Twenty Years After Chapter 4 Summary

Anne of Austria at Forty-six

Mazarin visits Queen Anne secretly, confronts her about past loyalties, and she proves her innocence and asks help for d'Artagnan.

Summary

Mazarin enters the queen's private apartments through a secret passage and finds Anne of Austria in her oratory with the young Louis XIV. The king shows obvious dislike for Mazarin and abruptly leaves for bed; Mazarin uses the moment alone with the queen to press her about loyalties at court. He complains that the princes and grandees secretly conspire against his authority and insists Anne share with him the names and help of her old friends.

Anne resists at first but recalls those who supported her in the Richelieu years. When Mazarin hints that she may have been compromised by her past ties to Buckingham, Anne produces a small rosewood coffer containing two letters and the rusted knife taken from Buckingham's wound. She offers Mazarin proof that she was not Buckingham's lover and reveals that D'Artagnan once aided her, even selling a diamond she later reclaimed; she asks Mazarin to restore that diamond to D'Artagnan and to use his service. Mazarin, reassured by the documents, apologizes for suspicion and departs, promising to return, while Anne kisses the sleeping king and urges Laporte to make Louis more courteous toward the cardinal.

Key events

  1. Mazarin reaches the queen's apartment via a secret corridor and finds Anne with the young king.
  2. Louis XIV shows evident dislike for Mazarin and refuses to acknowledge him; Mazarin interprets this as frankness.
  3. Mazarin accuses Anne of withdrawing her old friends and hints at political conspiracies among princes.
  4. He suggests she had improper ties to Buckingham; Anne produces a coffer with letters and the knife.
  5. Mazarin examines the relics, reads the letters, accepts her oath of innocence, and asks forgiveness.
  6. Anne reveals D'Artagnan's past service and asks Mazarin to return a diamond and make use of D'Artagnan.
  7. Mazarin leaves, promising to return; Anne kisses the sleeping king and asks Laporte to smooth relations.

Analysis

This chapter performs several functions: it advances the political tension between Mazarin and the royal household, deepens Anne's characterization as proud yet vulnerable, and reminds readers of past adventures that bind disparate characters. The private setting — a secret corridor, an oratory, a hidden coffer — underlines themes of secrecy, loyalty, and reputation. Mazarin's mixture of flattery, jealousy, and political calculation illuminates his manipulative skill: he presses Anne not only for personal reassurance but to recruit her former allies to shore up his precarious position.

Anne's dramatic production of the coffer and relics is both literal proof and symbolic: the rusted knife and blood-stained letter are physical testimonies that settle a rumor threatening her honor. The scene also reactivates narrative threads (D'Artagnan's past service, Buckingham's death) to connect this novel to earlier events and characters. D'Artagnan is invoked as a loyal, practical man whose sacrifice (selling a jewel to save a mission) becomes a lever for Mazarin to gain a useful agent. The chapter balances intimate emotion and high political stakes, using a quiet, domestic encounter to reveal court intrigues and set up future alliances, while employing tangible objects as tokens of truth and obligation.

Important quotes

“The whole world conspires to break our bonds.”

MazarinMazarin declares the scale of opposition pressuring his relationship with the queen and argues that even she is deserting him.

“D’Artagnan! stop an instant, the name seems certainly familiar. D’Artagnan! there was a musketeer who was in love with one of my women.”

Anne of AustriaAnne, startled by Mazarin's question, searches memory and recalls a musketeer who once served her, linking to past events and D'Artagnan's role.

Characters in Chapter 4

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