The Man In The Iron Mask

The most notable instances of forgery in the novel are the release orders for Philippe. Aramis obtains the initial order for Seldon under false pretenses, then switches it with a fake for Philippe. When he returns to imprison Louis, Aramis destroys the fake orders to cover his tracks. When Colbert schemes to turn the king against Fouquet, he presents documentation of financial crimes, which later turned out to be falsified. Colbert also passes off an old letter as a new one, pretending that it is an attempt by Fouquet to steal away La Valliere. The forgeries and the faked documents are common tools the antagonists use to push their plans forward. Aramis is especially adept at passing off forgeries as genuine, mainly because of his rank in the Catholic Church. When Baisemeaux rightly questions the legitimacy of the order to release Philippe, Aramis creates a new order right in front of him, which states that he has to follow the forged order. Later, when Fouquet comes to rescue Louis from the Bastille, Baisemeaux again questions his orders’ legitimacy, and Fouquet begins writing orders to have Baisemeaux arrested. These new orders written on the fly are legitimate, but since they protect a forgery, the reader is left to question how legitimate they are.