that's what SHE said

[topaz]

I had no idea that Dumas could be so, well, juvenile:

Milady was no longer for him that woman of fatal intentions who had for a moment terrified him; she was an ardent, passionate mistress, abandoning herself to love which she also seemed to feel. Two hours thus glided away. When the transports of the two lovers were calmer, Milady, who had not the same motives for forgetfulness that d'Artagnan had, was the first to return to reality, and asked the young man if the means which were on the morrow to bring on the encounter between him and de Wardes were already arranged in his mind.

But d'Artagnan, whose ideas had taken quite another course, forgot himself like a fool, and answered gallantly that it was too late to think about duels and sword thrusts.

Oh yeah, I bet it was.

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Comments

[lhn.livejournal.com]

The Musketeers are cheerfully amoral, while their antagonists generally aren't so cheerful. (Though Richelieu, who tends to be treated as the main villain in adaptations, is striking in how little he holds a grudge.) It is striking how absent anything a modern reader would recognize as heroism is from the prototype swashbuckler. (One reason I like Steven Brust's Phoenix Guards series better than the original.)