The title of Chapter 8, “A Court Intrigue,” characterizes the action of much of this novel. For many of Dumas’s early readers, a court intrigue was as exciting as a salacious story in today’s National Enquirer, or some other gossip tabloid. Court intrigues and gossip have always fascinated many readers-in Dumas’s day as well as in the present.
At the beginning of this chapter, Dumas again emphasizes the motto of the three musketeers; each shares whatever money he has with the others and thus fulfills their motto: “All for one, one for all.” By now, d’Artagnan knows that if any difficulty or need arises, he can count on the three musketeers.
The introduction of Constance Bonacieux begins one of the many sub-plots of the novel. She will move in and out of the action until her untimely death late in the novel. She will be d’Artagnan’s first love, creating resolute loyalty and adoration in the young Gascon.
Chapter 8 ends with the sudden reappearance of the mysterious “man [in a cloak] from Meung,” an appearance which neatly fits the “cloak and dagger” type of novel, another category into which this novel readily belongs.
For d’Artagnan and the three musketeers, the mere fact that a lady who is close to the queen has been abducted is reason enough for them to pledge their talents to solving the mystery of her disappearance. And to facilitate matters, they allow her older husband to be arrested on false charges so that he won’t interfere with their actions (and won’t be bothering d’Artagnan with such “insignificant” matters as the rent). The chapter concludes with their agreeing on the motto, “All for one, one for all.”
