The Three Musketeers Novel Chapters
List of most recent chapters published for the The Three Musketeers novel. A total of 170 chapters have been translated and the release date of the last chapter is Apr 02, 2024
Latest Release: Chapter 1 : THE THREE MUSKETEERS.by Alexandre Dumas, Pere.AUTHOR'S PREFACE In which it is prove
THE THREE MUSKETEERS.by Alexandre Dumas, Pere.AUTHOR'S PREFACE In which it is proved that, notwithstanding their names' ending in OS and IS, the heroes of the story which we are about to have the honor to relate to our readers have nothing mythological
- 101 "Oh, Porthos's d.u.c.h.ess is dressed by her husband's clerks," said d'Artagnan, laughing. "Besides, Kitty would not like to live in the Rue aux Ours. Isn't it so, Kitty?""I do not care where I live," said
- 102 "What! will you--""This ring would certainly only recall very bitter remembrances; then we shall never be masters of three hundred pistoles to redeem it, so that we really should lose two hundred pistoles by the bargain. Go and tell him the
- 103 "Well," said Porthos, "I will run to the hotel, and engage our comrades to hold themselves in readiness by eight o'clock; the rendezvous, the Place du Palais-Cardinal. Meantime, you see that the lackeys saddle the horses.""I
- 104 D'Artagnan remained fixed to the spot, astounded and not knowing what to think. If it was Mme. Bonacieux and if she was returning to Paris, why this fugitive rendezvous, why this simple exchange of a glance, why this lost kiss? If, on the other side,
- 105 "That," continued the cardinal, "arose not only from a feeling of natural equity, but likewise from a plan I have marked out with respect to you."D'Artagnan became more and more astonished."I wished to explain this plan to yo
- 106 Coquenard wished him all sorts of prosperities. As to Mme. Coquenard, she could not restrain her tears; but no evil impressions were taken from her grief as she was known to be very much attached to her relatives, about whom she was constantly having seri
- 107 D'Artagnan took his hat, examined the hole made by the ball, and shook his head. The ball was not a musket ball--it was an arquebus ball. The accuracy of the aim had first given him the idea that a special weapon had been employed. This could not, th
- 108 "That you will go and fetch me the letter your comrade has in his pocket.""But," cried the bandit, "that is only another way of killing me. How can I go and fetch that letter under the fire of the bastion?""You must neve
- 109 Planchet, very proud of being raised to the dignity of landlord, thought he would make all ready, like an intelligent man; and with this view called in the a.s.sistance of the lackey of one of his master's guests, named Fourreau, and the false soldie
- 110 "I do not believe you," cried the soldier, and he expired amid horrible tortures."Frightful! frightful!" murmured Athos, while Porthos broke the bottles and Aramis gave orders, a little too late, that a confessor should be sent for.&qu
- 111 "And how so, if you please?""Why, by your marchioness, your d.u.c.h.ess, your princess. She must have a long arm.""Hus.h.!.+" said Porthos, placing a finger on his lips. "I believe her to be a cardinalist; she must know
- 112 "We are gentlemen, monseigneur," said Athos; "require our parole, and give yourself no uneasiness. Thank G.o.d, we can keep a secret."The cardinal fixed his piercing eyes on this courageous speaker."You have a quick ear, Monsieur
- 113 While thinking and walking, Athos pa.s.sed and repa.s.sed before the pipe of the stove, broken in halves, the other extremity pa.s.sing into the chamber above; and every time he pa.s.sed and repa.s.sed he heard a murmur of words, which at length fixed his
- 114 "Were the accomplices of Ravaillac or of Jacques Clement ever known?""No; for perhaps they were too high-placed for anyone to dare look for them where they were. The Palace of Justice would not be burned down for everybody, monseigneur.&quo
- 115 "You will not wait till he asks; you will speak first, and tell him that I am gone on the lookout, because certain expressions of our host have given me reason to think the road is not safe. I will say two words about it to the cardinal's esquir
- 116 "Indeed! Is it possible to insult you, madame?" said Athos, laughing; "he has insulted you, and he shall die!""He shall die!" replied Milady; "she first, and he afterward."Athos was seized with a kind of vertigo. Th
- 117 Grimaud, according to custom, obeyed in silence; the poor lad had nearly come to the pa.s.s of forgetting how to speak.They arrived at the drinking room of the Parpaillot. It was seven o'clock in the morning, and daylight began to appear. The three f
- 118 "But what are we going to do there?""You know well that we go to breakfast there.""But why did we not breakfast at the Parpaillot?""Because we have very important matters to communicate to one another, and it was impossi
