The insidious milady is on the way to the Musketeers. The real story of "Milady Winter"

At Dumas, Milady was stigmatized at the age of 16 as a criminal who seduced a priest and forced him to steal church vessels. The lily was a symbol of the Bourbon royal dynasty; criminals were branded with it by the verdict of the court. But the woman who became the prototype of Lady Winter committed a more serious theft, on total amount 1.6 million livres.

Jeanne de Luz de Saint-Remy de Valois, according to legend, came from the family of the illegitimate son of King Henry II. Despite the connection with the ancient family of Valois, the family was poor, Zhanna begged on the street as a child. There, the Marquise Bouleville saw her, took pity on her and decided to help. She placed her in a boarding school for noble maidens at the monastery.

At 22, the girl ran away from the monastery with her fiancé, a guards officer, whom she soon married, and became the Comtesse de la Motte. Jeanne struck up an acquaintance with the Bishop of Strasbourg, Cardinal Louis de Rogan. He introduced her to high society. Her cunning, acting skills and intelligence opened the doors of the best houses in France for her.

Jeanne de la Motte made history because of the grand diamond necklace scam. It is to this fact that not only the episode with the diamond pendants of Anna of Austria in The Three Musketeers is dedicated, but also Dumas' novel The Queen's Necklace. One day, King Louis XV decided to make a gift to his favorite Madame Dubarry and ordered a necklace of 629 diamonds from jewelers.

The order was completed, but the king died before he could redeem it. Louis XVI refused to purchase a necklace for Marie Antoinette because it was too expensive.

Jeanne managed to convince the cardinal that she was close friends with the queen and could help him restore good relations with the royal couple. Marie Antoinette subsequently denied her acquaintance with the swindler, but it is possible that she knew about her existence. Be that as it may, Jeanne managed to circle the cardinal around her finger: she convinced him that she had organized correspondence with the queen, although in fact the letters were written by her accomplice, who forged handwriting.

In 1785, de la Motte forced the cardinal to sign a contract with a jeweler for the purchase of the necklace, allegedly at the request of the queen. Jeanne de la Motte took the necklace to give to Marie Antoinette, and the jewels, of course, were never seen again. Because of this crime erupted loud scandal. The jewelers never received the money and turned to the queen. The swindlers were arrested, Zhanna was branded and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Despite the fact that Marie Antoinette was not involved in this story, her name was tarnished. The necklace scandal contributed to the fall in prestige royalty, led to its crisis and the uprising of the people during the Great french revolution.

The countess managed to escape from prison. According to legend, she spent the rest of her life in Russia under the name of Countess Gachet and was buried in the Crimea. The fate of the stolen diamonds is not known.

The image of Milady, created by Margarita Terekhova, remains one of the brightest in Soviet cinema, and the actors of the cult film are still popular.

WHAT DOES THE LILY ON MILADY'S SHOULDER MEAN?

Why lily? Or maybe Milady is not so guilty - if you think about it, what if she is not the main villain, but in fact the musketeers, four men who destroyed one woman in an unequal confrontation? We recently reviewed our soviet film and this is the first time I thought about it. And after the husband said that used to be a woman I just had to know my place - my eyes were opened. And even the lines from the heroine's monologue confirm this: “The world of proud women is surrounded by a shameless game. For throwing off the yoke A brand is imprinted on the shoulder.

HERALDIC LILY SYMBOL

I'll start right away with the point. Why is there a lily on the stamp? Lily is a symbol of the royal family of France. The most common symbol in heraldry after the cross, eagle and lion. It is quite logical that criminals were stigmatized with such a sign - as a designation of royal justice. On the other hand, the lily is also a symbol of purity, innocence, the Virgin Mary and Christianity in general. Isn't it a lot of honor for tramps, thieves and prostitutes?

It is interesting, but true - the flower is called a lily, but in fact, instead of it, an iris is depicted everywhere. What exactly is the wild yellow marsh iris. If you look closely, the iris resembles the female genital organs. When Athos draws a flower on the wall in the film, it is seen that it is much more elongated than the real one. There is an interesting version that this is an allusion to the fallopian tubes, which medieval prostitutes had to bandage as a means of contraception. The anger of Athos - then still Comte de la Fer - could not be caused by the fact that the girl turned out to be a thief, as Dumas delicately presented, but by worse suspicions. But all the same, his act is little understood - he loved so much, and almost killed him, without even understanding it. But more on that below.

