The Comte de Rochefort
The man of Meung: the cardinal's equerry with a scar on his temple, who steals d'Artagnan's letter in the first chapter and arrests him in the last.
To serve the cardinal and to avoid, as long as possible, the young Gascon who keeps trying to fight him.
The book
At a glance
- Equerry to Cardinal Richelieu
- A scar on his temple
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeRochefort is the stranger in the violet doublet who laughs at d'Artagnan's horse at the inn in Meung, has him beaten, and takes the letter to Tréville out of his doublet. He is not named until the last chapter, and for most of the book d'Artagnan knows him only as the man with the scar on his temple. He is the cardinal's equerry and Milady's contact; he arrives at the Béthune convent minutes after she has poisoned Constance.
How The Comte de Rochefort Is Portrayed
- The man of Meung, Chapter IA gentleman of forty or forty-five in a violet doublet, who rarely laughs, mocks the yellow pony from an inn window and, when d'Artagnan draws, has the host's men beat him senseless.
- The scar, Chapters VIII and XBonacieux describes him: a noble of lofty carriage, black hair, swarthy complexion, piercing eye, white teeth and a scar on his temple. D'Artagnan cries out that it is his man of Meung.
- At Béthune, Chapter LXIThe chapter ends on spurs on the stairs and a man in the doorway; Milady cries out with joy. He is her brother, she has just told Constance.
- The arrest and the handshake, Chapter LXVII and epilogueHe arrests d'Artagnan in the king's name on the road to La Rochelle and, at the cardinal's order, greets him as a friend. In the epilogue they fight three times, d'Artagnan wounds him three times, and they embrace.
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