- 119 The four Musketeers went to work; and as they were loading the last musket Grimaud announced that the breakfast was ready.Athos replied, always by gestures, that that was well, and indicated to Grimaud, by pointing to a turret that resembled a pepper cast
- 120 "Yes, yes," said Athos; "but they are only civilians--very bad marksmen, who will be sure not to hit me."In fact, at the same instant four shots were fired, and the b.a.l.l.s were flattened against the wall around Athos, but not one to
- 121 "What is it?" said the Musketeers."To arms!" cried Grimaud.The young men sprang up, and seized their muskets.This time a small troop advanced, consisting of from twenty to twenty-five men; but they were not pioneers, they were soldiers
- 122 "Ah, ah! but what's going on in the city yonder?" said Athos."They are beating the general alarm."The four friends listened, and the sound of the drum plainly reached them."You see, they are going to send a whole regiment aga
- 123 "My faith," said Athos, "I have nothing to say against a retreat. We bet upon one hour, and we have stayed an hour and a half. Nothing can be said; let us be off, gentlemen, let us be off!"Grimaud was already ahead, with the basket and
- 124 "Well, monseigneur," replied the latter, "three Musketeers and a Guardsman laid a wager with Monsieur de Busigny that they would go and breakfast in the bastion St. Gervais; and while breakfasting they held it for two hours against the enem
- 125 "Not at all," cried d'Artagnan, who was anxious the matter should be accomplished; "on the contrary, I think it very easy. It would be, no doubt, parbleu, if we write to Lord de Winter about affairs of vast importance, of the horrors o
- 126 "But, gentlemen, in all this," said d'Artagnan, "we do not think of the queen. Let us take some heed of the welfare of her dear Buckingham. That is the least we owe her.""That's true," said Athos; "but that con
- 127 "Oh, pardieu, less than nothing," said Aramis; "a charming little seamstress, whom I love dearly and from whose hand I requested a few lines as a sort of keepsake.""The duvil!" said the Swiss, "if she is as great a lady
- 128 "So be it," said d'Artagnan. "Go to bed, Planchet, and sleep soundly.""My faith, monsieur! that will be the first time I have done so for sixteen days.""And me, too!" said d'Artagnan."And me, too!&quo
- 129 No voice replied to hers; the carriage continued to roll on with rapidity; the officer seemed a statue.Milady looked at the officer with one of those terrible expressions peculiar to her countenance, and which so rarely failed of their effect; anger made
- 130 Milady replied to this question by another question. "To begin with, tell me," said she, "how have you watched me so closely as to be aware beforehand not only of my arrival, but even of the day, the hour, and the port at which I should arr
- 131 Milady, finding her thoughts betrayed, dug her nails into her flesh to subdue every emotion that might give to her face any expression except agony.Lord de Winter continued: "The officer who commands here in my absence you have already seen, and ther
- 132 "Lackeys?" grumbled the cardinal. "Lackeys who have the order to warn their masters when anyone pa.s.ses are not lackeys, they are sentinels.""Your Eminence may perceive that if we had not taken this precaution, we should have bee
- 133 "Come here, Grimaud," said Athos. Grimaud rose and obeyed. "As a punishment for having spoken without permission, my friend, you will please to eat this piece of paper; then to recompense you for the service you will have rendered us, you s
- 134 "So," replied de Winter, laughing, "that beautiful hair so skillfully disheveled, that white skin, and that languis.h.i.+ng look, have not yet seduced you, you heart of stone?""No, my Lord," replied the impa.s.sive young man;
- 135 Milady, reclining in an armchair near the chimney, beautiful, pale, and resigned, looked like a holy virgin awaiting martyrdom.Felton approached her, and said, "Lord de Winter, who is a Catholic, like yourself, madame, thinking that the deprivation o
- 136 Milady was so beautiful at this moment, the religious ecstasy in which she appeared to be plunged gave such an expression to her countenance, that Felton was so dazzled that he fancied he beheld the angel whom he had only just before heard."Yes, yes,
- 137 "Good," said Milady to herself; "without thinking what it is, he calls it a crime!" Then aloud, "The friend of THAT WRETCH is capable of everything.""Whom do you call 'that wretch'?" asked Felton."Are
- 138 Milady breathed again. She had still four days before her. Four days would quite suffice to complete the seduction of Felton.A terrible idea, however, rushed into her mind. She thought that Lord de Winter would perhaps send Felton himself to get the order
- 139 However fugitive this homicide flash, Felton saw it, and started as if its light had revealed the abysses of this woman's heart. He recalled, all at once, the warnings of Lord de Winter, the seductions of Milady, her first attempts after her arrival.