LADY WINTER

Little is known about Milady's origins and life prior to the start of the novel. In a conversation with Rochefort, she says that she was born in Armantière, a small town near the Bethune Monastery. At the same time, Dumas tells that she knew the customs and peculiarities of the faith of the English Puritans very well - this was taught to her in childhood by an old servant. Why does a Frenchwoman have an Englishman in her service? Although this is not the most controversial point - in the novel by Anne and Serge Golon, Angelica's servant was a former German soldier Guillaume Lutzen. Also noted is the impeccable English pronunciation Milady. Not to mention her nickname. Her second name, Lady Winter, is also English, after her second English husband. Most likely Milady's father is English, mother is French. According to the context of the book, Milady is an English spy in the service of Richelieu, recruited shortly before the start of the novel. The real name of the heroine, as well as her origin, is not really clear. Only towards the end does Athos list her names. But again, there is no accuracy - some researchers write that her real name is Anna de Beyle, others - Charlotte Baxon. That is, again, the origin is not clear: if the first name is correct, then Milady is from France, if the second, then she is English. In the film, Milady asks the cardinal for her service as a hereditary title. Here again there are several options. Either she does not have a title, or she has lost the right to it, or she is an Englishwoman, and she needs a title in France. The latter is most likely - since by her second husband she received the title of Lady Winter, assigned to her son.

ATOS AND MILADI

What kind of love is this when you are absolutely merciless to your loved one? Athos was not embarrassed by either the origin of Milady, or the fact that she was not a virgin, he even "went against the will of his entire family." And I couldn't bear the stigma. And in general, how is it like this to take and hang your own wife in the middle of a hunt, like in some wild times ?! About this contradiction and the whole novel by Dumas. Cardinal Richelieu in it - main villain, the antagonist, and the Musketeers are goodies. In reality, it was the other way around. Athos is a representative of the old aristocracy, apparently from a very ancient and noble family. He somehow mentions in a conversation with d'Artagnan that his mother was a lady of state to Queen Marie de Medici - that is, the first court lady at court. This is a very high position. About himself Athos says "noble as Dandolo and Montmorency." Montmorency - an ancient noble family, princes of the blood, who were related to royal family. Under the "old order", noble nobles had the powers of full rulers in their lands. They had the right to mint their own coin, to have a personal army, and the king did not always have full power over them. And over their subjects did not have any. Remember the saying "my vassal's vassal is not my vassal". That is, Athos was in rightfully so create arbitrariness on their lands. His real name is Comte de la Fer. In French the word "fer" is iron. Iron Count. Hard-hearted, impassive, striving to control his passions. Once he gave slack, and since then he has been trying to recoup. He is merciless and hard, like an iron blade, to everything and everyone. His three friends, of much lower birth than him, are the only exception in the cold heart of Athos. By the way, not everything is an exception. In the novel Twenty Years Later, Athos, who has regained his title, cannot introduce d'Artagnan to his guests under his simple title - he calls him "Chevalier d'Artagnan", that is, he raises him to a level acceptable to his environment.

HEROES OF THE NOVEL "THREE MUSKETEERS"

It seems that the heroes of the famous novel are not quite what we are used to perceive them to be. D'Artagnan is not main character but just a cover for deeper content. The bottom line is 2 things:

1) Confrontation of the archetypal masculine principle (Athos) with the more ancient archetypal feminine principle (Milady). Subdued women with the help of brute force, patriarchy and chauvinism, periodically turned out to be powerless in the face of female sexuality. Unable to restrain themselves and not having achieved reciprocity, men could do everything they could to destroy the object of desire. So does Athos with his wife.

2) Confrontation of the noble aristocracy with Cardinal Richelieu. Richelieu is a villain for this very reason - the goal of his entire policy was to fight against the feudal freemen (which Athos, being a count, used with might and main) and strengthening the vertical of power. He banned dueling, which immediately reduced the number of deaths among young nobles. He ordered to tear down feudal castles and build open palaces in their place - so that the nobles would not try to hide behind impregnable walls from the royal will. Appointed royal quartermasters to the aristocracy in order to have control. Athos and Richelieu are mortal ideological enemies.

Milady is an enemy twice for Athos. And as a woman who defiled his family, and as a minion of the cardinal.

At the same time, the rest of the musketeers are at enmity with Richelieu rather "for the company." Father d'Artagnan, on the contrary, instructed him to show respect and serve 3 people - the king, the cardinal and Mr. de Treville. Because he is a small estate nobleman, Richelieu's policy did not inflict such damage on him. In the film, after a game of chess in Cardinal's palace, d'Artagnan tells Richelieu that yesterday he could have considered serving with him, but today his friends are among the king's musketeers. It is clear that their enmity was not the original. Aramis is more difficult - his personality is the most mysterious of all. In the book, his servant Bazin says that "Aramis" is, on the contrary, the word "Simara", the name of one of the demons. The word "simara" has another quite innocent meaning - it is a priest's cassock. Considering that Aramis is a rogue abbot who always dreams of regaining his dignity, it is not surprising that he chose such a nickname. All three Musketeers bear names that hide their dark past. With Athos it is clear - a fugitive defamed count. Aramis is a man forced to leave his dignity in order to learn swordsmanship and take revenge on the offender. Richelieu is rather an enemy for Aramis because of the circumstances - he forbade duels, and Aramis just had to make an appointment with the nobleman who insulted him. Porthos is not yet very clear. It is only in the book "Twenty Years Later" that he tries to achieve at least a baronial title. It means that Richelieu was hardly a real enemy for him - his reforms of Porthos were of little concern.

