Chapter summaries Between Two Kings Alexandre Dumas

Chapter XLVIII: Agonies – Summary and Analysis

[Spoiler Warning: This analysis reveals key plot points for Chapter 48 of Between Two Kings. Proceed only after reading the chapter to preserve the narrative tension.]

Summary

Cardinal Mazarin, dying at Vincennes, is tormented by the bequest of his fortune he sent to King Louis XIV. Colbert had predicted the king would return it, but the sum is immense and Mazarin clings to hope. Anne of Austria tells the cardinal she has persuaded the king to accept, deepening his expectation. When Louis visits, however, the young monarch gracefully returns the bequest document, tears it up, and declares it his first act of royalty. Mazarin, overjoyed yet feigning magnanimity, secretly abandons the pose of benefactor. After Anne leaves in disappointment, the king asks for counsel; Mazarin whispers that Louis should never appoint a prime minister and then recommends Colbert as his replacement. Louis hears the confession and departs, moved.

Key Events

  • The dying Cardinal sits at Vincennes, obsessing over whether his forty-million-livre bequest will be returned or accepted.
  • Colbert consistently counsels patience, insisting the king will refuse the gift.
  • Anne of Austria, misreading the situation, assures Mazarin that she has convinced the king to accept, and that Louis is coming to offer thanks.
  • Louis XIV arrives and, in a private audience, hands back the letter of bequest, tears it, and calls the act the first independent deed of his reign.
  • Mazarin, inwardly ecstatic, produces theatrical groans to mask his joy; Anne storms out, unable to hide her anger.
  • The king seeks final advice; Mazarin leans close and says, “Sire… never have a prime minister.”
  • The cardinal recommends Colbert as the one man of wisdom, honesty, and capability.
  • Louis, feeling the weight of the moment, leaves the chamber while Mazarin’s condition is more than half dead.

Character Development

Louis XIV

The chapter marks a crucial turning point. Up to now Louis has been a timid, shadow monarch orbiting Mazarin. Here he deliberately withholds his decision, then acts with composure and magnanimity. Tearing up the bequest is a calculated declaration of independence. His calm rejection of flattery, his insistence on real advice, and his subdued reception of the “never have a prime minister” counsel show a king stepping into his own authority.

Cardinal Mazarin

The title “Agonies” finds its fullest expression in Mazarin. Physically dying, he suffers from a far sharper torment: the fear of losing either his fortune or his soul. His materialism dominates; he weighs forty million against “something as hypothetical as a soul.” The moment the bequest is returned, he drops all pretense of the generous benefactor and joyfully reclaims the document. Yet his final whispered advice is an act of brutal honesty, a confession that he himself was the prime minister that a king should never have. The recommendation of Colbert is the last stroke of his political shrewdness.

Anne of Austria

The queen mother reveals a selfish pragmatism. Her grief is partly performance; her chief concern is that the king secure the Mazarin fortune. When Louis refuses the gift, her disappointment is openly displayed, and she leaves the room in frustration. Her role as an influencer fails when Louis acts on his own resolve.

Colbert

Though physically absent for much of the scene, Colbert’s prediction frames the chapter. He knows the king’s character and the political calculus better than his master. His quiet satisfaction when the bequest is returned (“What did I tell you, Monseigneur?”) and his ultimate recommendation by Mazarin position him as the emerging power behind the throne.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

The Agony of the Dying Materialist

Mazarin’s deathbed is a stage for the struggle between worldly wealth and spiritual accounting. He tries to game both, and his physical pain merges with the anxiety over the bequest. The chapter repeatedly uses the language of torment: “burning up,” “grip of death,” “agony.”

The First Act of Royalty

Louis’s rejection of the bequest is not just a generous gesture; it is a symbolic break from the regency. By annihilating the document, he announces that he will not be bought, indebted, or controlled by the old minister’s wealth. He explicitly calls it his first act of royalty, setting the tone for the personal reign that follows.

Deception and Performance

Every character operates on multiple levels. Mazarin performs the grateful dying mentor while inwardly grasping. Anne performs mourning while scheming for lucre. The courtiers perform concern. Even Louis performs a subdued gratitude before revealing his true decision. The curtain falling across the door at the audience emphasizes that the real drama happens offstage.

Why This Chapter Matters

“Agonies” resolves the dangling question of the bequest and simultaneously delivers the psychological climax of Mazarin’s death and Louis’s political rebirth. It is the hinge between the era of the cardinal-ministers and the age of absolute monarchy. Mazarin’s whispered “never have a prime minister” is the seal on the lesson of the entire book so far: that the young king must trust himself, not a surrogate. The hand-off to Colbert also plants the seed for the next phase of administration. Without this chapter, Louis’s later actions would lack the inner foundation of personal sovereignty that begins here, in a quiet chamber at Vincennes, with a torn piece of paper and a final breath of advice.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. Why does Louis XIV tear up the bequest document, and why is this act so significant for his reign?
    Louis tears it to demonstrate that he will not inherit his power through the wealth of a minister. It establishes that his authority comes from the crown itself, not from gratitude or dependency. He calls it his “first act of royalty,” signaling a break from the regency and the start of his personal rule.

  2. How does Mazarin’s behavior in this chapter reflect the central conflict of his character?
    Mazarin is torn between his identity as a prince of the Church and his relentless materialism. He professes to have sacrificed everything for the king, yet his agony stems entirely from the potential loss of forty million livres. His final, sincere advice—never to have a prime minister—reveals a self-awareness that his own role was ultimately a hindrance to true kingship.

  3. What does Anne of Austria’s reaction to the returned bequest reveal about her priorities and her relationship with Louis?
    Her stupefaction and subsequent anger show that she values the cardinal’s fortune above her son’s independent judgment. She had worked to ensure the king accepted the gift, mistaking her own pragmatism for policy. Her departure in frustration marks the moment her influence over matters of state begins to wane as Louis acts on his own initiative.

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