- 140 As for her, she returned to her place with a smile of savage contempt upon her lips, and repeated, blaspheming, that terrible name of G.o.d, by whom she had just sworn without ever having learned to know Him."My G.o.d," said she, "what a se
- 141 "Now," said she, "listen to me."The request was needless. The young officer stood upright before her, awaiting her words as if to devour them."Felton," said Milady, with a solemnity full of melancholy, "imagine that your
- 142 "Alas! this desperate resistance could not last long. I felt my strength fail, and this time it was not my sleep that enabled the coward to prevail, but my swoon."Felton listened without uttering any word or sound, except an inward expression of
- 143 "'Yes, yes, I!' replied he."'Oh, leave me!' said I. 'Begone, if you do not desire to see me dash my head against that wall before your eyes!'"'Very well, it is your own doing. Till tomorrow evening, then!&
- 144 "But how can Lord de Winter, my protector, my father," asked Felton, "possibly be mixed up with all this?""Listen, Felton," resumed Milady, "for by the side of base and contemptible men there are often found great and ge
- 145 It was, however, necessary to affect weakness and pain--not a very difficult task for so finished an actress as Milady. Thus the poor woman was completely the dupe of the prisoner, whom, notwithstanding her hints, she persisted in watching all night.But t
- 146 "Now," said he, "will you come?""I am ready."Milady mounted upon a chair and pa.s.sed the upper part of her body through the window. She saw the young officer suspended over the abyss by a ladder of ropes. For the first time
- 147 Milady held out her arms; her wrists were bruised."Alas!" said Felton, looking at those beautiful hands, and shaking his head sorrowfully."Oh, it's nothing, nothing!" cried Milady. "I remember now."Milady looked around h
- 148 His whole body appeared in its ordinary state of calmness, only an unusual fire beamed from his eyes, like the effects of a fever; his brow was more pale than it generally was; his teeth were clenched, and his speech had a short dry accent which indicated
- 149 "Because you will look into yourself, and you will do justice to the lady.""I should do her justice by sending her to Tyburn," said Buckingham."This lady is infamous.""My Lord, Milady de Winter is an angel; you know that
- 150 "Oh, my Lord!" said Laporte."Obey, Laporte, do you not see I have no time to lose?"Laporte broke the seal, and placed the paper before the eyes of the duke; but Buckingham in vain tried to make out the writing."Read!" said he
- 151 The first fear of the King of England, Charles I, on learning of the death of the duke, was that such terrible news might discourage the Roch.e.l.lais; he tried, says Richelieu in his Memoirs, to conceal it from them as long as possible, closing all the p
- 152 And the four friends flew at a gallop along the road to Bethune.61 THE CARMELITE CONVENT AT BETHUNE Great criminals bear about them a kind of predestination which makes them surmount all obstacles, which makes them escape all dangers, up to the moment whi
- 153 "Then," said the abbess, looking at Milady with increasing interest, "I behold another poor victim?""Alas, yes," said Milady.The abbess looked at her for an instant with uneasiness, as if a fresh thought suggested itself to her mind."You are not an
- 154 "Why, then, only see!" cried the novice; "we shall soon be well acquainted, almost friends. If you know Monsieur de Treville, you must have visited him?""Often!" said Milady, who, having entered this track, and perceiving that falsehood succeeded, w
- 155 "Well, read, then!" said the unhappy young woman, in the excess of her pride and joy, presenting a letter to Milady."The writing of Madame de Chevreuse!" said Milady to herself. "Ah, I always thought there was some secret understanding in that quarte
