THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK

ATHOS
You are not my priest, Aramis! You
would not be, even if I had one.

ARAMIS
You are bitter, Athos. You are torn
by grief, not only for Raoul, but
for d'Artagnan, whom you love, and
now treat as an enemy.

ATHOS
He who is not with us is against us.

ARAMIS
Those are the words of a broken
spirit. My spirit is whole. I have
trusted d'Artagnan with my deepest
secrets, and I will never believe
he is my enemy.

ATHOS
Then you are a fool -- a fool who
has never lost a son. What gives
you the right to judge me, to play
God with the lives of others? Is it
because you are so much holier than
everyone else?!

ARAMIS
There is that, of course -- but
mainly it is because I am so much
smarter than everyone else.

They are interrupted by Porthos' bloodcurdling SCREAM.

ARAMIS
Porthos?!

He draws his sword and runs for the outside.

EXT. MANOR HOUSE - NIGHT

Aramis and Athos rush through the courtyard, surrounded by
moonlight and trees, confused about where Porthos is. Then
they hear bellowing SCREAM OF PAIN from the latrine.

Swords drawn, they bang into the latrine, to find Porthos
just finishing urinating.

PORTHOS
Kidney rocks. It hurts when I pee.
It hurts when I shit. I'm just a
fat old fart with nothing to live
for any more. I'm going to hang
myself, as soon as I'm sober.

They watch him shuffle toward the main house.

INT. THE PALACE - THE QUEEN MOTHER'S ROOM - NIGHT

Anne paces in her room, her hands trembling, her beautiful
lips quivering with tortured emotion. With a sudden impulse
she bolts from her room, through the outer room where her
attendants sit, and into the corridor.

NUN
M'lady...?

The eldest nun follows her.

EXT. PALACE GARDEN - NIGHT

Anne rushes through the evening, toward her little chapel in
the palace garden; she is a tragic, romantic sight, her long
hair flying behind her as she runs.

IN HIS ROOM, D'ARTAGNAN

has been standing at his window, for his nightly glimpse of
Anne. Now he sees her, not with her retinue of nuns, but
running to her chapel, clearly distraught...

INT./ EXT. PALACE GARDEN - GARDEN CHAPEL - NIGHT

Anne reaches the door, and finds a few nuns and an old priest
praying in the little chapel. She staggers forward to the
altar. and falls to her knees there. The nuns and the old
priest, seeing the Queen Mother so distraught, stand silently
and file out, leaving her in solitude.

ANNE
Oh God I -- Forgive me...

D'ARTAGNAN
M'lady...?

She whirls to see him; the sight of her face, bursting with
emotions she has kept buried, draws him nearer.

D'ARTAGNAN
What -- ?

ANNE
No, stay back! Stay back!

He freezes in his tracks; she holds her hands out toward him
as if warding off a blow. He's desperate to move to her; she
sees it on his face.

ANNE
D'Artagnan!

Her emotions break all her resolve to keep him away; she
rushes into his arms. They clutch each other, in an embrace
they have denied for many years. They kiss hungrily.

D'ARTAGNAN
M'lady... if anyone sees, it is
death...

ANNE
If I don't kiss you, I die anyway.

D'ARTAGNAN
I can't bear to see you cry. What
is wrong?

ANNE
Nothing... Nothing.

She draws back; he tries to hold her. But the thoughts of
answering that question makes her stiffen.

ANNE
Nothing. This... didn't happen. I
must go back now.

And just like that, their moment is gone.

EXT. GARDEN - NIGHT

D'Artagnan and Anne move back to the palace in a stiff
procession, she walking ahead, he trailing like a proper
commoner, several feet behind.

INT. PALACE CORRIDOR - NIGHT

They reach the Queen Mother's room; d'Artagnan reaches to
open the door for her, and she keeps her eyes lowered. But
before he can let her go, he must whisper...

D'ARTAGNAN
Anne...! I know... I know that to
love you is treason against France.
But not to love you... is treason
against my heart.

ANNE
Then we will both die traitors,
d'Artagnan.

With those whispered words hanging in the air, she enters her
room. And d'Artagnan moves alone, back to his.

