Table of Chapters

Every Chapter, In Order

Paris, 1578 — the court jester Chicot, a forbidden romance, and a kingdom sliding toward civil war, in ninety-seven chapters.

These ninety-seven chapters build toward the real, documented death of Louis de Bussy d'Amboise in 1579 — a courtier whose actual fate, betrayed by his own patron, needed almost no embellishment to become the novel's central tragedy. See the full overview page, or this site's piece on the real Bussy d'Amboise.

I
The Wedding of St. Luc
Chapter I
II
How It Is Not Always He Who Opens the Door, Who Enters the House
Chapter II
III
How It Is Sometimes Difficult to Distinguish a Dream From the Reality
Chapter III
IV
How Madame de St. Luc Had Passed the Night
Chapter IV
V
How Madame de St. Luc Passed the Second Night of Her Marriage
Chapter V
VI
Le Petit Coucher of Henri Iii
Chapter VI
VII
How, Without Any One Knowing Why, the King Was Converted Before the Next Day
Chapter VII
VIII
How the King Was Afraid of Being Afraid
Chapter VIII
IX
How the Angel Made a Mistake and Spoke to Chicot, Thinking It Was the King
Chapter IX
X
How Bussy Went to Seek for the Reality of His Dream
Chapter X
XI
M. Bryan de Monsoreau
Chapter XI
XII
How Bussy Found Both the Portrait and the Original
Chapter XII
XIII
Who Diana Was
Chapter XIII
XIV
The Treaty
Chapter XIV
XV
The Marriage
Chapter XV
XVI
The Marriage
Chapter XVI
XVII
How Henri Iii. Traveled, and How Long It Took Him to Get From Paris to Fontainebleau
Chapter XVII
XVIII
Brother Gorenflot
Chapter XVIII
XIX
How Chicot Found Out That It Was Easier to Go in Than Out of the Abbey
Chapter XIX
XX
How Chicot, Forced to Remain in the Abbey, Saw and Heard Things Very Dangerous to See and Hear
Chapter XX
XXI
How Chicot Learned Genealogy
Chapter XXI
XXII
How M. and Madame de St. Luc Met with a Traveling Companion
Chapter XXII
XXIII
The Old Man
Chapter XXIII
XXIV
How Remy-le-haudouin Had, in Bussy’S Absence, Established a Communication with the Rue St. Antoine
Chapter XXIV
XXV
The Father and Daughter
Chapter XXV
XXVI
How Brother Gorenflot Awoke, and the Reception He Met with at His Convent
Chapter XXVI
XXVII
How Brother Gorenflot Remained Convinced That He Was a Somnambulist, and Bitterly Deplored This Infirmity
Chapter XXVII
XXVIII
How Brother Gorenflot Traveled Upon an Ass, Named Panurge, and Learned Many Things He Did Not Know Before
Chapter XXVIII
XXIX
How Brother Gorenflot Changed His Ass for a Mule, and His Mule for a Horse
Chapter XXIX
XXX
How Chicot and His Companion Installed Themselves at the Hotel of the Cross, and How They Were Received by the Host
Chapter XXX
XXXI
How the Monk Confessed the Advocate, and the Advocate the Monk
Chapter XXXI
XXXII
How Chicot Used His Sword
Chapter XXXII
XXXIII
How the Duc D’ANJOU Learned That Diana Was Not Dead
Chapter XXXIII
XXXIV
How Chicot Returned to the Louvre, and Was Received by the King Henri Iii
Chapter XXXIV
XXXV
What Passed Between M. de Monsoreau and the Duke
Chapter XXXV
XXXVI
Chicot and the King
Chapter XXXVI
XXXVII
What M. de Guise Came to Do at the Louvre
Chapter XXXVII
XXXVIII
Castor and Pollux
Chapter XXXVIII
XXXIX
In Which It Is Proved That Listening Is the Best Way to Hear
Chapter XXXIX
XL
The Evening of the League
Chapter XL
XLI
The Rue de la Ferronnerie
Chapter XLI
XLII
The Prince and the Friend
Chapter XLII
XLIII
Etymology of the Rue de la Jussienne
Chapter XLIII
XLIV
How D’EPERNON Had His Doublet Torn, and How Chomberg Was Stained Blue
Chapter XLIV
XLV
Chicot More Than Ever King of France
