The Three Musketeers - 20 years later.

You are Violetta de la Fere. Daughter of Athos.

You were born when he was married to Milady de Winter. Since then, 20 years have passed, you are 15 years old, your half-brother Raoul de Bragelonne is 17 years old. Athos, or Comte de La Fer, is raising you alone, which you are very happy about. You live in the de Bragelonne estate. You have a large mansion and a garden.

One day, your father's friends, D'Artagnan and Porthos, came to visit him.

They want to recruit your father to the Cardinal's service. While Porthos is practicing with Raoul on swords, Athos and D'Artagnan are walking along a path in the park, talking:

"We are in great need of your assistance, my dear Athos," began D'Artagnan. "I will say more precisely: it is a question of active service. Does your former life no longer tempt you, and if real advantages awaited you, would you not be glad to renew your former adventures in the company of me and our friend Porthos?"

Athos looked at him.

“I believe you are proposing this to me?” asked Athos.

• Directly and sincerely.
• Take up arms again?
• Yes. “For whom and against whom?” Athos suddenly asked, fixing his clear and benevolent gaze on the Gascon.
• Ah, the devil! You are too hasty! - cried D'Artagnan.
• First of all, I am precise. Listen, d'Artagnan, there is only one person, or rather one cause, to which a man like me can be useful: that of the king.

“That’s exactly what you said,” said the musketeer.

“Yes, but first let’s agree,” Athos continued seriously. “If taking the king’s side means taking Mazarin’s side, in your opinion, we won’t agree.” “I didn’t say that,” the Gascon replied, embarrassed. "You know what, d'Artagnan," said Athos, "let's not be cunning with each other. Your silences and evasions explain to me perfectly well on whose behalf you have come here. Such a matter is indeed not something one dares to speak of out loud, and those who are interested in it are recruited quietly, with downcast eyes."

• Ah, my dear Athos! - said d'Artagnan. “You understand,” continued Athos, “that I am not speaking of you, who are the best of all brave and courageous men; I am speaking of that miserly Italian intriguer, that serf who tries to put on his head a crown stolen from under his pillow; that buffoon who calls his party the king’s party, and who locks up princes of the blood because he dares not execute them, as our cardinal, the great cardinal, did; now in his place the money-lender who weighs out the gold, and, clipping the coins, hides the scraps, fearing every moment, in spite of his cheating, to lose the next day; in a word, I am speaking of a scoundrel who, they say, does not care a farthing for the queen. Well, so much the worse for her! This scoundrel will, in three months, provoke a civil war, merely to preserve his income. And this is the man you propose to me to serve, d’Artagnan?” Thank you very much!

• God forbid, but you have become even more hot-tempered than before! - said d'Artagnan. - The years have heated your blood instead of cooling it. Who tells you that I serve this gentleman and incline you to do the same? - cried d'Artagnan. “But in that case, my friend,” replied Athos, “what does your proposal mean?”

“Oh, my God, nothing could be simpler. You live on your own estate, and are apparently perfectly happy in your golden moderation. Porthos has fifty, perhaps sixty thousand livres of income. Aramis still has a dozen and a half duchesses, who are vying with each other for the prelate, as they once vying for the musketeer; he is the eternal darling of fortune. But what am I? For twenty years I have been wearing armor and breeches, and still I sit in the same, and moreover, unenviable, rank, I move neither forward nor backward, I do not live. In a word, I am dead. And now, when I have the opportunity to revive a little, you all raise the cry: “He is a scoundrel! A buffoon! A deceiver! How can one serve such a man?” Eh, take it! I think so myself, but find me someone better, or pay me a pension.

Athos thought for three seconds, and in those three seconds he understood the trick of d'Artagnan, who, having been too presumptuous at first, was now cutting everything off at once in order to conceal his game. He saw clearly that the proposal had been made to him seriously, and would have been set forth in full if he had shown a desire to hear it out.

The life of former musketeers under Cardinal Mazarin.