Lord de Winter

Also known as: De Winter / my lord · Family: English · Role: lord · First appears: Chapter 12

Lord de Winter is an English lord who was known to Planchet through the letter Planchet carried to him at the siege of La Rochelle, and who was in high favor with Charles I. By chapter 36, he arrives at the Carmelite Convent with a letter from Charles I for Madame Henrietta, who receives him as a devoted friend. At the palace, Henrietta Maria takes the hand of the isolated De Winter, and Madame Henrietta entrusts him with her diamond cross and order of St. Michael for his expedition.

De Winter travels with his servant Tony, seeks out his friend D’Artagnan, and arranges to visit Athos—the Comte de la Fère—to obtain a definite reply. He thanks Aramis and Athos in his own name and Madame Henrietta’s, while Oliver Cromwell has annexed his income resources. His dealings with Milady are hostile: she is his sister, and he states that she arranged the stabbing of the Duke of Buckingham, poisoned a young woman at Bethune, and attempted further murders.

In chapter 40, Mordaunt reveals that Milady was his mother and accuses De Winter of murdering her and taking his inheritance: “My lord, what have you done with your sister—your sister, who was my mother?” Mordaunt vows to summon De Winter and the other accomplices to account, but delays killing him so he can discover them. De Winter reveals that Mordaunt is present, then meets Athos and Aramis at Boulogne; after Mordaunt identifies himself as De Winter’s nephew, a monk, and Oliver Cromwell’s secretary, De Winter sails with Athos and Aramis toward Hastings. Later, De Winter is remembered by Athos and Aramis for introducing them to Madame Henrietta, by Parry as the name he had used for the man in the king’s tent, and by Senor Perez, who recalls him with regard; Queen Anne of Austria’s diamond order is also associated with him.