INT. MICHELLE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

The King is trying to make love with Michelle -- but she
isn't responding. He stops, exasperated.

LOUIS
What is wrong?

She says nothing. He tries kissing her again.

LOUIS
What is wrong?!

She begins weeping uncontrollably, and turns from him.

MICHELLE
Raoul... Oh, Raoul...

LOUIS
Listen, my darling... Raoul was
a... a good friend. And now he is
dead and that is very sad but --

MICHELLE
We'll burn in hell. Both of us.

The King stands; he's had enough of this.

LOUIS
No, my love. You will burn in hell,
for your sins. But I will not --
for I am King. My position is
ordained by God.

He snatches the gold coverlet from her bed to cover his naked
body and stalks to his stairway; the embroidered coverlet
trails behind him like a regal train in a royal procession.
Leaving her weeping, he moves down into...

INT. THE KING'S BEDCHAMBER - NIGHT

The King angrily stalks around his bedroom, too agitated to
sleep. He grabs food from the table by the window, and
starts to pop a grape into his mouth when he stops. He sees
something out the window; it stops him dead cold.

It is a man, standing in the gardens, wearing an iron mask.

LOUIS
D'Artagnan! Guards!

EXT. GARDENS - OUTSIDE THE KING'S WINDOW - NIGHT

The apparition ducks into the shadows.

INT. PALACE - D'ARTAGNAN'S ROOM - NIGHT

D'Artagnan is sitting on his cot thinking of all that has
just happened when he hears the king's shouts of alarm.

LOUIS' VOICE
Help!

In an instant d'Artagnan is reacting, snatching up his sword
and racing out into the corridor, toward the King's room.

INT. CORRIDOR - NIGHT

The guards outside the King's room find the door latched from
within, and they don't know what to do... D'Artagnan, running
up, never slows down; he crashes into the doors.

INT. THE KING'S BEDCHAMBER - NIGHT

The King whirls as the doors explode inward and d'Artagnan
barrels through.

LOUIS
Out there! Look! Out there! He --

The garden is empty.

D'ARTAGNAN
I just left the garden, it was
empty. What did you see?

LOUIS
It... was nothing. A nightmare,
nothing more. Go away, I --

D'Artagnan guides his guards out, but glances back to see the
King, ashamed and worried. D'Artagnan tells his men --

D'ARTAGNAN
Check the garden.

EXT. GARDEN - OUTSIDE THE KING'S WINDOW - NIGHT

An old Jesuit priest slips back into the garden chapel where
the nuns have returned to pray. He kneels at a back pew,
tucking the iron mask deep within his robes. The young
Musketeers who move through the garden glance into the
chapel, see only the normal piety, and move on. The old
priest crosses himself, bows his head, and smiles.

CUT TO:

CLOSE - PHILLIPPE'S EYES, THROUGH THE SLITS OF THE MASK

They are frightened. As we PULL BACK we see the Iron Mask,
in an OVERHEAD POV... Phillippe is lying on his back, his
head resting on an anvil. Athos stands close by, lending
support; Aramis and Porthos look on. A blacksmith stands
over Phillippe. He positions the point of his chisel against
the lock of the mask. It takes several ringing hammer blows
-- which we experience from a POV WITHIN THE MASK -- before
the lock breaks.

Athos, as gently as he can, pries open the iron mask.

PHILLIPPE'S FACE

is a wretched sight, overgrown with a matted tangle of hair
and beard, and with a deathly pallor.

Phillippe sits up, lifting his head out of the mask. He
looks at the Musketeers, watching them for their reactions.
At first they are frozen; then there is recognition, awe.

Phillippe sees a cooling bucket beside the forge, and looks
down into THE SURFACE OF THE WATER, at his REFLECTION.

PORTHOS
Aramis! Athos! He looks exactly
like... exactly like...

ARAMIS
I will answer all your questions.
But first soap, water, and a razor.

INT. THE MANOR HOUSE'S MAIN DINING ROOM - DAY

Aramis and Porthos are sitting at the table when Athos ushers
in --

PHILLIPPE, CLEANED UP

The change in him is remarkable, and his face so identical to
the King's that Porthos actually jumps. Phillippe takes a
seat opposite Aramis, and looks around, wary, vulnerable.

