Comte de Rochefort
| Comte de Rochefort | |
|---|---|
| d'Artagnan Romances character | |
| First appearance | The Three Musketeers |
| Last appearance | Twenty Years After |
| Created by | Alexandre Dumas |
| Information | |
| Aliases | "Man from Meung" |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Spy, messenger |
| Title | Cardinal's écurie |
| Nationality | French |
The Comte de Rochefort is a secondary fictional character in Alexandre Dumas' d'Artagnan Romances. He is described as "around forty or forty-five" in 1625 and "fair with a scar across his cheek".
Known throughout the novel as "The Man from Meung", his first appearance is in the opening chapter of The Three Musketeers (1844). He insults d'Artagnan and steals his letter of recommendation to Monsieur de Tréville, causing d'Artagnan to swear revenge.
He reappears from time to time as the story progresses. D'Artagnan regularly sees Rochefort and tries to catch him, but each time Rochefort skilfully vanishes into the street crowds of Paris. D'Artagnan does not meet him again or learn his name until the end of the novel. It is Rochefort who kidnaps Constance Bonacieux, and we eventually learn that he is the other main agent (in addition to Milady de Winter) of Cardinal Richelieu. He is sent by Richelieu to escort Milady de Winter in some of her missions. At the end of the novel, Rochefort tries to arrest d'Artagnan for the cardinal; Richelieu eventually orders the men to become friends. In the Epilogue, we learn that Rochefort, and an older and wiser d'Artagnan, fought on three occasions (all duels being won by d'Artagnan), settled their differences and became friends.
Rochefort reappears in the sequel, Twenty Years After. After falling out of favor with Richelieu's successor Mazarin, he spends five years in the Bastille. When Mazarin dismisses him from service for being too old, he joins the side of the Frondeurs. He aids Athos in freeing the Duke of Beaufort, and reappears in the end at the riot against Mazarin's return. Unable to recognize his friend in the chaos, d'Artagnan kills Rochefort, as he had predicted he would if they fought a fourth time.
The Comte de Rochefort was the subject of an earlier novel, Mémoires de M.L.C.D.R. (Memoirs of Monsieur Le Comte de Rochefort) written in 1678 by Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras. Courtilz de Sandras also wrote Mémoires de M. d'Artagnan (1700). Dumas combined the two, replacing an aristocrat named Rosnay from the d'Artagnan story with the Comte de Rochefort.
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