Characters Between Two Kings Alexandre Dumas

D'Artagnan: The Aging Musketeer's Gamble in Between Two Kings

Overview

In Lawrence Ellsworth's Between Two Kings, the fourth installment of the Musketeers Cycle, d'Artagnan confronts the twilight of his military career with a blend of wounded pride, restless ambition, and the same audacious cunning that defined his youth. No longer the brash Gascon who once dueled his way into the Musketeers, the aging Lieutenant finds himself sidelined under a young king who defers to Cardinal Mazarin and a court that has forgotten his decades of service. Rather than fade quietly, d'Artagnan engineers a private venture—part political coup, part financial speculation—that places him at the center of the Restoration of Charles II to the English throne.

The novel presents d'Artagnan at a crossroads between two eras: the heroic age of the Musketeers is dying, and the bureaucratic statecraft of Louis XIV's reign is being born. D'Artagnan's response to this transition reveals the deepest layers of his character—his refusal to accept irrelevance, his mix of genuine loyalty and sharp self-interest, and his enduring genius for turning chaos into opportunity.

Plot Role

D'Artagnan drives the central action of Between Two Kings through two momentous decisions. The first occurs in Chapter XIV, when he tenders his resignation to Louis XIV after a blistering audience in which he catalogs thirty-five years of unrewarded service. He condemns the king's submission to Mazarin and the humiliation of the exiled Charles II, telling Louis, "I say here, to you, my King, things I would cram down the throat of anyone else who dared to say them in front of me." This resignation frees d'Artagnan from his oath and enables the second decision: a private scheme to restore Charles II by kidnapping General Monck, the one man whose authority stabilizes Cromwell's Commonwealth.

From that point forward, d'Artagnan operates as a freelance agent. He recruits ten mercenaries, crosses the Channel, abducts Monck in his own camp, transports him in a ventilated crate, and delivers him to the exiled king at Scheveningen. The success of this gambit triggers the diplomatic chain that restores Charles to the throne. In the novel's final act, d'Artagnan negotiates a reward of three hundred thousand livres from the grateful king, settles accounts with his business partner Planchet, and navigates the political fallout of his unilateral action—including the revelation that Athos was simultaneously conducting a parallel diplomatic mission that d'Artagnan's kidnapping nearly derailed.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Pride Wounded by a Forgetful Crown

The audience with Louis XIV in Chapter XIV is the crucible in which d'Artagnan's motivations are forged. He does not simply complain; he systematically itemizes his service under Richelieu, through the Fronde, and for Mazarin, noting how a promotion was revoked once peace returned. When the king tries to buy patience with memories of d'Artagnan's protection during a childhood riot, the Lieutenant retorts, "Your Majesty can wait because he's young, but I, Sire, have no more time to wait." His resignation is not petulance but a calculated severance—he wagers his entire career on the conviction that Louis will not act decisively while Mazarin lives. The text makes explicit that d'Artagnan sees the king's meekness as a personal betrayal of the Musketeers' sacrifices.

Financial Opportunism Tempered by Honor

D'Artagnan's partnership with Planchet, the grocer of the Rue des Lombards, reveals how thoroughly the musketeer has absorbed the commercial logic of his age. In Chapter XX, he pitches the restoration of Charles II as an investment opportunity with a projected return of four hundred percent. He commits twenty thousand livres—his life savings—and structures the venture as a formal business under the name "Planchet and Co." Yet within this mercenary framework, d'Artagnan observes a strict personal code. In Chapter XXI, he writes a will leaving his stake to Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and Planchet should he die in the attempt. The narrator notes that "he had adopted as his motto, 'Do the right thing and let others talk,'" and the will demonstrates that his financial ambition coexists with genuine loyalty to his old comrades.

Military Cunning Adapted for Private Enterprise

D'Artagnan's recruitment and management of his ten mercenaries in Chapter XXII showcases his leadership tested outside royal authority. He selects men with checkered backgrounds—former corsairs, galley prisoners—who possess exactly the seamanship and ruthlessness the mission requires. His cover story, that they are Picard fishermen investigating English smuggling for the Surintendant des Finances, is a masterclass in operational deception. He warns them, "state secrets are like lethal poison: as long as the poison is in its bottle and the bottle is corked, it's harmless—but once it's out of the bottle, it kills." This episode demonstrates that d'Artagnan's talents—improvisation, psychological insight into rough men, and tactical deception—remain fully intact, even if the institutional framework that once channeled them has failed him.