Chapter XLV
XLVI
How Chicot Paid a Visit to Bussy, and What Followed
Chapter XLVI
XLVII
The Chess of M. Chicot, and the Cup and Ball of M. Quelus
Chapter XLVII
XLVIII
The Reception of the Chiefs of the League
Chapter XLVIII
XLIX
How the King Annexed a Chief Who Was Neither the Duc de Guise nor M. D’ANJOU
Chapter XLIX
L
Eteocles and Polynices
Chapter L
LI
How People Do Not Always Lose Their Time by Searching Empty Drawers
Chapter LI
LII
Ventre St. Gris
Chapter LII
LIII
The Friends
Chapter LIII
LIV
Bussy and Diana
Chapter LIV
LV
How Bussy Was Offered Three Hundred Pistoles for His Horse, and Parted with Him for Nothing
Chapter LV
LVI
The Diplomacy of the Duc D’ANJOU
Chapter LVI
LVII
The Ideas of the Duc D’ANJOU
Chapter LVII
LVIII
A Flight of Angevins
Chapter LVIII
LIX
Roland
Chapter LIX
LX
What M. de Monsoreau Came to Announce
Chapter LX
LXI
How the King Learned the Flight of His Beloved Brother, and What Followed
Chapter LXI
LXII
How, As Chicot and the Queen Mother Were Agreed, the King Began to Agree with Them
Chapter LXII
LXIII
In Which It Is Proved That Gratitude Was One of St. Luc’S Virtues
Chapter LXIII
LXIV
The Project of M. de St. Luc
Chapter LXIV
LXV
How M. de St. Luc Showed M. de Monsoreau the Thrust That the King Had Taught Him
Chapter LXV
LXVI
In Which We See the Queen-mother Enter the Town of Angers, but Not Triumphantly
Chapter LXVI
LXVII
Little Causes and Great Effects
Chapter LXVII
LXVIII
How M. de Monsoreau Opened and Shut His Eyes, Which Proved That He Was Not Dead
Chapter LXVIII
LXIX
How M. le Duc D’ANJOU Went to MÉRIDOR to Congratulate Madame de Monsoreau on the Death of Her Husband, and Found Him There Before Him
Chapter LXIX
LXX
The Inconvenience of Large Litters and Narrow Doors
Chapter LXX
LXXI
What Temper the King Was in When St. Luc Reappeared at the Louvre
Chapter LXXI
LXXII
In Which We Meet Two Important Personages Whom We Have Lost Sight of for Some Time
Chapter LXXII
LXXIII
Diana’S Second Journey to Paris
Chapter LXXIII
LXXIV
How the Ambassador of the Duc D’ANJOU Arrived at the Louvre, and the Reception He Met with
Chapter LXXIV
LXXV
Which Is Only the End of the Preceding One
Chapter LXXV
LXXVI
How M. de St. Luc Acquitted Himself of the Commission Given to Him by Bussy
Chapter LXXVI
LXXVII
In What Respect M. de St. Luc Was More Civilized Than M. de Bussy, the Lessons Which He Gave Him, and the Use Which M. de Bussy Made of Them
Chapter LXXVII
LXXVIII
The Precautions of M. de Monsoreau
Chapter LXXVIII
LXXIX
A Visit to the House at Les Tournelles
Chapter LXXIX
LXXX
The Watchers
Chapter LXXX
LXXXI
How M. le Duc D’ANJOU Signed, and After Having Signed, Spoke
Chapter LXXXI
LXXXII
A Promenade at the Tournelles
Chapter LXXXII
LXXXIII
In Which Chicot Sleeps
Chapter LXXXIII
LXXXIV
Where Chicot Wakes
Chapter LXXXIV
LXXXV
The FÊTE Dieu
Chapter LXXXV
LXXXVI
Which Will Elucidate the Previous Chapter
Chapter LXXXVI
LXXXVII
The Procession
Chapter LXXXVII
LXXXVIII
Chicot the First
Chapter LXXXVIII
LXXXIX
Interest and Capital
Chapter LXXXIX
XC
What Was Passing Near the Bastile While Chicot Was Paying His Debt to Y. de Mayenne
Chapter XC
XCI
The Assassination
Chapter XCI
XCII
How Brother Gorenflot Found Himself More Than Ever Between a Gallows and an Abbey
Chapter XCII
XCIII
Where Chicot Guesses Why D’EPERNON Had Blood on His Feet and None in His Cheeks
Chapter XCIII
XCIV
The Morning of the Combat
Chapter XCIV
XCV
The Friends of Bussy
Chapter XCV
XCVI
The Combat
Chapter XCVI
XCVII
The End
Chapter XCVII