Twenty Years After Chapter 18 Summary

Summary

Grimaud presents himself at the donjon of Vincennes and is examined by Monsieur de Chavigny and La Ramee, who are impressed by his taciturn, steady manner and hire him as a keeper for the Duke of Beaufort. Grimaud immediately adopts a harsh, seemingly officious approach: he confiscates the duke's leaden comb and a shard of glass, forbids pointed instruments, and intercepts a conversation the duke tries to have with another guard. His silent, imperturbable behavior irritates and puzzles the prisoner and amuses La Ramee and the other keepers.

The duke amuses himself by planning a mock execution of a crawfish as an effigy of Cardinal Mazarin; Grimaud thwarts La Ramee's attempt to destroy the gallows by calmly seizing the crawfish and pocketing it. This petty persecution increases the duke's hatred, but a single surprising shift overturns that feeling: Grimaud produces a sealed note from Madame de Montbazon — Marie de Montbazon — which promises that the young man has consented to enter the keeper's service to prepare and assist the duke's escape. The duke is overwhelmed with hope; Grimaud confirms the plan with gestures, refuses payment beyond a stated acceptance earlier, and asks only that the duke maintain an outward detestation of him so the deception will hold. La Ramee returns and, unaware of the secret, banters about the duke's situation and departs for a brief errand, while the duke, now trusting Grimaud, rereads the letter and anticipates the coming attempt at freedom.

Key events

1. Grimaud is examined by Monsieur de Chavigny and hired by La Ramee as a keeper.
2. Grimaud confiscates the duke's leaden comb, stating 'Pointed' to justify it.
3. The duke constructs a mock gallows to hang a crawfish representing Mazarin; Grimaud intervenes and pockets the crawfish.
4. Grimaud repeatedly thwarts the duke's private conversations and provokes his anger, maintaining silent, weird manners.
5. Grimaud presents a sealed note from Madame de Montbazon revealing he is actually aiding an escape plot.
6. Grimaud outlines the escape plan by gesture and refuses direct payment, asking only that the duke outwardly detest him.

Analysis

This chapter establishes Grimaud as a key instrument of hidden loyalty and covert resistance. His initial role appears to be a petty persecutor, which creates dramatic irony: the duke and La Ramee accept one reading of his behavior while the reader gradually sees the deeper purpose. The chapter uses contrast — Grimaud's muteness and economy of speech against the duke's theatricality and La Ramee's garrulousness — to shape character and tension. Grimaud's silent gestures, a single word answers like "Pointed," and the dramatic reveal of Madame de Montbazon's letter highlight narrative technique that favors actions and props (comb, glass, crawfish, note) over expository speech.

Themes of loyalty, disguise, and theatricality are foregrounded. Grimaud's insistence that the duke continue to detest him turns social performance into a strategic necessity: hatred becomes camouflage for fidelity. The crawfish gallows episode satirizes political vengeance (Mazarin personified by a red crustacean) and reveals how confinement spurs childish inventions; yet it also functions as a test of obedience and control that Grimaud manipulates. The chapter foreshadows an organized escape without revealing details, advancing plot while deepening reader trust in secret networks (Madame de Montbazon, Athos's influence in Grimaud's manners). Structurally, it acts as a hinge: from confinement and petty torments toward a nascent plan for liberation.

Important quotes

“My Dear Duke,—You may entirely confide in the brave lad who will give you this note; he has consented to enter the service of your keeper and to shut himself up at Vincennes with you, in order to prepare and assist your escape, which we are contriving.”

Madame de Montbazon (in letter)The sealed note from Madame de Montbazon reveals Grimaud's true purpose and transforms the duke's hatred into hopeful trust.

Characters in Chapter 18

• Grimaud
• Monsieur de Chavigny
• La Ramee
• Duke of Beaufort
• Madame de Montbazon
• Cardinal Mazarin
• guards
• Athos