Surgeres

Surgeres, a modest town in the province of Aunis, occupies a strategic position on the route between the royal camp before La Rochelle and Paris. During the autumn of 1628, as the siege of the Huguenot stronghold approached its conclusion, this otherwise unremarkable locality became the stage for a decisive encounter between the young Gascon guardsman d'Artagnan and his formidable antagonist, Cardinal Richelieu. It was at Surgeres that the cardinal, having just received news of the death of his agent Milady, chose to transform d'Artagnan from a hunted man into a lieutenant of the Musketeers, thereby reshaping the balance of power among the king's elite corps.

The King's Halt and the Cardinal's Arrival

On the sixth of November 1628, King Louis XIII, returning to the siege after a brief sojourn in Paris, passed through Surgeres. The cardinal, who had preceded the king to the camp, came to meet his sovereign at this town. The two exchanged numerous caresses, congratulating each other upon the fortunate chance that had freed France from the Duke of Buckingham, whose assassination had just been confirmed. The cardinal, having been informed that d'Artagnan was under arrest and anxious to see him, took leave of the king, inviting him to come the next day to view the work already done upon the dyke at La Rochelle. That evening, returning to his quarters at the bridge of La Pierre, the cardinal found, standing before the house he occupied, d'Artagnan without his sword, accompanied by the three Musketeers Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, all fully armed.

The Confrontation in the Cardinal's Study

Richelieu, well attended, looked at the four friends sternly and made a sign for d'Artagnan to follow him alone. As the young man obeyed, Athos called out loud enough for the cardinal to hear: "We shall wait for you, d'Artagnan." His Eminence bent his brow, stopped for an instant, and then continued on his way without uttering a word. Inside his study, with the door guarded behind them, the cardinal confronted d'Artagnan with the charges against him: corresponding with the enemies of the kingdom, surprising state secrets, and trying to thwart the plans of his general. D'Artagnan, with remarkable calmness, countered by naming Milady de Winter as the source of these accusations, revealing her crimes—bigamy, poisoning, and attempted murder—and declaring that she had already been tried and executed by himself and his friends.

The Cardinal's Pardon and the Lieutenant's Commission

A shudder crept through the cardinal's body at this revelation, but his countenance soon cleared. He accused d'Artagnan of having constituted himself a judge without authority, to which the young man replied that he held a pardon in his pocket—the very safe-conduct the cardinal had given to Milady, which Athos had seized from her. Richelieu read the document, signed in his own hand, and sank into a profound reverie. Slowly, he tore the paper. Then, approaching his table, he wrote a few lines on a parchment already two-thirds filled, affixed his seal, and handed it to d'Artagnan. It was a lieutenant's commission in the Musketeers, with the name left blank. D'Artagnan fell at the cardinal's feet, declaring his life henceforth at his Eminence's disposal, and offering to yield the commission to his more worthy friends. The cardinal, charmed at having vanquished this rebellious nature, replied: "Do with this commission what you will; only remember, though the name be blank, it is to you I give it."

The Reconciliation with Rochefort

Calling for the Chevalier de Rochefort, who had arrested d'Artagnan only the day before, the cardinal presented the two men to each other, declaring that he now received d'Artagnan among the number of his friends and commanding them to greet each other and be wise if they wished to preserve their heads. Rochefort and d'Artagnan coolly greeted each other with their lips, then left the chamber together. Outside, they exchanged words that hinted at a future encounter, but the cardinal's presence kept their enmity in check. D'Artagnan returned to his waiting friends, announcing not only his freedom but his new favor with the cardinal. That same evening, he offered the lieutenant's commission to each of his three friends in turn—Athos, Porthos, and Aramis—but all three refused, insisting that no one was more worthy than himself. Athos finally took a quill, wrote d'Artagnan's name in the commission, and returned it to him, completing the transformation of the young Gascon from a provincial adventurer into an officer of the king's Musketeers.