Twenty Years After Chapter 53 Summary

Selling straw at Saint Germain

D'Artagnan and Porthos turn a quick profit selling straw to exhausted courtiers after the royal flight to Saint Germain, then receive a secret mission from Mazarin.

Summary

The chapter opens with the hurried royal departure from Paris to Saint Germain as the queen delays leaving until her appointed attendants arrive. Despite efforts at secrecy, the news spreads quickly and many nobles follow the royal carriage. At Saint Germain the small court gathers—royalty, princes, dukes and a host of officers—only to find the château poorly prepared with very few beds. Amid cold and fatigue, the queen and Mazarin attend to arrangements while courtiers cluster about, anxious and exhausted.

D'Artagnan and Porthos, placed among the party and searching for rest, hatch a quick scheme: they scout local suppliers and buy up all the straw they can find—four hundred and thirty trusses—and entrust Mousqueton to sell them inside the château at a premium to those desperate for sleep. The venture is a success; D'Artagnan and Porthos split the takings, each clearing two hundred and fifteen louis, while D'Artagnan reserves a few trusses for himself. Before they can fully enjoy their windfall, Mazarin summons them. He offers D'Artagnan money and sends him on a delicate mission to England with secret instructions: carry an envelope to London, find a young gentleman named Mordaunt at the Royal Arms, and obey him. Porthos receives the same summons; both men set off, leaving behind the château and a comical tableau of officers and servants taking turns at the coveted straw beds.

Key events

  1. Royal entourage flees Paris and arrives at Saint Germain in the early morning.
  2. Only three beds in the château; courtiers freeze and need places to sleep.
  3. D'Artagnan and Porthos buy all available straw in town (430 trusses) and arrange Mousqueton to sell it at a high price.
  4. They sell the straw to exhausted courtiers, each clearing 215 louis; D'Artagnan keeps four trusses for himself.
  5. Mazarin summons D'Artagnan and Porthos and sends them on a secret mission to England to find Mordaunt.

Analysis

This chapter blends comedy, practical resourcefulness, and a shift back into political intrigue. The straw episode showcases D'Artagnan's opportunism and Porthos's trusting nature: a brisk small-scale enterprise underlines their pragmatic survival instincts and the social disorder that follows sudden political upheaval. The scene also lampoons courtly dignity—nobles paying high sums for straw to sleep—contrasting aristocratic rank with immediate human need. Narrative technique alternates brisk action and dialogue with a restrained omniscient voice that registers details (prices, counts, gestures) to build realism and humor.

Structurally, the chapter functions as a bridge: it provides a light episodic interlude that humanizes the protagonists while positioning them for renewed service. The abrupt transition from comic profit to a confidential mission broadens the novel's stakes—domestic improvisation gives way to international intrigue. Mazarin's quiet manipulation (ordering the envoy and withholding full instruction until London) illustrates central themes of loyalty and obedience to political masters. Small symbols—the straw as both commodity and comfort, the hat filled with coin—emphasize the merging of material gain and civic duty that characterizes the musketeers' roles in turbulent times.

Important quotes

“I say that she is a hostage for the Parisians," answered the cardinal.”

MazarinMazarin interprets Madame de Longueville's absence at the flight as a deliberate guarantee held by the Parisians, signaling political complexities behind the royal exit.

“Four hundred, at a pistole each, four hundred pistoles.”

D'ArtagnanD'Artagnan quickly calculates the profit from selling straw, revealing his practical cunning and initiating the comic profiteering scheme.

“I am come to fetch you, Monsieur d'Artagnan.”

an officerThis summons interrupts D'Artagnan's revelry and leads directly to Mazarin's secret commission sending him to England.

Characters in Chapter 53

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