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Chapter 19
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Three Musketeers, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Friendship and Loyalty
Honor
Class and Power
The Secrets of the Past
Seduction and Romance
Summary
Analysis
By 8 a.m., d’Artagnan and his friends have made it to Chantilly where they stop at an inn for breakfast. While they are eating, a man tries to interact with d’Artagnan and the musketeers. The man proposes a toast to the cardinal and Porthos tells him that they will only toast to the cardinal if he will toast to the king in return. This starts a fight and both the stranger and Porthos pull out their swords. Fearing more trouble is on the way, the other two musketeers and d’Artagnan flee, along with their respective servants.
Although there is a lot of setup for the journey to London, the journey itself takes place in a single chapter. Almost immediately, the musketeers and d’Artagnan run into trouble. They assume that the man who wants them to toast the cardinal is one of the cardinal’s agents who was sent after them. Regardless of whether this is true, Porthos selflessly stays behind to fight the man while everyone else flees to ensure that the mission is a success.
Themes
After they are on the road for a while, the musketeers and d’Artagnan stop and wait to see if Porthos will rejoin them. However, he doesn’t, so they have to keep moving. After traveling a bit further, the group comes upon several men working on the road. Their work causes Aramis’s boots to get dirty and so he curses at them. In response, the men grab guns and start shooting at the musketeers. Aramis and Mousqueton are shot, and the latter falls off of his horse. Aramis manages to stay upright and make it to the next city. However, he has to stay behind so that he can recover. Bazin stays back with him.
Here, the chapter settles into a predictable pattern. The musketeers fall into what seems like a trap set by the cardinal. However, once again, one member sacrifices for the good of the group, and d’Artagnan is able to continue on. Both the group’s steadfast loyalty and the importance of honor are displayed here.
Themes
By midnight, the remaining members of the group reach Amiens. They decide to spend the night at a hotel but become suspicious when their host acts excessively nice. Because they are suspicious, d’Artagnan and Athos insist on sleeping in the same room and they ask Grimaud and Planchet to guard them and their horses. At 4 a.m., Planchet goes outside to find that Grimaud’s been knocked unconscious. He also sees that the horses have been sabotaged. Then, when Athos and d’Artagnan go to pay the bill, the innkeeper picks a fight with them and yells that they need to be arrested. Suddenly, a number of men show up and attack Athos and d’Artagnan. Athos stays behind to fight the men, while d’Artagnan and Planchet grab horses that belong to someone else and flee.
D'Artagnan and Athos think the host is likely trying to lure them into a trap on the orders of the cardinal. As it turns out, they are right. However, because of their loyal servants, and his own great instincts, d’Artagnan manages to escape with Planchet. Although the plan has worked so far, d’Artagnan and Planchet are now on their own. If they run into another one of the cardinal’s traps, there will be no one left to help them.
Themes
Planchet and d’Artagnan ride the horses all the way to Calais, a seaside city where they can find safe passage to England. Together, d’Artagnan and Planchet head to the docks where they see a man eager to sail to England. However, when the man tells the captain of a ship that he is traveling to England on the cardinal’s orders, the captain tells him that no ships are allowed to leave the docks without the cardinal’s permission. The man has a letter granting him permission to travel, but the captain says he’ll need to get it signed by the governor of the port before the ship can go anywhere.
If the man with the letter is traveling on the cardinal’s orders, it is likely that he is after d’Artagnan. Luckily, he doesn’t appear to know what d’Artagnan looks like, which allows the aspiring musketeer to listen in on his conversation with the captain without seeming suspicious. Their conversation tells d’Artagnan that he’s run into a problem—he cannot get to London without a ship.
Themes
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D’Artagnan suspects that the man was likely sent to interfere with his mission, so he follows him and then encourages him to fight. Annoyed, the man fights d’Artagnan, but quickly loses. Meanwhile, Planchet handles the man’s servant. After the fight, d’Artagnan takes the man’s letter and ties him to a tree. He then travels to the governor’s office to get the letter signed. When he enters the office, d’Artagnan presents himself as Comte de Wardes to match the name he sees on the letter. He also tells the governor that he ran into a man named d’Artagnan on his way to Calais and then gives him a description that matches Comte de Wardes’s appearance.
Once again, d’Artagnan demonstrates his quick wit. Not only does he correctly suspect Comte de Wardes’s reason for traveling, but he uses it to advantage. Not only does he secure safe passage to London, but he also sends the cardinal’s men off on a wild goose chase where they are likely to find the Comte de Wardes and not d'Artagnan.
Themes
Literary Devices
The next day, d’Artagnan finally makes it to London and immediately heads to find the duke. When he arrives at the duke’s home, he is told that the duke is out hunting. However, d’Artagnan gets one of the duke’s servants to take him to his master. When the duke sees d’Artagnan, he immediately recognizes him and wonders if something has happened to the queen. D'Artagnan tells him that the queen needs his help and then hands him the letter. After reading the letter, the duke heads back to London with d’Artagnan.
As it turns out, d’Artagnan’s familiarity with the duke—which he gained via questionable behavior—comes in handy. The duke knows he is an agent of the queen and does not doubt the urgency of his presence. Because of his friends’ sacrifices, d’Artagnan’s mission is a success.
Themes