Musketeer friends are bred goodies, although their behavior is far from perfect. Athos is a drunkard and a murderer. Porthos openly courts married woman for the sake of money, while appearing in her house, introducing herself to her husband as a cousin of his wife and spending his own money. Aramis in the first book was not particularly guilty, but then he made up for it in full. In the novel "Twenty Years Later" he is Madame de Longueville's lover, active participant Fronde - a noble conspiracy against the king. In the book Ten Years Later, he becomes a Jesuit who betrayed his friends. D'Artagnan changes women like gloves. At first he loves Constance, after her abduction, he has an affair with Milady and at the same time with her maid Katie - he uses her, knowing that the girl is in love with him - to penetrate into the chambers of her mistress. To Milady herself, in order to spend the night with her, he introduces himself as Comte de Ward, with whom she was in love. In order not to be exposed, he hides his face in the dark. And at the end of this Fantastic Four, taking with him four servants, an executioner and Lord Winter, is going to kill one woman in an unequal battle.

MILADY'S SHOULDER BRAND

As a representative of a small noble family, Milady expected only 2 ways - either to marry humble person or a monastery. She was in the second. Spent 2 years there and ran away with a young monk whom she seduced. Before escaping, he stole church property. The fugitives were found, the monk was sentenced to imprisonment and branding. The executioner turned out to be his brother, who, in a fit of desperation, branded the girl as well.

The first fact is that there was no justice, there was arbitrariness on the part of the executioner.

The second fact is that if at the time of her marriage Milady was 16 years old, then when she escaped from the monastery, she was 14-15 years old. There is some doubt as to who else corrupted whom.

The third fact - and what, in fact, did Milady commit atrocities, except for the murder of Constance? The seduction of a monk - there are many questions with him. Buckingham's murder? So this is part of her work for the cardinal, and it was not she who killed him, but the fanatic Felton. She seduced and ruined this unfortunate Felton - he was such a puritan, who already could hardly stand Buckingham. The murder of the second husband, Lord Winter - here there are nuances.

Milady's first marriage ended in a nightmare. A logical question - how did the husband not see the stigma on the shoulder of his wife? But here everything is quite clear - it used to be considered immodest to undress completely. It is clear that no one climbed into the bedroom to peep, but Athos could well understand his wife's embarrassment and did not insist. Having married a second time, Milady apparently decided not to wait for her husband's reaction anymore and poisoned him immediately after she became pregnant. She needed a son to become the heir, and she, as his mother, owned the title in full right.

EXECUTION OF MY LADY

Athos describes Milady as "a girl of sixteen, lovely as love itself. Through the naivety characteristic of her age shone through an ebullient mind, an unfeminine mind, the mind of a poet. She not only liked her, she intoxicated her.” In the film, he says "There are no such refined manners in all of Provence." From other descriptions of Milady, we learn that she: is fluent in several languages, knows many nuances perfectly different parties life, knows how to quickly find a way out in any situation, knows how to handle weapons, has a great physical force and a wonderful voice. As in a real archetypal woman, she has a lot of masculine traits. Women's weakness is alien to her - although she perfectly knows how to play and use it. Not a single man was ever able to cope with her, so all they could do was destroy her physically. Think about it - five men (including the executioner) against one woman! And in book ten - there were also servants of the musketeers and Milady's brother-in-law Lord Winter. And barely they all were able to cope with it. Dumas writes how Athos ordered the servants who guarded Milady to be changed, only on the basis that she told them something.

The Three Musketeers is a novel about men, the main characters are men. Only after 100 years, the authors will make women heroines. In the book, there are only 3 women - Constance, the Queen and Milady - for a huge number of men. In the novel about Angelique, the Marquis of Plessis-Belières, recalling the reign of Louis XIII, says that it was a time of rude warriors who lived in war and duels. For women - even very strong ones - there was no place then.

All of us in childhood read The Three Musketeers and other books from this series, many even began to love history thanks to Alexandre Dumas, although there was not so much real history there ... However, characters such as Richelieu , Mazarin, both Louis, Queen Anne of Austria, Louise de La Valliere, of course, the faces are quite reliable, historical. Even d\"Artagnan - he also had prototypes. But Athos, Porthos, Aramis, milady - everyone here will say that these characters are completely fictional, the brainchild of Dumas himself. And they will be wrong. At least in relation to milady.

Because this character had a very real historical prototype. Moreover, the prototype is so interesting that it deserves a separate adventure book, which may someday be written. (The fact that she lived a little later than the events described in The Three Musketeers, of great importance, in general, does not.)

Real story this woman seems fictional - there are so many intrigues and deceit in her. A listing of real historical persons, who participated in it, will do honor to any adventure novel: Queen Marie Antoinette, Count Cagliostro and, in fact, the famous adventurer Jeanne de Lamotte herself, the famous swindler, who eventually became the prototype of Milady from The Three Musketeers.

Jeanne de Lamotte, born Saint-Remy de Valois, was born in 1756. Her origin was both noble and at the same time very piquant: she was somewhat related to the royal house of Valois, but belonged to a family that emerged from the extramarital affair of King Henry II with Madame Saint-Remy.

