# Wherein May Be Seen That a Bargain Which Cannot Be Made with One Person, Can Be Carried Out with Another explained — The Vicomte de Bragelonne

> Chapter companion for The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas.

## What happens

Madame de Chevreuse visits Colbert at his residence to sell compromising letters from Cardinal Mazarin that incriminate Fouquet. After bargaining, she sells the letters for a hundred thousand crowns and arranges to be admitted to the queen disguised as a Béguine.

## Themes in this chapter

### Court Intrigue and Deception

Madame de Chevreuse and Colbert engage in a secret bargain involving incriminating letters and a disguised audience with the queen.

### Greed and Corruption

Colbert pays a large sum for letters that could ruin Fouquet, demonstrating the corrupt use of financial and political power.

### Power and Ambition

Colbert's ambition to become superintendent drives him to purchase the letters and orchestrate Fouquet's downfall.

## Character check-ins

### Madame de Chevreuse

Sells Mazarin's letters to Colbert and negotiates a secret audience with the queen.

### Jean-Baptiste Colbert

Purchases the incriminating letters and arranges for Chevreuse's disguised entry to the queen.

### Nicolas Fouquet

Target of the conspiracy; the letters implicate him in embezzlement.

### Jules Mazarin

Deceased cardinal whose letters are used as evidence against Fouquet.

### Anne of Austria

The queen whom Chevreuse seeks to visit under disguise.

## Key lines

> I mean, Monsieur, that holding this opportunity in my own hands, I will not allow it to be transferred to yours except for a sum of five hundred thousand francs.

Madame de Chevreuse insists that the incriminating letters will only be sold for half a million francs.

_Chevreuse sets a high price for the letters, initiating the bargaining._

> Here, Madame, then, is your letter of introduction.

Colbert gives Chevreuse a letter to gain entry to the queen under the guise of a Béguine.

_Colbert arranges Chevreuse's disguised audience with the queen to avoid being implicated._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_vicomte_de_bragelonne_se/chapters/181-wherein-may-be-seen-that-a-bargain-which-cannot-be-made-with-one-person-can-be-carried-out-with-another
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_vicomte_de_bragelonne_se
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