The Gascon's Tongue and Calculated Self-Revelation

D'Artagnan's concluding management of his mercenaries in Chapter XXXVII is characteristically cunning. He pays each man fifty gold crowns and fabricates a story that their victim was merely Monck's treasurer, downplaying the political magnitude of the kidnapping to protect himself. He gives Menneville extra gold and urges him to reform, yet the narrator wryly observes that "somebody must have talked eventually, and if it wasn't Menneville or one of the other nine mercenaries, it must have been d'Artagnan, who, as a Gascon, always had a tongue ready to wag." This admission—that the entire story probably entered history through d'Artagnan's own boasting—is essential to understanding him: he is incapable of complete discretion, and his pride demands that his exploits be known, even at personal risk.

Chronological Arc

  1. Resignation (Chapters XIV–XV): D'Artagnan confronts Louis XIV, demands and receives his discharge, and exits the king's service vowing to serve no other master.

  2. Recruitment of Planchet and Assembling the Company (Chapters XIX–XXII): He convinces Planchet to invest, writes his will, and travels to Calais to marshal his ten mercenaries, testing their discipline and establishing his authority.

  3. The Abduction of General Monck (Chapters XXVIII–XXIX): In fisherman's disguise, d'Artagnan lands at Scheveningen and reveals to Charles II that he has captured Monck and transported him in a ventilated crate. The king's revelation that Athos was simultaneously negotiating diplomatically shocks d'Artagnan, who realizes his unilateral action jeopardizes both missions.

  4. Reconciliation and Reward (Chapters XXX–XXXIV): Monck writes a letter for Charles II, Athos departs for Holland, and d'Artagnan remains with Monck. In the audience at Saint James's Palace, d'Artagnan negotiates three hundred thousand livres for Monck's sword, then grapples with the anxiety of guarding his fortune.

  5. Settling Accounts (Chapters XXXVII–XXXVIII): D'Artagnan pays off his mercenaries, distributes Planchet's share of one hundred thousand livres, and contemplates Athos's advice to avoid both miserliness and reckless spending.

  6. Recall to Royal Service (Chapter L): After Mazarin's death, Louis XIV orders d'Artagnan's recall to serve as the king's "loyal sword," positioned alongside Colbert's financial apparatus and intelligence network as one of the pillars of the new reign.

Relationships

Louis XIV

The relationship between d'Artagnan and the young king is defined by mutual recognition and mutual disappointment. Louis remembers d'Artagnan's protection during a childhood riot—"one man, with a naked sword, hid behind my curtained bed to watch over my life"—but d'Artagnan refuses to trade on past loyalty for future promises. Their confrontation is the novel's emotional fulcrum: d'Artagnan forces Louis to confront his own powerlessness under Mazarin, and Louis, though he grants the discharge, does so with visible anguish. The king's decision in Chapter L to recall d'Artagnan after Mazarin's death signals that he has absorbed the lesson and intends to govern with the same decisiveness d'Artagnan demanded.

Athos

D'Artagnan's friendship with Athos is the moral counterweight to his commercial scheming. In Chapter XXXII, at the Hartshorn Inn, the two friends reunite and Athos gently reminds d'Artagnan of his obligation to Planchet, offering to sell La Fère if necessary. Athos's unshakeable integrity—"I did this service for myself, to fulfill my obligation and responsibility, not for him"—contrasts with d'Artagnan's profit motive, yet d'Artagnan's response reveals his self-awareness: "You're better than I am, or rather better than anyone is, while I have only one virtue, that of not being jealous." The revelation in Chapter XXIX that Athos's diplomatic mission and d'Artagnan's kidnapping have collided creates the book's sharpest dramatic irony: d'Artagnan's boldest stroke nearly destroys his dearest friend's work.

Planchet

The partnership with Planchet transforms the former lackey into an equal, albeit one bound by the peculiar terms of their contract. Planchet's loyalty—offering a partnership in his grocery when he believes the venture has failed—moves d'Artagnan to genuine generosity in the distribution of the profits. Their relationship exemplifies one of the novel's central themes: wealth as a political instrument that can elevate the lowly and empower the noble, provided it is wielded with intelligence and loyalty.

Key Decisions and Consequences

The Resignation (Chapter XIV)

Decision: D'Artagnan demands his discharge from Louis XIV, refusing to wait for a king who defers to Mazarin. Consequence: He gains freedom to act independently but loses his institutional position and pension, betting everything on a private venture that has no guarantee of success.

The Planchet Partnership (Chapters XIX–XX)

Decision: He frames the restoration of Charles II as a commercial investment, committing his life savings and formalizing the venture as a business. Consequence: This decision binds his personal honor to financial success; if the venture fails, he loses not only his own fortune but Planchet's as well. The will he writes simultaneously protects his friends and reveals his own mortality.

The Kidnapping of Monck (Chapter XXVIII)

Decision: He abducts General Monck without coordinating with Charles II or any other royalist agent. Consequence: The kidnapping succeeds brilliantly but nearly destroys Athos's parallel diplomatic mission. The shock d'Artagnan experiences when Charles reveals Athos's involvement—"Athos?" cried d'Artagnan—is one of the few moments in the novel where his confidence falters.