This family was very poor, and Jeanne's mother taught the girl to earn money with the help of cunning and female charm. I must say that the girl quickly mastered the science of seduction and deceit and soon found a match for herself - the Guards officer Count Lamotte. The bridegroom of the young adventurer was distinguished by the same passion for money, he loved adventures and had not a drop of conscience. They quickly found mutual language and got married.

After the wedding, the newlyweds decided to settle in Paris, where there were not many opportunities for enrichment and intrigue, but a lot. Looking around at the new place, the insidious Jeanne chose her victim, a man by no means stupid and famous for his good nature - the rich Louis de Rohan, Cardinal of Strasbourg.

This cardinal belonged to high society, but Zhanna, despite her dubious origin and poverty, managed to get to know him and get "access to the body." At the same time, according to contemporaries, Jeanne was by no means distinguished by her beauty, but she knew how to present herself in such a way and was so smart that no one could resist under her spell. The cardinal was subdued by the young adventurer, showered her with money, introduced her into his circle...

Jeanne, meanwhile, announced in society that she managed to briefly get acquainted with the wife of Louis XVI, Queen Marie Antoinette. In her scams, the fraudster began to hide behind the name of the queen and soon gained a reputation as her closest friend.

True, Marie Antoinette later claimed that she had never met Jeanne de Lamotte in her life. But it is not known who was right here, and who was not - both ladies differed in cunning and the ability to lie for their own benefit ... It is possible that the queen really brought a smart intriguer closer to herself, who knew how to make the most unexpected and profitable connections. For example, with the mysterious Count Cagliostro.

In 1784, at the home of Cardinal Louis de Rogan, Jeanne de Lamotte met this amazing person, who had recently arrived in Paris, and very quickly found a common language with the adventurer. Both adventurers successfully and actively fooled the cardinal, had long conversations about clairvoyance, about the elixir of life and the philosopher's stone.

At that time, these topics were very relevant and interested literally everyone. It was on the wave of this interest that Count Cagliostro arranged his famous reincarnation sessions in Paris and, according to rumors, Jeanne played roles in his productions more than once, appearing in various images.

And then it starts amazing. interesting story with a fatal necklace. This story began to develop ten years before the events described, when Louis XV in 1773 decided to present a gift to his mistress Madame Dubarry, who was famous for her extraordinary beauty. The king considered that his lady of the heart should have all the best and ordered an unusual necklace consisting of 629 diamonds from the jewelers Bemer and Bassange for the charmer. pure water. Its cost was simply fantastic, it was a fortune.

However, in 1774, Louis XV died before he could redeem the jewels. His heir, Louis XVI, refused to pay for the necklace he did not need, saying that with this money he would rather acquire several warships. Jewelers were left out of their lot and, not wanting to be in a burnout, tried to influence Marie Antoinette. However, the queen examined the sparkling diamond necklace and sent the jewelers home - she considered the necklace too vulgar. Bemer and Bessange were practically ruined - they bought materials with their own money. The necklace was kept by jewelers and was waiting for a buyer who was able to pay for it an unheard-of huge sum...

And an adventurous couple - Jeanne de Lamotte and Count Cagliostro - heard about this old story. Soon a brilliant plan came up...

The position of Cardinal Louis de Rogan at court at that time was somewhat shaken, from which he suffered a lot. The Cardinal of Strasbourg, more than anything else, dreamed of obtaining the patronage of the Queen and her friendship. Jeanne, on the other hand, constantly emphasized her friendship with Marie Antoinette and claimed that she could help her lover win good location at the yard. She, together with Count Cagliostro, described in color to the unfortunate cardinal his future brilliant position in society, which awaits Louis de Rogan under the auspices of the queen.

The swindler told the cardinal that she often starts talking with the queen about Rogan, who was devoted to her, and she allegedly listens favorably to speeches about her faithful servant. One day, Jeanne came to the Cardinal of Strasbourg with sensational news - the queen is waiting for him today on a date in the park of Versailles! In the evening, Louis de Rogan arrived at the aforementioned park and in a secluded place he really saw Marie Antoinette. The queen had a favorable conversation with the cardinal and presented him with her rose - then Rogan ordered that this flower be enclosed in a precious frame. The winged cardinal flew from the park on wings, dreaming of future happiness.

It took a long time for the deceived cardinal to learn that the queen was not real. Shortly before this, Jeanne and her husband met the milliner Nicole Leger, whose resemblance to Marie Antoinette was simply amazing. It only remained to dress her in luxurious outfits and teach her to hold her head proudly - and the queen is ready. For a monetary reward, the milliner agreed to take part in the scam, and the ingenuous cardinal did not notice the deceit...

Soon, Louis de Rohan received word through Jeanne that Queen Marie Antoinette wished to redeem Madame Dubarry's necklace, but was asking for help from her good new friend. She allegedly wants to buy back the diamonds without publicity, and, in addition, it is very difficult for her to find the necessary amount of 1 million 600 thousand livres, so she asks the cardinal to go to the jewelers and give them her letter.