- 156 "I only arrived yesterday.""And what have you been doing since yesterday?""I have not lost my time.""Oh, I don't doubt that.""Do you know whom I have encountered here?""No.""Guess.""How can I?""That young woman whom the queen took out of
- 157 "Return instantly. It appears to me that the news you bear is worth the trouble of a little diligence.""My chaise broke down coming into Lilliers.""Capital!""What, CAPITAL?""Yes, I want your chaise.""And how shall I travel, then?""On horsebac
- 158 "You think of everything.""And you forget one thing.""What?""To ask me if I want money.""That's true. How much do you want?""All you have in gold.""I have five hundred pistoles, or thereabouts.""I have as much. With a thousand pistoles one
- 159 "Do not deceive yourself. D'Artagnan and his friends are detained at the siege of La Roch.e.l.le.""How do you know that?""My brother met some emissaries of the cardinal in the uniform of Musketeers. You would have been summoned to the gate; you woul
- 160 "How can I avoid interesting myself for one who is so beautiful and so amiable? Are you not the beloved of one of my best friends?""Dear d'Artagnan! Oh, how he will thank you!""I hope so. Now, then, all is agreed; let us go down.""You are going in
- 161 All at once, at the turning of the road she saw the glitter of laced hats and the waving of feathers; she counted two, then five, then eight hors.e.m.e.n. One of them preceded the rest by double the length of his horse.Milady uttered a stifled groan. In t
- 162 D'Artagnan seized the hands of Athos with an anguish difficult to be described."And what do you believe?' His voice was stifled by sobs."I believe everything," said Athos biting his lips till the blood sprang to avoid sighing.&quo
- 163 "You see, then," said Athos, "there is a G.o.d in heaven still!"64 THE MAN IN THE RED CLOAK The despair of Athos had given place to a concentrated grief which only rendered more lucid the brilliant mental faculties of that extraordinar
- 164 It was a melancholy sight--that of these six men, traveling in silence, each plunged in his own thoughts, sad as despair, gloomy as chastis.e.m.e.nt.65 TRIAL It was a stormy and dark night; vast clouds covered the heavens, concealing the stars; the moon w
- 165 D'Artagnan obeyed; for Athos had the solemn voice and the powerful gesture of a judge sent by the Lord himself. Behind d'Artagnan entered Porthos, Aramis, Lord de Winter, and the man in the red cloak.The four lackeys guarded the door and the win
- 166 "That is the crime of which I accuse her; that is the cause for which she was branded.""Monsieur d'Artagnan," said Athos, "what is the penalty you demand against this woman?""The punishment of death," replied d
- 167 "That's well."Athos made a step toward Milady."I pardon you," said he, "the ill you have done me. I pardon you for my blasted future, my lost honor, my defiled love, and my salvation forever compromised by the despair into wh
- 168 "We will be his guards, monsieur, upon our word as gentlemen; but likewise, upon our word as gentlemen," added Athos, knitting his brow, "Monsieur d'Artagnan shall not leave us."The Chevalier de Rochefort cast a glance backward, a
- 169 "Your pardon?" said Richelieu, surprised."Yes, monseigneur," said d'Artagnan."And signed by whom--by the king?" And the cardinal p.r.o.nounced these words with a singular expression of contempt."No, by your Eminence.""By me? You are insane, mons
- 170 "Yes," said he, "yes, that would flatter me very much; but I should not have time enough to enjoy the distinction. During our expedition to Bethune the husband of my d.u.c.h.ess died; so, my dear, the coffer of the defunct holding out its a