Fouquet

Also known as: M. Fouquet / Monsieur Fouquet / monsieur le surintendant / the minister / the superintendent · Family: Court · Role: superintendent · First appears: Chapter 2

In chapter 2, Fouquet was linked with Aramis in intrigues involving Colbert, while Porthos was directed to lodgings at Saint-Mande. By chapter 3, Fouquet was Porthos’s friend and patron: after Porthos damaged his previous lodging, Fouquet relocated him and gave him five horses. He later presented Aramis to Louis XIV, secured a promise of a cardinal’s hat for him, and was credited by Aramis with providing livings and a bishopric. At Belle-Isle, Fouquet offered the island to the king as a demonstration of devotion, and through Aramis promised Porthos advancement; Aramis also offered D’Artagnan rank, titles, and wealth in Fouquet’s service.

By chapters 23 and 40–42, Fouquet was associated with Madame Plessis-Belliere in public discussion and remained a friend of Madame de Chevreuse, though she declared that she would use letters from Mazarin against him. The letters were said to accuse Fouquet of taking thirteen million francs from the state, while Louis XIII was described as willing to sacrifice him. Fouquet was Colbert’s enemy, but Vanel, Gourville, Pelisson, and La Fontaine were identified as his friends; Vanel called him “our chief.” Fouquet was also described as courteous and obliging by Anne of Austria, while Pelisson prepared a speech for him and Jean de La Fontaine contributed money on his behalf.

At Saint-Mande in chapters 45–49, Fouquet’s friends raised forty thousand livres toward his debts, including La Fontaine’s eight hundred livres. He agreed to sell his procureur-general post to Vanel for fourteen hundred thousand livres, ordered his valuables packed, and completed the sale despite Aramis’s offer to supply the same sum. Fouquet then paid for Madame de Belliere’s plate and jewels, gave the goldsmith a diamond button, and publicly explained that her displayed valuables represented a generous sacrifice; their relationship was also described as a courtship. He discovered that Mazarin’s receipt had been stolen, and acknowledged that he had appropriated public funds. After signing the sale deed, Fouquet followed Aramis’s direction to prepare an extravagant fête at Vaux, accepted Aramis’s supervision, and invited Louis XIV, who agreed to attend. At the king’s visit, Fouquet revealed that he had sold the office to Vanel, a friend of Colbert.