In this letter, the queen requested that she be granted an installment plan and that the necklace be handed over to her guarantor, Cardinal Louis de Rohan. Jewelers who were well known and impeccable reputation cardinal, and the handwriting of the queen, happily agreed to all the conditions and gave the necklace. Rogan handed it to Jeanne and waited for favors from Marie Antoinette. But, as you might guess, he did not wait ...

Jewelers soon wrote a letter to the queen, in which they still asked to contribute part of the amount. Marie Antoinette, in response, expressed her bewilderment, because she did not buy any necklace. Moreover, she made it clear that she simply did not like the necklace. Then a letter from the queen surfaced, which, upon closer examination, turned out to be a masterfully crafted forgery. They rushed to look for the cardinal, who pointed to Madame de Lamotte. It turned out that her husband had disappeared, she herself was also going to run away, but did not have time ...

The lady was arrested, but she claimed that she did everything on the orders of Count Cagliostro. Soon the whole company gathered in the Bastille - Jeanne le Lamotte, Louis de Rogan and the count-adventurer. Only Comte de Lammoth was missing, who successfully hid in London, where diamonds of unheard-of purity soon appeared on the jewelry market.

And in Paris, at that time, the trial of the century began - the trial of the queen's necklace. On May 31, 1786, the Parisian parliament pronounced a verdict - Cardinal Louis de Rogan and Count Cagliostro were acquitted (although the latter were ordered to leave the capital within two weeks), and Jeanne de Lamotte and her wife (in absentia) were sentenced by parliament to corporal punishment, branding and eternal imprisonment in prison.

Jeanne was publicly carved in the square, branded with the letter V, which meant "thief." They say that the criminal twitched, and the stigma had to be put again. As a result, two letters V remained on her shoulder - one blurry, and the second clear. (At Dumas, V turned into a lily.) Jeanne was sent to prison to serve her sentence, but soon she mysteriously disappeared from it. After some time, the adventurer appeared in London, where she soon published sensational memoirs about the state of affairs at the French court.

These memoirs, and in general the whole story with the necklace, greatly spoiled the reputation of Marie Antoinette - the French, after all, firmly believed that there was no smoke without fire, and it was not otherwise that the queen herself was involved in this strange matter. A few years later Marie Antoinette died under the knife of the guillotine...

ABOUT future fate Jeanne de Lamotte is practically unknown. However, there are several versions of her death, documented, however, not confirmed. According to one of them, she threw herself out of the window of an English hotel, mistaking the people who entered the room for agents of the French government. But this version seems somehow strained: for such a woman to act so cowardly and so hastily? ..

Illustration for the novel by A. Dumas "The Three Musketeers"

Many people know that Dumas borrowed the characters of The Three Musketeers from the Memoirs of Mr. D'Artagnan, which he found in National Library. It is less known that these memoirs are also fictitious - the brave warrior and irresistible heartthrob Charles de Batz, known as D "Artagnan, hardly wrote anything other than IOUs. The true author of the book was the writer Gascien de Courtil, who got his hand on scandalous revelations about the life of the royal court and spent half his life in the Bastille for this.“Memoirs” were written by him between two terms of imprisonment and were published in Amsterdam in 1704 - 31 years after the death of their hero, who died from a Spanish bullet during the storming of Maastricht at the age of 58 .

In Curtil's work, which differs greatly from Dumas' novel, Milady is not mentioned at all. In The Three Musketeers, she first met D "Artagnan in the town of Ment, where her accomplice, Count Rochefort, laughed at the young man and ordered his servants to beat him severely. Curtil also described this scene, but Rochefort (there his name is de Ronet) communicates with a local merchant, and not with a young woman, whose beauty immediately struck the young hero: "The lady was young and beautiful. And this beauty impressed him all the more because she was completely unusual for Southern France, where D'Artagnan still lived . She was a pale, fair-haired woman with long curls that went down to her shoulders, blue languid eyes, pink lips and hands as white as alabaster. Later in the novel, other details of Milady's appearance are mentioned: black eyebrows, high growth and the absence of one tooth on the left side. The most colorful detail, however, was revealed only to those who saw the lady undressed - a lily flower burned on the right shoulder, "a small, reddish hue and, as it were, half-erased with the help of various ointments."

In the XVII century, a lily - royal coat of arms- branded criminals, both women and men. Why did Milady receive this dubious honor? This is stated in the novel "Twenty Years Later": at the age of fifteen, she, the daughter of a poor nobleman from Lille, brought up in a Benedictine monastery, seduced a young priest. The lovers fled, taking gold from the church, but they were caught and branded - and this was done by the brother of the priest, the executioner of Lille. But even here, Milady managed to escape with the help of another victim of her charms (this time it was the jailer's son).

An episode from the novel "The Three Musketeers"

What happened next is well known to readers and viewers: the adventuress lived either in France or in England, changing many names - Countess de la Fere, Charlotte Baxon, Lady Winter, Lady Clarick, Baroness Sheffield ... She married at least twice. The first husband, the future Athos, almost killed her when he accidentally saw the shameful stigma. The second, the British Lord Winter, left her the title and a son, later known as Mordaunt.

