The Man In The Iron Mask Chapter 1: Hunger in Paris

My name is D'Artagnan. I was once Captain of the King's Guard for the present King, Louis XIV, and before that, for his father, Louis XIII. You may have heard of my three friends, Athos, Aramis and Porthos. We were all Musketeers, which means we were trained to use a musket, a kind of gun. But our favourite weapon was always the sword. To win a fight with a sword, you have to use your brain, and at the same time, move quickly and cleverly on your feet. In the old clays, when we were young, some people said that a whole army could not beat us. It was my job to serve kings, not judge them, but there are times in every man's life when he has to make an important decision, a decision that will not only change his life but the history o(the world. I am going to tell you the story of how I came to make such a decision. My story begins in the early summer of 1667. Louis XIV was on the throne of France, with his wife, the Queen Marie Therese, at his side. His mother, Anna of Austria also lived with him at court, and in a way l felt responsible for the safety of them all, although my first duty was to the King. France was at war with Spain over the Spanish Netherlands. War is a hungry master. It needs money to make cannons and guns and to buy food for its armies. So, all the money and food that should have been used to feed the poor of France was going to the war. I had been to Paris to see how bad the situation was. \Nhat I saw there made me sick. People were dying of hunger. Children were lying in the streets, too weak to cry, too weak even to hold out their hand for a piece ofbreacl or an apple. They were just waiting to die. Those who still had strength were breaking into shops and stealing whatever they could. It was the job of my Musketeers to protect the shopkeepers, but many of my men felt bad about fighting the poor. Their job was also getting more and more cliflicult, as the people became hungrier and hungrier. The Palace at Versailles is not far from Paris, but it is a long way fi-om the suffering of the people. As I walked into the gardens, :tnd clown the steps past the fountains, I saw the King. Or, should I say, I saw the King's party, some twenty or thirty men and women, beautiftdly dressed, wearing their fine wigs, which were long, curled and well-powdered. At the Palace it was just another d:tll is thrown some distance from the players. Then, each player 1 h rows a metal ball to try to get as close to the wooden ball as possible. The player who gets his ball closest to the wooden one IV IIlS. l.ouis slowly lifi:ed his arm and threw his last ball into the :tir. i\s the ball hit the ground, the King shouted, "llave I won?" l L was clear to everybody that he hadn't, but no one said a word. i\ young courtier went up to the group of balls and stood wil h his back to the King. He bent clown, as if to see more clearly ll'ho had won, and without being seen, pushed the King's ball ll'ilh his root so that it was now closest to the wooden ball. "You have won again , Your M~e sty! " shouted the young courtier. After a ll, a courtie r 'sjob is to make the King happy. Louis raised his arms and smiled and everybody sho uted 'Bravo !' "ls th e re no man here who can beat me?" Lo uis loved to win and th e n to say how much bette r he was th an everybod y else. "No, Your Mc:uesty, you a re unbeatable," said the young courtie r. ~I "As you men are no matc h for me, I sha ll have to find a lad y who ca n beat me ." Louis went up to a young lad y, shyly watching the game. 1 He r name was Louise de la Valliere. She had only been at court fo r a few wee ks. · I had noticed her the first clay she came. She had seemed in need of a fri end. So, I took th e opportunity th e n to go up to her and say, "Are yo u happy here, Mad emo iselle?" She had looked a t me , surpri sed that the Capta in of the Kin g's Guard should speak to he r. "lmiss my f~unil y," she had said . "But 1 will get used to it, I suppose." " l exp ect you will ," I had said, with unde rsta ndin g. After that incid e nt, l made time to spea k to he r, but l was not the only one to notice he r . T he King had no ti ced he r too. And now, he took Louise by the hand and led he r to the bowling gree n . l could see the Queen , Marie Therese, tr ying to hide her anger. Louis handed Lo uise a ba ll. She looked at it uncomfortabl y. I She did not find it easy be ing the King's new favo urite. " l have never played be fore, Your M~e st y." "With those hands and th at bea uty, you have already won Ill )' hea rt, even if you do not win at battles." Lo uise threw the ball car e less ly into the air and by pure h 1ck it landed closest to the wood e n ba ll. A look of anger passed hrie fl y over Loui s' lace, but th e n he smiled. "1 think you do not. tell the truth , my clear Louise. You have s11rc ly played be fo re." Lo uise looked worri ed. " No, no , Your Majesty. It was beginn e r 's lu ck." "Neve r mind. How abo ut some music and food? Lo uise, vo11 will come with me." I .o uis put hi s arm around he r and led her towa rds the p:1vilion , whe re the musicians we re waitin g. "Your Maj es ty!" l call ed o ut. I .ou is tu rn ecl . "1\h, D'Ar tagnan. Will you join us?" "Your Mc:ues ty, we must ta lk ." "T a lk, ta lk . Can't you see l have better things to do? You k11111V Mad emo iselle de La Valliere, I think ?" I wondered if the King knew that I liked her too . "Yes, Your Mc:uesty. We have me t." "( ;ood . Come th e n, and eat with us before you go abou t 1111 11 d11 t.ies." "\"our rvJajesty, we must talk. T he situation in Paris is serious." " I don' t. want to hear about Pa ri s. Do n't the peo ple ofParis k11111V we' re fi g h tin g a war? Fr e nchmen a re d ying to ma ke 1,.1 :111 n · great and these lazy dogs complain about not hav ing l'11011gh to cat!" At that moment 1 saw Fouque t, the King's Minister of Finance, whose job it was to d ecide how to spend the King's taxes. He was with Colbe rt, hi s Chi ef Adviser. Fouque t and Colbert hated each othe r, but they tried not to show it. Fouquel was afi·aid ofColbe rt's honesty and the f~tct that Colbert kn ew that Fouquet was usin g a lot of' the 1\.ing's mo ney to build himse lf a palace. "Ah , Fouque t," said Louis seeing the two statesmen coming towards us. "What is this b usiness about fighting in Pari s?" "Yes, Your Majesty. We know abo ut it. 1t is quite serio us." "We ll , wha t do you p lan lo do about i t~" "T he re a re three thin gs we Gtn do for the poor. O ne, send less f(Jod to our armies in the Netherlands. Two, g i\'e th em f(JOd from the sto res. Or three. we can simply shoot them." "The army must be feel. And I do not want to shoot our people- unless it is absolutely necessary. So, open the storerooms." "T he [()()cl th e re may not be very good , Your iVIOd goes straight to the arm y." "Give it to the poor an yway. If th ey' re rea lly hungry, they'll ea t it! " "Yes, Yom Majesty." " Now, gentleme n . Let us have some music wi th our mea l." 1 fo llowed th e King to the pavilion , whe re tabl es stood loaded with food f'rom a ll over the world, rich meals and exotic fi ·ui ts. 1 co uldn't help thinking o f' the people d ying of hunger in Paris. When the music e nded , I watch ed Louis leave the pavilion with Louise. And so, it was with a heavy heart that I went to my room that ni g ht. 1 had served France for nearly thirty years; but I h