ARAMIS
Yes. Identical.

Aramis' eyes are aflame as he looks across at Phillippe.

ARAMIS
The greatest secret of life is who
we truly are. Now I must give you
that secret, which has been kept
from you your whole life. It began
on the night when Louis was born.

PORTHOS
I remember that night. D'Artagnan
was drunk, the only time I've seen
him that way. The three of us were
reveling, remember, Athos?

ARAMIS
But I was on duty...

IN FLASHBACK...

We see the shadowy Musketeer we saw in the opening, moving up
the dark steps of the palace. We see now it was Aramis.

ARAMIS' VOICE
I was summoned to the royal
apartments. Arrange a carriage,
they told me, and wait by the door
of the stables.

INTERCUT FLASHBACK

We see images of that night, as we saw in the opening.

ARAMIS' VOICE
They brought a baby from the back of
the palace, into the black carriage
I had waiting. They had given the
driver instructions about where it
was, and I was ordered to make the
whole journey with the blinds of the
carriage drawn.

In the flashback we see the young Musketeer Aramis, his face
shielded in shadow, handing a living bundle over to someone
at one of the back doors of a large country house.

ARAMIS' VOICE
I carried that baby into the
countryside, to a chateau, like this
one. And there I left him.

ARAMIS IN THE PRESENT

ARAMIS
I have never forgotten that night,
or what I carried.

PORTHOS
I don't understand. What does this
have to do with...? You carried a
baby somewhere, it's unusual, but --

ARAMIS
Not just a baby, Porthos. I carried
the child of the king.

PORTHOS
The child of the king is... the
king. Louis!

ARAMIS
No, not Louis!

PORTHOS
Athos, do you understand this? He
confuses me --

ARAMIS
I carried the king's child! The
queen had twins that night, and one
of them was sent away, in secret!

PORTHOS
But why?

ARAMIS
Because the old king had a twin as
well, and through his whole reign
his brother fought him for the
throne. Then he had two heirs, not
just sons but twins. So he decided
that one be put away, as if he never
existed. You, Phillippe.

Phillippe is pale... We DISSOLVE TO a flashback of
Phillippe's early education in the country house.

ARAMIS' VOICE
The old king ordered you be educated
and well treated, but your identity
kept from you and all those around
you.

The FLASHBACK moves to the palace, matching the narration --

ARAMIS' VOICE
On his death bed, he revealed your
existence to Louis and your mother.
Your mother had been told by her own
priest that you had died at birth.
Somehow she blamed herself for ever
believing it, and she wished to
restore your birthright. But now
Louis was king.

We see in FLASHBACK Louis wearing his new crown, plotting.

ARAMIS' VOICE
A priest, even a Pope, he could kill
without hesitation, but he was
afraid to kill you, for his whole
claim to power rests on the sanctity
of royal blood. So he had you
hidden in a way that only a monster
could devise. I know, for it was I
who took you to prison, and the Iron
Mask. Someday I will ask your
forgiveness. But not until we have
restored to you what is yours.

We are in present time again. All eyes are on Phillippe.

PHILLIPPE
Restored...?

ARAMIS
We will replace Louis with
Phillippe. No one but the King
himself -- and now we -- knows
Phillippe even exists. All we have
to do is switch them.

ATHOS
Switch?! That is your plan? It is
ludicrous!

ARAMIS
I have it all worked out.

ATHOS
Physical resemblance is but one
small thing! Louis has an
arrogance, a manner --

ARAMIS
Those can be adopted --

ATHOS
And people close to him, who --

ARAMIS
Do you think I have not considered
that? I have a plan -- and you may
rest assured that it is brilliant!

ATHOS
It is not just our lives you risk
with this conceit of yours! It is
Phillippe's as well!

ARAMIS
Yes, and he has a choice!

Aramis stops thundering at Athos, and turns to Phillippe.