Dumas hints that Milady poisoned the lord, followed by other crimes - espionage, theft, murder, and most importantly, a fierce hatred for D "Artagnan and his friends. However, the young Gascon himself gave rise to enmity - he seduced Milady, pretending to be in her darkness lover, the Comte de Wardes, and in the morning he laughed at her.

Recall that she also arranged the theft of diamond pendants from the Duke of Buckingham, and then his murder, also out of revenge - once an all-powerful favorite made her his mistress, and then left her like a boring toy.

Milady's atrocities were put to rest by fellow musketeers, whose quick court-martial ended with a death sentence. “From the other side they saw how the executioner slowly raised both hands: in moonlight the blade of his broad sword flashed, and his arms dropped; the whistle of the sword and the cry of the victim were heard, then the decapitated body fell under the blow. Milady's corpse was thrown from a boat into the River Lys; according to the chronology of the novel, this happened at the end of 1625, when she was not even 23 years old. D "Artagnan and Athos, despite all her crimes, could not get rid of their love for her and remembered her for many years after the murder. Smart, fearless, passionate, like an "indomitable tigress", she loved to flaunt in men's clothing- at that time it was considered a sure sign of a witch. Like a true witch, Milady sought to destroy any man who became her lover and learned the secret of the ill-fated lily. Combination of devilish malice with angelic appearance had a particularly strong effect both on the characters of the novel and on its readers.

Who could be the prototype of this unusual woman? I read the story of Queen Dumas' pendants in his memoirs famous philosopher Francois de La Rochefoucauld and other contemporaries. Everywhere it is said that a certain spy of Cardinal Richelieu secretly cut off two commemorative pendants from Buckingham's shoulder, but her name is different - Countess Carlisle, Lady Clarick, Lady Winter. Basically, any of these noble ladies could be called “Milady”, but Haciende Curtil calls the maid of honor of the English Queen Henrietta Maria, who briefly became D'Artagnan's mistress - however, this happened much later, when neither the cardinal nor Buckingham were already alive. The Duke was killed by naval officer John Felton, but not out of love, but out of puritanical fanaticism. As for the woman with the lily on her shoulder, Dumas found her in another work of Courtil - the fake Memoirs of Monsieur Comte de Rochefort. This lady tried to charm Father Rochefort; on the hunt, as described in The Three Musketeers, the stigma was accidentally discovered, and the adventurer was driven away in disgrace.

One of the heroines of the story with pendants may well be the prototype of Milady. This lady named Lucy Percy was born in 1599 and was the daughter of the Earl of Northumberland, one of the most powerful English nobles. In her youth she was given in marriage to James Hay, Earl of Carlisle, soon appointed the English ambassador in France, which allowed Lucy to shuttle between London and Paris, having fun in both capitals. At 22, she was seduced and soon abandoned by the Duke of Buckingham. Perhaps out of jealousy, she really helped expose his affair with the Queen of France by cutting off the ill-fated pendants from his shoulder. But, perhaps, it was not female vindictiveness that forced her to render a service to Cardinal Richelieu, but banal poverty - her husband, who lived in a big way, squandered both his considerable fortune and his wife's dowry, leaving huge debts. To earn money for her dresses (Lucy was reputed to be London's first fashionista), she could well become a French spy.

The countess spent the money received from the stingy cardinal on patronage of art: the best poets sang of her beauty, painters painted her portraits. One of them, painted by the great Van Dyck, depicts a lady of pleasant fullness with a sly smile and curly curls - such a one could really ignite the fantasy of Dumas the father, who knew a lot about female charms.

Lucy Carlisle's contemporaries also appreciated her beauty - after Buckingham, her successor as First Minister, Earl Strafford, and then his implacable opponent, opposition leader John Pym, became her lover. After the death of her husband, the Countess went into all serious trouble, accepting men in her bedroom without distinction of rank and rank - they would be younger and prettier. For this, the rumor awarded her the nickname "British Messalina."

The second passion of the countess after love was politics. During the years of the English Revolution, she played a prominent role, speaking first on the side of Parliament, and then - the king. In order to equip the royal army, she generously sold her jewelry, including a magnificent diamond necklace worth 1,500 pounds - two cannons were bought with the proceeds from it. Later, Lucy seduced the commander of the parliamentary army, the Earl of Essex (by the way, her cousin), on the bed of love, eliciting military plans from him and informing them of the royalists. In 1649, when the intriguer was already over fifty, Cromwell, immune to female charms, put her in the Tower and, according to rumors, even tortured her in order to reveal the agent network with which she was connected. Pretty soon the countess was released, but the prison discouraged her from all interest in politics - last years Lucy Carlisle spent her life in seclusion and prayer. She died in 1660, having time to wait for the restoration of the monarchy.

Portrait of Lucy Percy by Van Dyck. The artist, like the British poet Thomas Carew, admired the beauty of the Countess.

