Chicot the Jester

Bristling with political plots, secret assignations, daring escapes, duels, surprising alliances and betrayals, Dumas orchestrates two plotlines to come together in a very scene-driven, absolutely over-the-top novel. The title character isnt a jester in the way we use the term today; instead Chicot is King Henri IIIs advisor with the advantage of being able to speak truth to power. And that power is in jeopardy from within his family and without. Chicot must use all his wiles to keep Henri out of trouble and himself in the position of the real King of France. Against him is the powerful house of de Guise whose head is also the leader of the Catholic League; the Kings brother the Duc dAngou and the leader of the Huguenot faction, King Henry of Navarre. The other principal player is the brave Bussy, or the Comte de Bussy who is allied with the Duc dAngou. He upsets the Kings minions and while escaping their trap he encounters a strange lady in a strange house and thinks it all a dream until he meets the real lady and falls in love. Tragically shes been tricked into marrying the scheming Comte Monsoreau, chief huntsman to the King and who will do anything to keep his wife away from any man who so much as looks at her. Monsoreau isnt his only worry though; the Duc dAngou also wants the lovely Diana.