The Man In The Iron Mask

Aramis tells Athos everything that has transpired to replace the king, and he further explains his plan to hide Porthos at Belle-Isle before continuing to England or Spain, countries where he claims to have many allies. Aramis requests two horses from Athos so that he and Porthos may continue their journey, and Athos provides them. As they prepare to leave, Raoul is overcome with the urge to embrace Porthos and Aramis once more. Raoul and Athos instinctively feel that this is the last time they will see either man. Just as the two men leave the property, Monsieur le Duc de Beaufort arrives.

De Beaufort petitions Athos to give him Raoul as a soldier in his upcoming departure to Africa. Athos does not want to let his only son go, but while they are sharing a glass of wine, De Beaufort asks Raoul to make a wish. Raoul wishes that he may go with De Beaufort to Africa, despite his father’s desire for him to stay home. Both men are stunned. Raoul explains that if he stays at home any longer, he will die of grief over his separation from La Valliere. He intends to take vows and join the Knights of Malta, a religious and military order dating back to the Crusades. De Beaufort accepts his proposal, and Raoul will join them in two days’ time. Once alone, Athos asks Raoul if he only wants to go to Africa because his broken heart makes him want to die. Raoul denies this, claiming instead that while fighting in Africa, he will ask God to keep him alive so he can one day come back home to Athos.

Athos prepares Raoul for his departure. Raoul travels to Paris to pick up his equipment, then on to Luxembourg, where he finds himself in the company of La Valliere’s former close friends. One such woman, Montalais, chides him for having only loved La Valliere philosophically when he should have “awakened her” to love with warmth and romance (242). Raoul also encounters King Louis’s sister-in-law before finally meeting with De Guiche, the man he came there to see. De Guiche tells him of a plot by Montalais to ruin La Valliere. Raoul makes De Guiche promise to protect La Valliere, and he sets off to bid D’Artagnan farewell.

Athos travels ahead to Planchet’s residence to see D’Artagnan, and Raoul arrives shortly after him. Planchet’s aides are packing his belongings, as he has sold his business and intends to move to a country estate. Planchet tells them that D’Artagnan has “disappeared.” Apparently, D’Artagnan had arrived earlier in the week and spent a couple of hours consulting one of Planchet’s maps before he set out again. D’Artagnan had set pins into the map marking a path he presumably followed, the end result of which was Cannes and the banks of the Var. Athos and Raoul determine their route to meet up with De Beaufort would eventually intersect with D’Artagnan’s path, and they leave Planchet.