When the queen is instructed to wear her diamond tags to the ball, she is also told that it was the cardinal who proposed having the ball. Constance quickly realizes that the idea of her wearing the diamond tags was also the cardinal’s idea. As a consequence, she knows that the cardinal has a spy among one of her ladies-in-waiting, but she does not know which one. Therefore, when Constance Bonacieux appears from the closet, where she has been tending to the linen, she could have overheard the conversation between the queen and the king; therefore, the queen is not sure, at first, if she can trust Constance. But after Constance’s protestations of loyalty and her reminder that she is the person who brought Buckingham to her, the queen is finally convinced that she can trust Constance. Now we can see that these earlier episodes function as a basis for Constance’s loyalty and are proof that the cardinal is indeed a powerful enemy of the queen.
In a similar way, we can now look back at other scenes. For example, when we read that Constance Bonacieux discovered that her husband was a cardinalist—totally devoted to and committed to the cardinal—we realize now how the cardinal used his interview with Constance’s stupid husband in order to gain another loyal adherent. Dumas closes Chapter 18 with a brilliant stroke of irony: the old miser Bonacieux is howling for his missing money. D’Artagnan’s trip to London will be financed by money which the cardinal gave to Bonacieux.
Clearly, Dumas delights in d’Artagnan’s heroics. In the scene where Constance is in despair, fearing that the mission for the queen is doomed to fail, Dumas uses the romantic device of having d’Artagnan overhear the entire conversation between Constance and her husband; then, suddenly and romantically, d’Artagnan presents himself as her rescuer and savior. The queen’s honor can be preserved.
Note too how Dumas uses a combination of circumstances in order for d’Artagnan to be fully characterized as the romantic hero: he is in the right place at the right time and overhears the right kind of intrigue so that he can become involved in the affairs of great people. Dumas also stresses that it is d’Artagnan’s plan for the mission that the older, more experienced musketeers finally accept. D’Artagnan is younger than the other men, but already he seems to have a natural talent for intrigue and adventure; in fact, Buckingham will later marvel at d’Artagnan’s being so young, yet so dashing, brave, and inventive.
