3 October 1628

October 3, 1628, is the date of the grand ball at the Hotel de Ville in Paris, the climactic public event at which Queen Anne of Austria, wearing the diamond studs that Cardinal Richelieu had schemed to prove she had given to the Duke of Buckingham, triumphs over the cardinal's plot and vindicates her honor, thanks to d'Artagnan's successful mission to London.

Background and Preparation

The ball was organized by the aldermen of the city of Paris for the king and queen, and the king's favorite ballet, La Merlaison, was to be danced. Eight days were spent in preparations: city carpenters erected scaffolds for the invited ladies, the city grocer decorated the chambers with two hundred flambeaux of white wax, a luxury unheard of at the period, and twenty violins were ordered at double the usual rate, on condition that they should be played all night. At ten in the morning, the Sieur de la Coste, ensign in the king's Guards, demanded all the keys of the rooms and offices of the hotel from the city registrar, Clement. At eleven, Captain Duhallier arrived with fifty archers, who were distributed through the Hotel de Ville. At three o'clock, two companies of the Guards, one French and one Swiss, arrived; the French company was composed of half of M. Duhallier's men and half of M. Dessessart's men. At six in the evening, the guests began to come, and were placed in the grand saloon on the platforms prepared for them. At nine, Madame la Premiere Presidente arrived and was placed in a box opposite the queen's. At ten, the king's collation was prepared in the little room on the side of the church of St. Jean. At midnight, the king arrived, passing through streets illuminated with colored lanterns, and was met by the aldermen in their cloth robes. The king apologized for coming late, blaming the cardinal, who had detained him till eleven o'clock talking of affairs of state. The king was accompanied by his royal Highness, M. le Comte de Soissons, the Grand Prior, the Duc de Longueville, the Duc d'Euboeuf, the Comte d'Harcourt, the Comte de la Roche-Guyon, M. de Liancourt, M. de Baradas, the Comte de Cramail, and the Chevalier de Souveray. Everyone noticed that the king looked dull and preoccupied. A private room had been prepared for the king and another for Monsieur, each containing masquerade dresses, and the same had been done for the queen and Madame the President. Before entering his closet, the king desired to be informed the moment the cardinal arrived.

The Queen's Entrance and the Cardinal's Gambit

Half an hour after the king's entrance, fresh acclamations announced the arrival of the queen. The aldermen advanced to receive her. The queen entered the great hall, and it was remarked that she, like the king, looked dull and even weary. At the moment she entered, the curtain of a small gallery that had been closed was drawn, and the pale face of the cardinal appeared, dressed as a Spanish cavalier. His eyes were fixed upon those of the queen, and a smile of terrible joy passed over his lips; the queen did not wear her diamond studs. The queen remained for a short time to receive compliments, when all at once the king appeared with the cardinal at one of the doors of the hall. The cardinal was speaking to him in a low voice, and the king was very pale. The king made his way through the crowd without a mask, the ribbons of his doublet scarcely tied, and went straight to the queen. In an altered voice, he demanded why she had not thought proper to wear her diamond studs, when she knew it would give him so much gratification. The queen cast a glance around her and saw the cardinal behind, with a diabolical smile on his countenance. She replied falteringly that in the midst of such a crowd she feared some accident might happen to them. The king, his voice tremulous with anger, told her she was wrong and that if he made her that present it was that she might adorn herself therewith. The queen said she could send for them to the Louvre, where they were. The king commanded her to do so at once, for within an hour the ballet would commence. The queen bent in token of submission and followed the ladies to her room. The king returned to his apartment. There was a moment of trouble and confusion in the assembly; everyone had remarked that something had passed between the king and queen, but both had spoken so low that nobody had heard anything. The violins began to sound with all their might, but nobody listened to them.

The Triumph

The king came out first from his room in a most elegant hunting costume, and Monsieur and the other nobles were dressed like him. The cardinal drew near to the king and placed in his hand a small casket. The king opened it and found two diamond studs. The cardinal said that if the queen had the studs, which he very much doubted, the king should count them, and if he only found ten, ask her Majesty who could have stolen from her the two studs that were there. The king looked at the cardinal as if to interrogate him, but had no time to address any question to him, for a cry of admiration burst from every mouth. The queen appeared in the habit of a huntress, wearing a beaver hat with blue feathers, a surtout of gray-pearl velvet fastened with diamond clasps, and a petticoat of blue satin embroidered with silver. On her left shoulder sparkled the diamond studs, on a bow of the same color as the plumes and the petticoat. The king trembled with joy and the cardinal with vexation, although, distant as they were from the queen, they could not count the studs. The queen had them; the only question was, had she ten or twelve? The violins sounded the signal for the ballet. The king advanced toward Madame the President, with whom he was to dance, and his Highness Monsieur with the queen. They took their places, and the ballet began. The king danced facing the queen, and every time he passed by her, he devoured with his eyes those studs of which he could not ascertain the number. A cold sweat covered the brow of the cardinal. The ballet lasted an hour and had sixteen entrées. When it ended, the king took advantage of the privilege he had of leaving his lady to advance eagerly toward the queen. He thanked her for the deference she had shown to his wishes, but said he thought she wanted two of the studs, and he brought them back to her. With these words he held out to the queen the two studs the cardinal had given him. The queen, affecting surprise, said he was giving her two more, so she would have fourteen. The king counted them, and the twelve studs were all on her Majesty's shoulder. The king called the cardinal and asked him what this meant. The cardinal replied that he was desirous of presenting her Majesty with these two studs, and that not daring to offer them himself, he had adopted this means of inducing her to accept them. The queen, with a smile that proved she was not the dupe of this ingenious gallantry, said she was the more grateful to his Eminence from being certain that these two studs alone had cost him as much as all the others cost his Majesty. Then, saluting the king and the cardinal, she resumed her way to the chamber in which she had dressed.

Aftermath and Significance

The queen's triumph was complete. The cardinal's plot to expose her supposed infidelity to the king had been foiled by d'Artagnan's successful journey to London to retrieve the studs from Buckingham. The ball at the Hotel de Ville thus became the stage for the resolution of the central political and romantic intrigue of the novel's first half. The attention of the reader is drawn to d'Artagnan, who, confounded, unknown, and lost in the crowd gathered at one of the doors, looked on at this scene comprehensible only to four persons: the king, the queen, his Eminence, and himself. After the queen regained her chamber, d'Artagnan was about to retire when he felt his shoulder lightly touched by Mme. Bonacieux, who led him to a closet attached to the queen's apartment. There, a hand and arm, surpassingly beautiful in their form and whiteness, glided through the tapestry. D'Artagnan cast himself on his knees, seized the hand, and touched it respectfully with his lips. The hand was withdrawn, leaving in his an object he perceived to be a ring. The door immediately closed, and d'Artagnan found himself again in complete obscurity. The ball thus not only marked the queen's public vindication but also the private reward of d'Artagnan's devotion.