ARAMIS
What about it, Phillippe?! All that
time in prison, all that time you
suffered, was it for nothing?! You
memorized the entire Bible, or so
your priest told me! An act of
survival, of defiance, of courage!
Your years within the mask have
given you reserves of strength that
others could not imagine. Your home
was a dungeon and now you may be a
king, if you have the heart to make
it so! Do you have the heart?

Phillippe stands shakily, and faces them.

PHILLIPPE
I will try.

Phillippe walks -- nearly wanders -- from the room.

ARAMIS
You see? A king.

Athos, with a glare at Aramis, follows Phillippe.

EXT. MANOR HOUSE GARDENS - DAY

The gardens are sun drenched, bursting with the beauty of a
French summer. Athos finds Phillippe there, sitting alone.

ATHOS
Recent hours have been a shock.

PHILLIPPE
Perhaps not as much as you might
imagine. When tutors answered every
question except those about who I
was. When I was imprisoned in a way
no other man had ever been, I knew
there was something different about
me. But a king...

ATHOS
Phillippe... there is something I
hope you understand. Terrible
cruelty has been used against you.
And... you must understand that you
did nothing to deserve it.

PHILLIPPE
There is... wrath... in me. I have
learned to hide it. Those years in
the cell, I dreamed that freedom
would someday just happen, the way
the mask happened. Now I am free.
And with each free breath I feel the
growing desire to make someone
suffer for all I lost. Look at
this, all this that for ten years I
could not see! What if I become a
king -- a king no different from my
brother?

ATHOS
The desire for vengeance... can be a
poison.

PHILLIPPE
What is its antidote?

ATHOS
I suppose... it is to remember there
are many people who have never been
in a prison, who pass such beauty
every day, and never see it.

Phillippe reaches to a flower, plucks it, and smells it. He
looks around at the beauty of the garden, taking it all in.
Athos looks around too; then Athos realizes Phillippe is no
longer looking at the garden, but at him.

PHILLIPPE
You look so sad. Is it something I
have done?

ATHOS
It is something I have done -- or
did not do.

PHILLIPPE
What is that?

ATHOS
I did not share beauty with
someone... who is no longer here for
me to share beauty with.

Before Phillippe can pursue this, Athos turns businesslike.

ATHOS
We have much to do, we'd best get
started. Now suppose you were to
walk into a garden, as a king...

INT. MANOR HOUSE DINING ROOM - NIGHT

Aramis is having dinner; he calls toward the kitchen.

ARAMIS
More wine!

Athos enters and sags into a chair, his energy spent.

ARAMIS
How is he?

ATHOS
Resting, he's had a long day.
Aramis --

ARAMIS
(calling out)
More wine!!

ATHOS
You must reconsider this plan.
Phillippe is like a child, he --

ARAMIS
You can do it.

ATHOS
In a year, maybe two, I could teach
him enough to --

ARAMIS
Three days.

ATHOS
Three days??!!

ARAMIS
The King is having a ball, a
masquerade ball. It is the perfect
opportunity and perhaps our only
one. At any time Phillippe could be
discovered, and what then? Remember
France. Remember the poor.
Remember Raoul. More wine!! Where
are those serving girls...?

EXT. CHATEAU - NIGHT

As Aramis and Athos are downstairs arguing, we PAN UP to the
window of a candlelit bedroom...

INT. CHATEAU BEDROOM - NIGHT

We PAN from the window to the bed... where Porthos is making
love -- or trying to. We see his huge, bare, broad back,
blotting out all view of his partner. He grunts, then roles
over in despair -- revealing not one but three serving girls
lying beneath him, jammed side-by-side like firewood, all
nearly smothered by Porthos' bulk.

PORTHOS
It's no use. My sword is bent.

SERVING WOMAN
It'll be all right. You're just
taking a while to get started.

PORTHOS
No, it's dead. I am useless.

Porthos heaves himself out of bed.

EXT. CHATEAU - NIGHT

While Aramis and Athos are visible through the window,
arguing and gesturing, Porthos -- still naked -- walks across
the moonlit courtyard, to the barn.

INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT

ATHOS
Phillippe -- he's very bright, he's
perceptive, but he is in such
turmoil --

ARAMIS
You grow fond of him. That's good.