French memoirists were interested in only one episode of the stormy biography of the countess - the case with pendants, and they could well read her last name both as "Carlisle" and as "Clariq". It is more difficult to say where the name Lady Winter (in English “winter”) came from - there was no such noble family in England. Perhaps this is the nickname given to Countess Lucy by her detractors? The Puritans stubbornly considered her a witch, accusing her of an incestuous relationship with her cousin and of the bad death of her gentlemen - Buckingham was stabbed to death, and Strafford was executed on charges of treason.

Dumas, who did not waste anything, gave his Milady both names - Winter and Clarick. It is more difficult to understand why she was called Baroness Sheffield - perhaps it was her husband's title, younger son Lord Winter?

Another mystery - what was Milady's real name? In the castle of Athos, she appeared under the name of Anna de Bayle, but Dumas made clarifications in the play “The Youth of the Musketeers” - from birth she bore the name Charlotte Baxon, and her father was an English sailor; that's why she knew so well English language and customs. Anne de Bayle, according to the same play, was the name of the adventurer's mother. Dumas borrowed this surname from one of the mistresses of King Henry IV, Jacqueline de Beyle - it is curious that the Count de Ward, according to the novel, Milady's lover, became her husband. This person was not famous for anything special, so she can hardly be considered the prototype of Milady.

But another woman successfully claims this role - however, she lived many years after the Musketeers of Dumas, on the eve of the Great French Revolution. Jeanne de Saint-Remy was descended from illegitimate son King Henry II. In 1780, when she was 24 years old, she married Charles Lamotte, a guardsman who, without any reason, called himself a count. Four years later, the couple started the most notorious scam in French history, which became known as the "case of the necklace." By that time, the beautiful Jeanne, with the full sympathy of her husband, became the mistress of Cardinal de Rogan and, with his help, penetrated the high society. She allegedly became friends with Queen Marie Antoinette herself, although she later denied this. Be that as it may, the adventurer managed to convince the cardinal to buy in installments and give the queen, who was supposedly in love with him, the most valuable diamond necklace worth one and a half million livres - almost 250 million modern dollars! On a date in the Versailles Park, Jeanne played the role of a queen and calmly took the necklace. The unlucky cardinal did not recognize his mistress - she put on a different wig and spoke with an accent, and it was already dark in the park ...

The Countess in the blink of an eye floated him to London to her husband, where the necklace was quickly sold in parts.

Portrait of Jeanne of Valois-Saint-Remy, Comtesse de la Motte by Marie Elisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun

When the cardinal carefully tried to find out from the queen the fate of the donated jewelry, he broke out big scandal. Versailles was shocked. The necklace fell through the ground. The cardinal ended up in the Bastille, but during the investigation it turned out that he was drawn into this story through no fault of his own, and he was only deprived of his clergy as a punishment. , The Lamotts did not have time to escape and ended up in the Bastille. Jeanne was subjected to public punishment: on June 21, 1786, the thirty-year-old beauty was whipped on the Place Greve in Paris and a brand was put on her beautiful shoulder - however, now it was not a lily, but the letter V (from the word voleuse - “thief”). she twitched her shoulder and the drawing blurred. The second seal was placed on her when she was already unconscious.

Soon she - again, like Milady - managed to escape by seducing the warden, and she ended up in London. England gave her political refuge. Here, Jeanne released her memoirs, justifying herself and blaming the queen for everything. This opus, like the whole "case of the necklace", seriously lowered the authority of the monarchy and brought the revolution that soon broke out closer. Of course, the colorful story of Jeanne could not fail to attract the attention of Dumas, who devoted two whole novels to her - "The Queen's Necklace" and "Joseph Balsamo". The hero of the latter, better known as Count Cagliostro, also participated in the scam of the Lamott spouses, for which he was expelled from France. Dumas could not fail to notice the similarities between the “case of the necklace” and the “case of the pendants” - in both, the honor of the queen hung by a thread, in both leading role beautiful and treacherous seductresses played. Lucy Carlisle and Jeanne de Lamotte could very well merge in his imagination, eventually giving rise to vivid image Milady.

The mortal remains of the Countess Carlisle rest peacefully in the family crypt, but the fate of Jeanne is shrouded in mystery. Shortly after fleeing to London, her husband left her, taking all the money with him. She was only 35 years old, she was still beautiful, but for some reason she lived alone, almost in poverty.

In 1791, in what is commonly believed to be a fit of insanity, she threw herself out of the window of her squalid apartment in Oxford Street and was buried in an unmarked grave. There were rumors that she was killed either by royalists avenging the discrediting of the monarchy, or by agents of the French government who were trying to get on the trail of the missing millions. But there is another version - a completely different Frenchwoman committed suicide, and Milady-Jeanne, covering her tracks, just took it and died. According to others, she staged her own death, allegedly falling out of the window of her house. The fact is that the enraged French king demanded that Great Britain give him a fugitive. London did not want to quarrel with Paris because of some adventurer, even if fabulously rich. That's when she staged a dramatization own death, and then incognito walked into funeral procession behind my own empty coffin.

