Still nearer to Paris, and more under the influence of town life, were the châteaux of Madrid in the Bois de Boulogne, and of Vincennes, at the other extremity of the city.
All these are quite in a class by themselves; though, of course, in a way, they performed the same functions when royalty was in residence, as the urban palaces.
Dumas’ final appreciation of the charms of Fontainebleau does not come till one reaches the last pages of “Le Vicomte de Bragelonne.” True, it was not until the period of which this romance deals with Fontainebleau, its château, its forêt, and its fêtes, actually came to that prominence which to this day has never left them.
When the king required to give his fête at Fontainebleau, as we learn from Dumas, and history, too, he required of Fouquet four millions of francs, “in order to keep an open house for fifteen days,” said he. How he got them, and with what result, is best read in the pages of the romance.
“Life at the Palais Royal having become somewhat tame, the king had directed that Fontainebleau should be prepared for the reception of the court.” Here, then, took place the fêtes which were predicted, and Dumas, with his usual directness and brilliance, has given us a marvellous description of the gaiety of court life, surrounded by the noble forest, over which artists and sentimentalists have ever rhapsodized.
Continuing, from the pages of Dumas which immediately follow, one reads:
“For four days, every kind of enchantment brought together in the magnificent gardens of Fontainebleau, had converted this spot into a place of the most perfect enjoyment. M. Colbert seemed gifted with ubiquity. In the morning, there were the accounts of the previous night’s expenses to settle; during the day, programmes, essays, enlistments, payments. M. Colbert had amassed four millions of francs, and dispersed them with a prudent economy. He was horrified at the expenses which mythology involved; every wood-nymph, every dryad, did not cost less than a hundred francs a day. The dresses alone amounted to three hundred francs. The expense of powder and sulphur for fireworks amounted, every night, to a hundred thousand francs. In addition to these, the illuminations on the borders of the sheet of water cost thirty thousand francs every evening. The fêtes had been magnificent; and Colbert could not restrain his delight. From time to time he noticed Madame and the king setting forth on hunting expeditions, or preparing for the reception of different fantastic personages, solemn ceremonials, which had been extemporized a fortnight before, and in which Madame’s sparkling wit and the king’s magnificence were equally displayed.”
The “Inn of the Beautiful Peacock,” celebrated by Dumas in “Le Vicomte de Bragelonne,” is not directly traceable to-day in the many neighbouring hostelries of Fontainebleau. Just what Dumas had in mind is vague, though his description might apply to any house for travellers, wherever it may have been situated in this beautiful wildwood.
It was to this inn of the “Beau Paon” that Aramis repaired, after he had left Fouquet and had donned the costume of the cavalier once more. “Where,” said Dumas, “he (Aramis) had, by letters previously sent, directed an apartment or a room to be retained for him. He chose the room, which was on the first floor, whereas the apartment was on the second.”
The description of the establishment given by Dumas is as follows: