Chapter 49: Enter Colbert – Summary & Analysis
Spoiler Notice
This analysis contains full plot details for Chapter 49 of Between Two Kings. If you have not read the chapter and wish to avoid spoilers, proceed with caution.
Summary (Chronological)
King Louis XIV endures an anxious night waiting for Cardinal Mazarin to die. Mazarin, acutely aware of his legacy, briefly recovers to dress and receive ambassadors like a performer staging his final act. Anne of Austria stays away, still irked by the advice she gave her son. By midnight Mazarin enters his final agony; he has entrusted his will to Colbert, who guards the corridor. The king sends his governess for hourly reports. A temporary rally caused by Guénaud’s “Remedy Heroic” gives Louis a shock—the glimpse of freedom makes the thought of continued servitude unbearable—but the improvement is false. At half past two, exhaustion forces the young king to sleep in an armchair. At four in the morning, the governess awakens him: Mazarin is dead, confirmed by Colbert holding a mirror to the cardinal’s lips. Colbert, summoned into the king’s room, presents himself as the guardian of all Mazarin’s secrets. He reports that his audit of Fouquet’s finances reveals an empty treasury, revenues consumed years in advance, and no way to borrow. Then, in a dramatic turn, Colbert discloses thirteen million livres in gold that Mazarin hid from his will and instructed Colbert to deliver to the king. Louis arranges a secret nighttime delivery to the Louvre. Alone after Colbert leaves, the king throws open the window, his brow bathed by the dawn wind, as the rising sun seems to gild the beginning of his personal rule.
Key Events
- Louis spends the night receiving hourly reports on Mazarin’s condition.
- Mazarin briefly dresses to receive ambassadors, then sinks into his final agony.
- A false recovery from Guénaud’s remedy terrifies Louis by delaying his expected liberation.
- At four in the morning, Colbert confirms the cardinal’s death using a mirror.
- Colbert reveals the catastrophic state of royal finances—no funds, no credit, future revenues already spent.
- Colbert reveals a secret hoard of thirteen million livres left specifically for the king, separate from the will.
- The king arranges covert delivery and, alone, experiences the dawn as a symbol of his new reign.
Character Development
- Louis XIV: Transitions from a restless, sleep-deprived prince confined by Mazarin’s existence to a monarch tasting true power. His initial “cold sweat” at Mazarin’s false recovery shows how deeply he resents his dependency, while his decisive final actions—summoning secrecy, opening the window to the dawn—mark his assumption of active kingship.
- Colbert: Introduced as a meticulous, impassive clerk. His first exchange with the king demonstrates absolute competence: he calmly proves Fouquet’s mismanagement, then delivers a hidden fortune with bureaucratic exactness. His loyalty is framed as duty, not virtue, and his willingness to serve the crown against Fouquet sets up a major political conflict.
- Mazarin: Though dying, he manipulates appearances to the end, dressing and rouging himself to receive ambassadors. His final bequest of hidden funds, entrusted entirely to Colbert rather than to family coffers, underscores the cardinal’s secretive nature and his unparalleled control over the state’s finances even in death.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- The Dawn: The chapter closes with Louis opening a window to the “resplendent dawn,” the sun gilding his brow. The imagery symbolizes the literal and figurative sunrise of his personal reign after the long night of waiting.
- Appearance vs. Reality: Mazarin’s theatrical dressing to receive ambassadors, the fake silver lace on the Hundred Swiss uniforms that saves three hundred thousand livres, and the secret fortune outside the official will all stress the gap between public show and hidden truth.
- Financial Desperation and Hidden Wealth: The treasury is bankrupt, yet Mazarin’s secret thirteen million let the king begin his rule solvent. The contradiction highlights the dysfunctional fiscal administration Colbert inherits and foreshadows his lifelong mission to fix it.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter is the pivot on which Louis’s independence turns. Mazarin’s death physically frees the king, but Colbert’s revelations instantly reframe the political landscape. The audit exposes Fouquet’s corruption, while the hidden fortune arms the king with immediate capital. The scene launches Colbert’s career as the king’s indispensable financial minister and plants the seed of the coming confrontation with Fouquet. Without this chapter’s nighttime disclosure, the later struggle for the treasury would lack its factual and emotional foundation.
Study Questions and Answers
-
What does Colbert tell the king about the state of the royal finances?
Colbert’s audit shows a complete deficit: the treasury is empty, future revenues are already spent, every available post has been sold at a discount, and the king cannot even force resignations. No loan is possible because original notes have been split into untraceable mortgages. Louis is, in Colbert’s blunt words, ruined before beginning his reign. -
How does the chapter introduce the conflict between Colbert and Fouquet?
When the king remarks that Fouquet is considered a capable man, Colbert flushes and turns pale, recognizing he is now at war with a minister almost as powerful as Mazarin. Colbert’s stark portrait of the deficit directly challenges Fouquet’s management, and the king’s receptiveness signals that he will investigate—a promise of future confrontation. -
What is the symbolic significance of the dawn at the chapter’s end?
The dawn symbolizes the king’s personal awakening from the “night” of Mazarin’s control. After learning of the hidden fortune and the financial ruin, Louis opens the window and lets the morning breeze cool his forehead. The sun’s rays gilding his brow mark the literal first light of his active reign, a rebirth of royal authority after the cardinal’s death.