Love affair between Porthos and Mme. Coquenard

The love affair between Porthos and Mme. Coquenard is a mercenary and comedic relationship in which the vain Musketeer exploits the infatuation of a middle-aged procurator's wife to finance his military equipment, while she, in turn, uses her household's resources to secure his attention, creating a cycle of manipulation, disappointment, and reluctant reconciliation.

Identity and Introduction

Mme. Coquenard is the wife of a wealthy procurator (attorney) of the Chatelet, living in the Rue aux Ours. She is described as being at least fifty years old, rather yellow and dry, but erect and haughty under her black hood. Porthos, a boastful and ostentatious Musketeer, first encounters her in the church of St. Leu, where he deliberately ignores her to flirt with a more attractive woman—a lady with a red cushion, a Negro boy, and a maid—whom he later claims is a duchess. This calculated slight is designed to provoke Mme. Coquenard's jealousy and rekindle her interest after she had refused to lend him money following his injury at Chantilly.

The Bargain and the Dinner

After the church scene, Mme. Coquenard confronts Porthos in the cloister of St. Magloire. Porthos feigns wounded pride, reminding her that he had sacrificed other, more noble connections for her and that she had abandoned him, wounded and starving, at an inn in Chantilly. He then hints that he is about to leave for a campaign and needs an outfit, implying that a wealthy duchess would gladly provide for him. Mme. Coquenard, stung by jealousy and the fear of losing him, proposes a reconciliation. She invites him to dinner at her home, instructing him to pose as her cousin from Noyon in Picardy, who has lawsuits and needs an attorney. The dinner itself is a miserly affair: a thin soup, a scrawny old fowl, and a dish of haricot beans with mutton bones, accompanied by watered-down Montreuil wine. Porthos, expecting a feast, is bitterly disappointed. The meal reveals the true nature of the Coquenard household—parsimonious despite its wealth—and sets the stage for Porthos's more aggressive demands.

The Financial Negotiation

Following the disappointing dinner, Mme. Coquenard takes Porthos into a private room to discuss his equipment. Porthos inflates the cost, claiming he needs two thousand five hundred livres, though he could manage with two thousand. Mme. Coquenard, horrified, begins to bargain. She offers to procure a horse through a client who is a horse dealer, and a mule for his lackey Mousqueton. Porthos insists on a well-filled valise, not an empty one. The negotiation concludes with Mme. Coquenard agreeing to provide eight hundred livres in cash, a horse, and a mule. However, the horse dealer cheats them, substituting a broken-down yellow pony and a sorry mule for the promised Spanish genet and Andalusian mule. When Porthos discovers the fraud, he is furious and returns the animals to the procurator's door, leading to a heated argument in the cloister of St. Magloire. Mme. Coquenard, fearing she has lost him, finally capitulates and promises to make amends, arranging a private meeting that evening when her husband is away.

The Resolution and Aftermath

Porthos's scheme ultimately succeeds. Through a combination of emotional manipulation, feigned indifference, and the threat of turning to wealthier patrons, he extracts the necessary funds from Mme. Coquenard. The relationship is transactional at its core: she provides the money and goods for his military career, and he provides the illusion of romantic attachment and the prestige of a Musketeer's attention. In the end, Porthos obtains his magnificent equipment, including a handsome Spanish genet, and Mme. Coquenard is left to hope for his return. The epilogue reveals that after the siege of La Rochelle, Porthos leaves the service and marries Mme. Coquenard following her husband's death, inheriting a coffer containing eight hundred thousand livres. The affair, which began as a scheme for a soldier's outfit, culminates in a marriage of convenience that secures Porthos's fortune.