Chapter XIX: D’Artagnan Brings His Business to Paris
Spoiler Warning: This page reveals plot details from Chapter 19 of Between Two Kings.
Summary
D’Artagnan arrives at the Rue des Lombards shop of his former servant Planchet, the prosperous grocer. Planchet greets him with joy, arranges a private supper, and they settle into talk. While Planchet closes his ledgers, d’Artagnan observes the bustling shop and the grocer’s haughty manner with customers. Over a frugal Parisian meal and good Anjou wine, Planchet reports that the twenty thousand livres d’Artagnan invested long ago is thriving; he now acts as a banker, often taking goods as collateral and reselling them for profit. When a former guardsman called him a usurer over a sugar deal, Planchet fought a duel and ran the man through the thigh. D’Artagnan advises him to keep interest below thirteen percent and call the excess “premium and brokerage.”
D’Artagnan then announces he has permanently retired from the Musketeers. After swearing Planchet to secrecy—locking doors, opening a window to drown their voices in street noise—he reveals a scheme. He calls it a “restoration,” a project to restore Whitehall, with a conservative return of four hundred percent. The chance requires each of them to invest twenty thousand livres for one month, netting fifty thousand livres apiece. Planchet instantly understands: this is a plot to place Charles II back on the English throne. Though the enterprise will involve fighting, d’Artagnan insists he will handle the danger. Planchet, trusting his old master completely, agrees to the partnership. The chapter ends as d’Artagnan begins to explain his plan in detail.
Key Events
- D’Artagnan’s reunion with Planchet at the Golden Pestle shop.
- Planchet recounts his banking practices, including a sugar loan and a duel over the word “usurer.”
- D’Artagnan declares his retirement from the king’s service.
- The two friends lock themselves in and soundproof the room against eavesdroppers.
- D’Artagnan proposes a top-secret investment: the restoration of Whitehall, a coded way of saying they will help Charles II regain the crown.
- Planchet eagerly accepts despite the danger, cementing a new commercial partnership.
Character Development
D’Artagnan steps fully out of the Musketeer’s cassock and into the role of a venture capitalist. His retirement is not idleness but a pivot to high‑risk speculation. He remains the calculating, persuasive leader who knows how to read a man—he lets Planchet talk business before springing his proposal. This chapter shows d’Artagnan’s intellectual agility: he frames a royalist coup as a “restoration of monuments” to test Planchet’s nerve, then binds him with loyalty and profit.
Planchet has evolved from the timid apprentice of The Three Musketeers into a shrewd, self‑made Parisian merchant. He is still devoted to his old master, but he has learned to fight for his purse as fiercely as d’Artagnan fought for France. The duel over usury proves he is no mere shopkeeper; he wields the sword d’Artagnan gave him and abides by a rough code of honor. His quick acceptance of the plot shows both courage and an unshakeable faith in d’Artagnan’s judgment.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- The Soldier Turned Capitalist: Both men have traded military service for commerce—Planchet openly, d’Artagnan by converting a political restoration into a business venture with a precise rate of return. The chapter teases the idea that war and speculation are merely different ways to take risks.
- Secrecy and Conspiracy: The ritual of locking doors and drowning their words under street noise underscores the lethal danger of their plot. Sound becomes both a weapon and a shield; the Paris street clamor is a literal “noise screen” that enables a treasonous conversation.
- Friendship as Collateral: The partnership isn’t built on contracts but on years of shared danger. D’Artagnan need only say “I have a plan,” and Planchet trembles with anticipation. Their mutual trust is the true capital behind the venture.
- Usury and Violence: Planchet’s casual account of running a borrower through for calling him “usurer” shows that commerce in this world has its own duel culture. Money and blood are inextricably linked, a motif that will shadow the restoration scheme.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 19 transforms the novel’s political intrigue into a concrete, risky business deal. By making Planchet his financial partner, d’Artagnan moves the conspiracy from court whispers to action. The chapter also reinforces the series’ long‑running theme of old service bonds evolving into new alliances. It gives readers the first clear shape of the Restoration plot, while the cozy, brandy‑warmed scene inside the shop contrasts with the lethal stakes waiting outside.
Study Questions and Answers
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What does Planchet’s duel reveal about his character?
Planchet will not tolerate a slur on his business honor, even if the charge is technically true. He fights not simply over the three hundred livres but over the insult “usurer.” This shows he has absorbed d’Artagnan’s own code—reputation must be defended personally—and that his rise in commerce hasn’t softened his nerve. -
How does d’Artagnan manage to disclose a treasonous plan without speaking it plainly?
He calls the project a “restoration” and a “monument,” using Whitehall as a cipher. By couching the conspiracy in commercial and architectural language, he tests Planchet’s wit and protects both of them until he is sure Planchet understands and consents. The locked doors and street noise further ensure that no one else can interpret the hints. -
Why is Planchet willing to risk his fortune and life on d’Artagnan’s word?
Planchet owes his prosperity to the twenty thousand livres d’Artagnan originally entrusted to him. More profoundly, he trusts d’Artagnan’s skill in dangerous ventures. The promise of a 400 percent profit certainly tempts him, but the chapter emphasizes that his immediate reaction is not greed but awe: “That’s just like you,” he says, revealing that loyalty, more than lucre, drives his decision.