read for LibriVox 6yJofm Van Stan 


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Volume 3 of The d'Artagnan Romances is divided into three parts. The first begins in 

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1660, ten years after Volume 2, with d’Artagnan as Lieutenant of the King’s 

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Musketeers. In this post, he is very near to achieving his dream (becoming Captain) 

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and even nearer to his King, being young Louis XIV’s personal guard. Seeing first-hand 
how powerless the child King was, d’Artagnan resigns his illustrious, but dull, post to 
turn his sharp wit and sword toward another ambitious aim: restoration of the English 

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monarchy. To the joy of France, Cardinal Mazarin dies, leaving a power vacuum that 

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pulls at the ill-fated ambitions of the rich and powerful, Nicolas Fouquet. To combat 

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Fouquet’s ambitions and wrench the nation back from the brink of bankruptcy, young 

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Louis XIV takes the Cardinal’s dying advice and leagues with the economic and 

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sociopolitical reformist, Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Unfortunately, “The Inseparables” 

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again find each other on different sides of the power struggle: Aramis and Porthos 

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with Fouquet, but d’Artagnan and Athos with the King and Colbert. As d’Artagnan 


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advises King Louis XIV, “The reign of Mazarin is over, but that of the financiers is 

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begun. They have the money; your majesty will not often see much of it. To live under 

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the paw of these hungry wolves is hard.” - Summary by jvanstan 

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Read by John Van de Stan. 

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This recording is in the public domain and may be reproduced, distributed, or 

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modified without permission. For more information or to volunteer, visit librivox.org. 

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Cover picture by Jules Huyot (1894). Copyright expired in U.S., Canada, EU. and all 

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countries with author’s life +70 yrs laws. Cover design by Annise. This design is in 

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the public domain. 

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