The Three Musketeers (The Modern Library) - Alexandre Dumas [208]
La Rochelle, having gained new importance as a result of the ruin of the other Calvinist cities, was now the focus of dissensions and ambitions of every sort. More, its port was the last port in the kingdom of France still open to the English; by closing it against England, our hereditary enemy, the Cardinal was completing the work of Joan of Arc and of the Duc de Guise.
So intricate and involved were the issues that François de Bassompierre, a Protestant by conviction, a Catholic as Commander of the Order of the Holy Ghost, a German by birth and a Frenchman at heart, a virtually autonomous commander at the siege of La Rochelle, could observe to several noblemen, Protestants like himself, as they charged the Huguenot lines:
“Mark my words, gentlemen, we shall be fools enough to capture La Rochelle.”
Bassompierre was right. The bombardment of the Ile de Ré foretold the dragonnades that were to crush the Protestants in the Cévennes during the next reign and the capture of La Rochelle prefaced the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
But against these simplifying and leveling views of a Minister which belong to history, the honest chronicler is in duty bound to recognize the petty aims of an unrequited lover and jealous rival. Richelieu, as everyone knows, had been in love with the Queen. Was his love a mere political expedient? Or was it the natural consequence of some deep passion such as Anne of Austria inspired in many persons with whom she came into contact? The evidence points either way. At all events, the present chronicle has already recorded how Buckingham triumphed over Richelieu and how he did so on two or three occasions—particularly in the affair of the diamond studs—thanks to the devotion of three musketeers and the valor of a Royal Guardsman named D’Artagnan. Ay, Buckingham had fooled the Cardinal cruelly.
Accordingly, Richelieu meant not only to rid France of a public enemy but to avenge himself upon a private rival. This vengeance, moreover, was to be a signal and striking one, worthy in all ways of a man who wields the forces of an entire kingdom much as an expert duelist wields his sword.
Richelieu knew that in fighting England he was fighting Buckingham . . . in triumphing over England he was triumphing over Buckingham . . . and finally in humiliating England in the eyes of Europe he was humiliating Buckingham in the eyes of the Queen. . . .
For his part Buckingham, pretending to maintain the honor of England, was prompted by interest as personal as the Cardinal’s but diametrically opposed. Buckingham, too, pursued a private vengeance; unable to return to France as ambassador under any pretext whatever, he determined to return as conqueror. In a word, then, the true stake of this game, which two of the most powerful kingdoms played for the good pleasure of two hapless lovers, was merely a friendly glance from Anne of Austria.
The Duke of Buckingham won the first advantage. Arriving unexpectedly off the Ile de Ré with ninety vessels and some twenty thousand men, he surprised the Comte de Toirac, Royal Governor of the island and, after a bloody struggle, effected a landing. (Incidentally, in the course of this engagement, a certain Baron de Chantal fell on the field of honor, leaving a daughter eighteen months old who was destined to achieve immortality as Madame de Sévigné, the greatest letter-writer of all ages!) The Comte de Toirac withdrew to the citadel of Saint Martin with his garrison and threw a hundred men into a tiny stronghold called the Fort de la Prée.
This event hastened the Cardinal’s resolve. It was determined that the King and the Cardinal were to assume personal command. But until this could be done, the Duc d’Orléans, the King’s brother, was dispatched to direct preliminary operations and to organize all available troops at the theatre of war. D’Artagnan figured among the earliest units to proceed to the front.
His Majesty was to follow so soon as the parliamentary session was over. On June 23, despite his high fever, the King insisted