Rochefort

Also known as: Comte de Rochefort / Count de Rochefort / De Rochefort / Monsieur de Rochefort / my dear count / the gardener / the peasant · Family: Richelieu’s faction · Role: prisoner · First appears: Chapter 3

Rochefort, a prisoner of Richelieu’s faction, was held in the Bastile after refusing the queen’s Brussels mission. He remained a faithful servant of Richelieu, while Anne of Austria regarded him as an enemy. When Mazarin offered him the task of guarding the imprisoned Duc de Beaufort at Vincennes, Rochefort refused because “Because Monsieur de Beaufort is one of my friends, or rather, I am one of his.” Mazarin consequently ordered him back to the Bastile. Rochefort had a history of friendship and enmity with D’Artagnan, who had once led the men who saved the queen and who was also his captor.

In 1648, Planchet helped Rochefort escape captivity by turning the crowd against his escort, and by chapter 7 Rochefort was at liberty and preparing to tour the country. He later worked secretly outside Vincennes as a gardener, where Duc de Beaufort discovered that “The peasant, the gardener, was Rochefort, whom he believed to be in the Bastile.” Rochefort secretly arranged the duke’s deliverance through Noirmont, helped him escape at full gallop, and was later met by him outside the prison.

At the Rue Cassette, Monsieur de Retz summoned Rochefort as a possible leader of revolt. He secured fifty soldiers from Chevalier d’Humières, worked with Gondy to recall Duc de Beaufort and establish a rally signal, and opposed Maréchal de la Meilleraie at the Pont Neuf with his horsemen and Planchet’s halberdiers. Planchet’s role in Rochefort’s escape increased his own popularity; Rochefort also remained connected with Porthos, once an enemy and later a friend. At chapter 77 he embraced Athos and Aramis, but during the insurgent attack in chapter 89 D’Artagnan fatally wounded him.