already secured Athos's pardon from the king. Instead, everybodyswitches modes of transport; D'Artagnan and Porthos take the horses backto Paris, and Athos and Raoul take the carriage back to La Fere, wherethey intend to reside permanently, as the king is now their sworn enemy,Raoul cannot bear to see Louise, and they have no more dealings inParis.

  Aramis, left alone with Baisemeaux, inquires the governor of the prisonabout his loyalties, in particular to the Jesuits. The bishop revealsthat he is a confessor of the society, and invokes their regulationsin order to obtain access to this mys
terious prisoner who bears such astriking resemblance to Louis XIV...

  And so Baisemeaux is conducting Aramis to the prisoner as the finalsection of The Vicomte de Bragelonne and this final story of theD'Artagnan Romances opens. I have written a "Cast of HistoricalCharacters," Etext 2760, that will enable curious readers to comparepersonages in the novel with their historical counterparts. Also ofinterest may be an essay Dumas wrote on the possible identity of thereal Man in the Iron Mask, which is Etext 2751. Enjoy!

  John Bursey [email protected] August, 2000

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