ATHOS
Don't play God with me, Aramis I --

Athos interrupts himself as he glimpses the naked Porthos
moving across the courtyard toward the barn.

ARAMIS
Go on.

ATHOS
But -- what is Porthos doing?

ARAMIS
Going into the barn naked -- or so
it appears.

We INTERCUT Porthos in the barn with Aramis and Athos in the
house...

IN THE BARN

Porthos, alone within the barn, finds a thick plow rope and
fashions a noose.

IN THE HOUSE

ARAMIS
Now. You were saying?

ATHOS
But -- what is he doing?

ARAMIS
About to hang himself, I should
think.

IN THE BARN

Porthos throws one end of the rope over the central beam of
the barn, and ties the other end off. He shoves a milking
stool up below the noose, climbs onto it, and fits the noose
around his neck. NOTE: When we see him in full view it is
only from behind -- and this angle is a sight to behold.

IN THE HOUSE

Aramis' detachment only aggravates Athos' excitement.

ATHOS
Hang himself?!

ARAMIS
He's threatened to do it, it's been
building up in him for months.

ATHOS
We must stop him!

ARAMIS
Come now, Athos, if Porthos is
determined to end his life, then he
will certainly manage to find the
opportunity.

ATHOS
But -- but --

Athos jumps up and makes for the door -- but Aramis' hooded
helpers, at a signal from Aramis, bar his way.

IN THE BARN

Porthos, grave with drama, utters his last words...

PORTHOS
A'dieu, cruel life! Farewell to
useless Porthos!

He steps off the stool.

His great weight drops. The rope snaps taught. The beam it
is tied to snaps like a twig -- right in the place where it
has been sawn nearly in half already.

Porthos falls unencumbered and slams butt first into the
floorboards of the barn, cracking them.

ARAMIS AND ATHOS

can hear the crack from where they're sitting.

ARAMIS
I sawed the main beam in half.

IN THE BARN

The chain reaction has just begun. The broken floorboards
buckle, and the barn's walls, deprived of their central
support, fall in on each other.

IN THE FRONT ROOM

Athos and Aramis watch wide-eyed as the whole barn completely
collapses around the unfortunate Porthos. Athos gives Aramis
a look.

ARAMIS
I'm a genius -- not an engineer!

They jump up and run out. The commotion draws others too --
especially the three wenches Porthos had been trying to bed.

THE COLLAPSED BARN

It's a tangle of debris -- and from the size and weight of
the pile, it looks as if no one could live through the
collapse. For a moment the whole pile lies silent; then
suddenly it bursts apart and Porthos emerges, exploding with
anger.

PORTHOS
Aramis!! You did this, didn't you!
You knew I would try hanging myself,
and you sawed the beam! Admit it!
Admit it, by God!! ADMIT IT!!!

Porthos' eyes are bulging; he's terrifying in his fury. And
he holds one of the broken barn's timbers like a giant club,
ready to bash in Aramis' brains. Aramis is totally casual.

ARAMIS
Well of course I knew it, Porthos.

Porthos stands there, blinking.

ARAMIS
You've been moping for months. Now
that you've gotten the idea of
killing yourself out of the way, you
can stop boring me and start being
useful to me. Now get some rest.

PORTHOS
Well... Well... Okay.

Porthos starts back toward the house. Then one of the
serving girls, heading back inside, sees in one of the upper
windows -- the face in the Iron Mask. She SCREAMS --

WENCH
AAAAAAHHHHHHH!

Phillippe shies back from the window now, but it's too late,
everyone has seen him. Aramis, with cold intellectual
curiosity, quietly observes the women's reaction, even as his
hooded helpers scurry from the shadows to calm the frightened
locals.

ATHOS
Poor Phillippe!

ARAMIS
The mask is terrifying... especially
when unexpected. Do you notice?

ATHOS
All I noticed was that Phillippe
feels even more like an animal.

Athos hurries in; Aramis looks at Porthos.

ARAMIS
See, Porthos -- secrets are hard to
keep. We don't have much time.

INT. PHILLIPPE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Athos enters to find Phillippe in a corner of the bedroom,
slumped and ashamed in the darkness, holding the mask.

