Jolly Miller

The Jolly Miller, the inn at Meung where d'Artagnan first stops on his journey from Gascony to Paris, is the stage for the young man's initial, humiliating defeat and the place where he first crosses paths with the man who will become his nemesis, the Comte de Rochefort. It is here that the central conflicts of the novel are seeded: d'Artagnan's quest for vengeance, his entanglement with the cardinal's agents, and his first, fateful sight of the beautiful and dangerous Milady.

Setting and First Encounter

On the first Monday of April 1625, the market town of Meung is in an uproar, with citizens gathering before the Jolly Miller. The cause of the commotion is the arrival of a young man on a ridiculous yellow Bearn pony. This is d'Artagnan, whose comical steed draws the mockery of a gentleman at the inn's window. The stranger, a man of forty to forty-five with black, piercing eyes and a scar on his temple, makes a knowing remark about the horse, provoking d'Artagnan's fiery Gascon temper. The young man challenges him, but the stranger's two companions and the host set upon d'Artagnan with sticks, shovels, and tongs, breaking his sword and knocking him unconscious.

Theft of the Letter and a Glimpse of Milady

While d'Artagnan lies senseless, the host and his servants search his belongings, finding only a clean shirt, eleven crowns, and a letter of recommendation addressed to Monsieur de Treville, captain of the king's Musketeers. The stranger, learning of the letter, becomes thoughtful and descends to the kitchen, where d'Artagnan's doublet is. The letter subsequently disappears. When d'Artagnan recovers, he accuses the host of theft, but the host deflects blame onto the stranger. As d'Artagnan is being forced to leave, he sees his antagonist speaking at the step of a carriage. Inside is a beautiful, pale, fair-haired woman of about twenty-two, whom the stranger addresses as "Milady." He gives her a box, instructing her not to open it until she is on the other side of the Channel, and orders her to return to England and inform him as soon as the Duke of Buckingham leaves London. D'Artagnan, overhearing this, rushes out to confront the stranger again, but the man and the carriage depart in opposite directions, leaving the young man to collapse in the street, crying "Coward!"

Aftermath and Significance

The Jolly Miller is thus the crucible where d'Artagnan's Parisian adventure is forged in failure. He loses his father's letter, the key to his advancement, and gains a powerful enemy in the man of Meung, later revealed to be the Comte de Rochefort, the cardinal's agent. The inn also provides his first, tantalizing glimpse of the courtly intrigues that will define his life, as he witnesses the secret communication between Rochefort and Milady, a woman whose beauty and mystery will haunt him. The innkeeper, having lost two customers, consoles himself with the eleven crowns remaining in d'Artagnan's purse, a sum that underscores the young man's poverty and his desperate need for the lost letter. The Jolly Miller, then, is not merely a setting but a catalyst, a place where the provincial youth is stripped of his illusions and thrust into a world of conspiracy, violence, and dangerous beauty.