Lifetime portrait of Jeanne Lamotte by work unknown artist. The life and death of this woman, who, as historians believe, served as the prototype of Milady, are full of mysteries.

For thirty years there was neither a rumor nor a spirit about her. And suddenly the French ambassador to Russia recognizes her in St. Petersburg under the name of Countess de Gachet. He immediately demanded that Emperor Alexander I extradite the state criminal. But after her audience with the emperor, the French were refused, and the elderly countess was allowed to settle in the Crimea.

Back in the 70s, in the famous Artek camp, pioneers were shown the “Milady’s house” - a small White House, where a noble Frenchwoman allegedly lived, who became the prototype of Dumas' heroine. Later, her story was described in detail by several authors, the most famous of which is journalist Nikolai Samvelyan. It is difficult to say what is true in this story and what is fiction. It is known that in 1824 Alexander I sent two noble ladies to the Crimea - Baroness Krudener and Countess Golitsyna. Both were known for their closeness to the Freemasons, whose lodges the Tsar banned, not without reason believing that revolutionary ideas. With two titled persons, their French companion, the Countess de Gachet, also went.

"House of Milady" in Artek

They settled in the Golitsyna estate in Koreiz, but soon Gachet rented a house on the outskirts, on the current territory of Artek, where she lived alone with an Armenian maid. When the countess died in 1826, her faithful maid buried her in the Armenian cemetery in the village of Stary Krym. Now the grave has been lost, but its photograph has been preserved - it shows an intricate monogram of poorly distinguishable Latin letters and an empty oval, where the last name and first name of the deceased are usually written.

It seems that the Countess de Gachet (her name was either Jeanne or Diana) had reasons to hide her real name. This gave rise to the version that she was Jeanne de Lamotte, who settled in Russia after long wanderings. The legend about this was also heard by Margarita Terekhova, who visited Artek while working on the role of Milady (recall that G. Yungvald-Khilkevich's film about the musketeers was filmed in the Crimea). By the way, the role of the fatal villain brought the actress serious problems: “The forces of evil began to swirl around me. Otherwise, I cannot explain what happened. Let's say I needed to draw a stigma in the scene when D "Artagnan accidentally found out Milady's secret. Yura (Jungvald-Khilkevich) is also an artist. He says: "I'll draw you now." And suddenly he starts to call everyone. there is a red spot on it - you just need to circle it." Can you imagine? I called everyone and simply outlined the lily that appeared on my shoulder. "

In the Crimea, the personality of the mysterious Countess de Gachet has acquired new legends. One of them says that she was an occultist, a student of Cagliostro, and shortly before her exile she told Alexander I something so incredible that he soon left the throne and went into hermitage. The other is that in Artek, the countess led a gang of smugglers and accumulated enormous wealth, which she buried near her house before her death. When they began to change clothes before the funeral, they allegedly saw a scorched royal lily on her shoulder ...

It is clear that this is a fiction - instead of a lily, as we know, Jeanne de Lamotte was branded with the letter V. Other facts from the biography of the “Crimean Milady” are also fictional, which, most likely, has nothing to do with the heroine of the “necklace case”. All this says only one thing - the super spy of the 17th century came out from the pen of Dumas so alive that readers still cannot come to terms with the absence of this “demon in female form” on the pages of real history.

Vadim Erlikhman,
Gala Biography, №12, 2011

THE BEST MILADIES OF WORLD CINEMA
	BARBARA LA MARR The American actress played Milady in one of the first adaptations of Dumas' novel (1921) and showed that guile can be devilishly attractive. Each reviewer considered it his duty to note the outstanding villain.	FAY DANAUZY The American actress played Milady in Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers: Pendants of the Queen (1973) and The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974). Milady in her performance is very comical. As, however, and other heroes of this film adaptation.
	MARGARITA TEREKHOVA Initially, Elena Nightingale was planned for the role of Milady, but as a result, Terekhova played in the film "D" Artagnan and the Three Musketeers (1978). flying Dutchman"and at the same time" a tragic personality.
Hilary Swank as Jeanne de Saint-Remy de Valois (The Story of the Necklace, 2001)	HILARY SWANK In the painting by Charles Shyer "The Story of the Necklace" (2001) American actress Hilary Swank played Jeanne Lamotte. Criticism was not enthusiastic about the work of the actress. Most considered the work of Swank the main disadvantage of the picture.
Arielle Dombal as Comtesse de la Fere (Milady, 2004)	ARIEL DOMBAL The authors of the film "Milady" decided to take a look at the events classic novel not from the position of D "Artagnan and his friends, but through the eyes of Milady Winter. The position of the authors is extremely clear. As Ostap Bender used to say: "Citizens of the judge! My client had a difficult childhood."
Milla Jovovich as Countess Milady (The Musketeers, 2011)	MILLA JOVOVICH The film "Musketeers", filmed by Mila's husband Paul Anderson on a free interpretation novel of the same name Alexandre Dumas in 3D, received negative feedback critics. Mila blamed the bad advertising campaign of the film studio Summit Entertainment, which was responsible for the distribution of the film.