The Monck Reconciliation (Chapter XXXVI)

Decision: He visits Monck and, under the guise of seeking advice, manipulates the general's fear of ridicule to secure his own safety. Consequence: By transforming the humiliating box incident into a mutual secret, d'Artagnan effectively neutralizes Monck as a threat and secures a "gift" of land that he converts to a recorded sale of fifteen thousand livres—a characteristically elegant solution that converts danger into profit.

Theme and Symbol Connections

D'Artagnan embodies the novel's central theme of loyalty versus disillusionment. His resignation is not disloyalty to the crown but a demand that loyalty be reciprocal—that a king who expects service must also be worthy of it. When Louis fails that test, d'Artagnan transfers his energies to the "king seed" of Charles II, whom he recognizes as a man of quality despite his destitution.

He is also the primary vehicle for the theme of aging and the passing of an era. After finding neither Porthos nor Aramis at home, d'Artagnan rides alone and reflects, "No friends, no future, no nothing! With the loss of my old comrades goes the last of my strength!" His private venture is, in part, a refusal to accept that his era is over—a last, magnificent assertion of the Musketeer ethos of individual audacity against the encroaching bureaucracy of the modern state.

The transfer of power theme intersects with d'Artagnan's arc in Chapter L, when Louis XIV, freed from Mazarin, recalls him to service. The king positions d'Artagnan as his "brawn" alongside Colbert's "brains," recognizing that effective rule requires both the institutional intelligence Colbert represents and the personal loyalty and martial prowess d'Artagnan embodies. This recall completes d'Artagnan's arc: he has forced the king to become worthy of his service, and in doing so, has secured his place in the new order.

Questions and Answers

1. Why does d'Artagnan resign from Louis XIV's service, and what does this decision reveal about his character?

D'Artagnan resigns because he believes Louis XIV has failed the test of kingship by submitting to Mazarin's authority and humiliating the exiled Charles II. The resignation reveals his core conviction that loyalty must be earned and reciprocated, not simply owed by tradition. He tells the king, "I have no more time to wait," making clear that his patience with a crown that remembers past service but refuses present reward has been exhausted. The decision also demonstrates his willingness to risk everything—pension, position, and status—on his own judgment rather than accept comfortable irrelevance.

2. How does the partnership with Planchet reflect d'Artagnan's adaptation to changing times?

The partnership shows d'Artagnan internalizing the commercial logic of his era without abandoning his martial identity. He structures the venture as a formal investment with projected returns, recruits a silent partner, and manages his mercenaries as employees rather than soldiers. Yet the will he writes, leaving his stake to his three friends and Planchet, proves that the commercial framework does not erase his deeper loyalties. The venture is a hybrid: a seventeenth-century startup funded by a grocer and executed by a musketeer.

3. What is the significance of the revelation that Athos was simultaneously conducting a diplomatic mission?

The revelation in Chapter XXIX—"Athos?" cried d'Artagnan—is the novel's sharpest dramatic irony. It exposes the cost of d'Artagnan's unilateral action: his boldest stroke nearly destroys the parallel diplomatic effort of the man he most respects. The moment forces d'Artagnan to confront the limitations of his individualistic approach and creates a tension between action and coordination that runs through the remainder of the novel. It also underscores a broader theme: the restoration of Charles II required multiple, independent agents working in ignorance of one another, and success depended on their accidental alignment rather than any master plan.

4. How does d'Artagnan handle the "embarrassment of riches" after receiving his reward?

D'Artagnan's reaction to his three hundred thousand livres in Chapter XXXIV is a comic masterpiece of anxiety. He cannot sleep for fear of thieves, consults a locksmith about a strongbox with a built-in gun, and is only steadied by Athos's counsel to simplicity. His distribution of Planchet's share in Chapter XXXVIII—pretending the venture failed before revealing the fortune—shows both his theatricality and his fundamental fairness. The episode confirms that d'Artagnan, for all his cunning, is not greedy; his pleasure lies in the acquisition and the game, not in hoarding.

5. What does d'Artagnan's manipulation of Monck in Chapter XXXVI reveal about his political intelligence?

By visiting Monck and raising the specter of public ridicule, d'Artagnan demonstrates that his intelligence is not merely tactical but psychological. He understands that Monck fears humiliation more than death and uses that fear to neutralize a powerful enemy. The maneuver transforms the box—the most damning evidence of Monck's vulnerability—into a shared secret that binds them. It is a characteristically d'Artagnan solution: elegant, slightly ruthless, and mutually beneficial, converting a liability into a shield.

For further exploration of the novel's context, see the full Between Two Kings book guide or the questions and answers page for additional character and theme discussions.