This sequel to Dumas' “Marguerite de Valois” begins four years after the sudden death of King Charles IX and succession of his brother Henry III. The reign of King Henry III was plagued with rebellion and political intrigue due to the War of the Three Henries, where his regency was challenged by King Henry of Navarre (leader of the Huguenots) and Henry I, Duke of Guise (leader of the Catholic League). Dumas weaves two main storylines through this turbulent backdrop: one of the love ignited between le Comte de Bussy and la Dame de Monsoreau, and another of the friendship between King Henry III and his truly unique jester, Chicot (Jean-Antoine d'Anglerais). - Summary by jvanstan
Chapters
1 The wedding of St. Luc 25 min 2 How it is not always he who opens the door, who enters the house 14 min 3 How it is sometimes difficult to distinguish a dream from the reality 10 min 4 How Madame de St. Luc had passed the night 9 min 5 How Madame de St. Luc passed the second night of her marriage 10 min 6 Le petite coucher of Henri III 9 min 7 How, without anyone knowing why, the king was converted before the next day 10 min 8 How the king was afraid of being afraid 11 min 9 How the angel made a mistake and spoke to Chicot, thinking it was the king 9 min 10 How Bussy went to seek for the reality of his dream 13 min 11 M. Bryan de Monsoreau 21 min 12 How Bussy found both the portrait and the original 9 min 13 Who Diana was 26 min 14 The treaty 14 min 15 The marriage 11 min 16 The marriage (continued) 11 min 17 How Henri III. traveled, and how long it took him to get from Paris to Fontainebleau 8 min 18 Brother Gorenflot 18 min 19 How Chicot found out that it was easier to go in than out of the abbey 11 min 20 How Chicot, forced to remain in the abbey, saw and heard things very dangerous to see and hear 21 min 21 How Chicot learned genealogy 10 min 22 How M. and Madame de St. Luc met with a traveling companion 10 min 23 The old man 11 min 24 How Remy-le-Haudouin had, in Bussy's absence, established a communication with the Rue St. Antione 6 min 25 The father and daughter 10 min 26 How Brother Gorenflot awoke, and the reception he met with at his convent 8 min 27 How Brother Gorenflot remained convinced that he was a somnambulist, and bitterly deplored this infirmity 7 min 28 How Brother Gorenflot traveled upon an ass, named Panurge, and learned many things he did not know before 6 min 29 How Brother Gorenflot changed his ass for a mule, and his mule for a horse 6 min 30 How Chicot and his companion installed themselves at the Hotel of the Cross, and how they were received by the host 7 min 31 How the monk confessed the advocate, and the advocate the monk 11 min 32 How Chicot used his sword 11 min 33 How the Duc D'Anjou learned that Diana was not dead 9 min 34 How Chicot returned to the Louvre, and was received by the King Henri III 9 min 35 What passed between M. de Monsoreau and the Duke 10 min 36 Chicot and the King 10 min 37 What M. de Guise came to do at the Louvre 6 min 38 Castor and Pollux 11 min 39 In which it is proved that listening is the best way to hear 8 min 40 The evening of the League 7 min 41 The Rue de la Ferronnerie 9 min 42 The Prince and the friend 9 min 43 Etymology of the Rue de la Jussienne 11 min 44 How D'Epernon had his doublet torn, and how Chomberg was stained blue 9 min 45 Chicot more than ever King of France 11 min 46 How Chicot paid a visit to Bussy, and what followed 12 min 47 The chess of M. Chicot, and the cup and ball of M. Quelus 8 min 48 The reception of the chiefs of The League 8 min 49 How the King annexed a chief who was neither the Duc de Guise nor M. D'Anjou 9 min 50 Eteocles and Polynices 11 min 51 How people do not always lose their time by searching empty drawers 8 min 52 Ventre St. Gris 7 min 53 The friends 7 min 54 Bussy and Diana 10 min 55 How Bussy was offered three hundred pistoles for his horse, and parted with him for nothing 6 min 56 The diplomacy of the Duc D'Anjou 8 min 57 The ideas of the Duc D'Anjou 16 min 58 A flight of Angevins 7 min 59 Roland 5 min 60 What M. de Monsoreau came to announce 5 min 61 How the King learned the flight of his beloved brother, and what followed 9 min 62 How, as Chicot and the Queen Mother were agreed, the King began to agree with them 9 min 63 In which it is proved that gratitude was one of St. Luc's virtues 9 min 64 The project of M. de St. Luc 9 min 65 How M. de St. Luc showed M. de Monsoreau the trust that the King had taught him 7 min 66 In which we see the Queen Mother enter the town of Angers, but not triumphantly 7 min 67 Little causes and great effects 8 min 68 How M. de Monsoreau opened and shut his eyes, which proved that he was not dead 8 min 69 How M. le Duc D'Anjou went to Meridor to congratulate Madame de Monsoreau on the death of her husband, and found him there before him 9 min 70 The inconvenience of large litters and narrow doors 8 min 71 What temper the King was in when St. Luc reappeared at the Louvre 6 min 72 In which we meet two important personages whom we have lost sight of for some time 5 min 73 Diana's second journey to Paris 7 min 74 How the ambassador of the Duc D'Anjou arrived at the Louvre, and the reception he met with 6 min 75 Which is only the end of the preceding one 6 min 76 How M. de St. Luc acquitted himself of the commission given to him by Bussy 8 min 77 In what respect M. de St. Luc was more civilized than M. de Bussy, the lessons which he gave him, and the use which M. de Bussy made of them 7 min 78 The Precautions of M. de Monsoreau 8 min 79 A visit to the house at Les Tournelles 9 min 80 The watchers 10 min 81 How M. le Duc D'Anjou signed, and after having signed, spoke 17 min 82 A promenade at the Tournelles 4 min 83 In which Chicot sleeps 5 min 84 Where Chicot wakes 9 min 85 The Fete Dieu 9 min 86 Which will elucidate the previous chapter 13 min 87 The procession 7 min 88 Chicot the First 8 min 89 Interest and capital 8 min 90 What was passing near the Bastille while Chicot was paying his debt to Y. de Mayenne 7 min 91 The assassination 19 min 92 How Brother Gorenflot found himself more than ever between a gallows and an abbey 9 min 93 Where Chicot guesses why D'Epernon had blood on his feet and none in his cheeks 8 min 94 The morning of the combat 5 min 95 The friends of Bussy 9 min 96 The combat 6 min 97 The end 11 min