PHILLIPPE
I've worn this mask so long, I
couldn't sleep without it.

ATHOS
I will sit with you. I can't sleep
either.

Athos settles into a chair, as Phillippe lays the mask aside
on the table and closes his eyes. Athos looks toward the
flames of the fireplace, and in their dancing shadows he sees
the face of Raoul. Phillippe's voice interrupts --

PHILLIPPE
Athos...? Thank you for being my
guide... back into the world.

Athos had not thought of it that way. Phillippe closes his
eyes again, and falls asleep.

INT. PHILLIPPE'S BEDROOM - MORNING

Light falls on Athos' face; it is dawn. He hears the whinny
of horses, and looks out the window to see a carriage about
to leave. Reacting quickly, he hurries out quietly.

EXT. CHATEAU - MORNING

Aramis and Porthos are already loaded into the carriage, as
Athos runs up.

ATHOS
Where are you going?!

ARAMIS
Paris. There is still much to do.
We'll be back soon. Be ready.

ATHOS
But Aramis -- ! Phillippe can learn
in time, but --

ARAMIS
He can learn to be Phillippe in
time. But first he must learn to be
Louis, and for that he has two more
days.

ATHOS
What you're asking is impossible!

ARAMIS
I offer you the perfect revolution.
A revolution without bloodshed,
without any loss of life, even
without treason, for he too is the
son of the King.

ATHOS
But --

ARAMIS
You said you'd do anything, Athos,
anything to replace this King. So
do it.

Aramis motions to the driver, who snaps the reins and drives
the horses away.

Athos, wide-eyed and alone, watches the carriage roll away.
He turns back toward the house, and see's Phillippe looking
out the window -- without the mask.

INT. MANOR HOUSE - DINING ROOM - DAY

Athos and Phillippe are having breakfast.

ATHOS
No, wait, do not hold your goblet
that way. With a king it is... so.

He shows him, pinching the goblet between thumb and
forefinger, as the other three fingers extend daintily.

ATHOS
It is not to be dainty. Servants
have touched the King's goblet, so
he will touch it as little as
possible.

Phillippe tries it and the goblet slips from his fingers,
crashing onto his plate and spilling onto everything.

PHILLIPPE
I am so sorry! Forgive me, I --

ATHOS
No! Do not be sorry! Never be
sorry! The King cares for nothing
and for no one! There are no
mistakes when you are King! What
you do is right for every person! A
King has contempt for everyone!

PHILLIPPE
Is that the king of king you wish me
to be? Or do you say this because
of your son?

ATHOS
How did you know -- ?

PHILLIPPE
Porthos told me.

For a moment Athos can say nothing; then he shoves back from
the table and storms from the room.

INT. COUNTRY MANOR HOUSE - ATHOS' ROOM - NIGHT

Athos is pacing in his room, all alone, rehearsing the things
he wants to say to Phillippe.

ATHOS
I am not... I am not angry with you.
You understand? Good. Now, as to
acting like a king, we wish you to
be a good king. But at first... at
first you must pass as Louis, and
Louis is cold and cruel. So you
must stop looking at people with
such softness. It is... not Kingly.
The eyes of a King say that all he
cares about is himself, and your
eyes -- how do I tell him this -- ?
You eyes... ask so much. You
shouldn't care about me, about my --
about...

Athos' voice breaks, his body sags.

ATHOS
Oh Raoul, my son... my son...

Athos weeps.

INT. MANOR HOUSE - DAY

Phillippe sits alone in the parlor; he looks up as Athos --
his face washed, no sign of grief -- marches in.

ATHOS
Come, we have much to do.

MONTAGE - ATHOS TRAINING PHILLIPPE

-- They practice sword fighting, Athos being sure that
Phillippe knows Kingly posture...

-- They rehearse holding court, with Athos showing Phillippe
how to sit in a chair like a King on his throne, and then
Phillippe trying it, with Athos then playing the roll of a
courtesan paying homage...

-- They rehearse courtly dancing; and as they stumble, both
of them feeling embarrassed and ridiculous, they laugh.

EXT. PARIS STREET - NIGHT

Aramis' carriage rattles to a stop, the hooves of the horses
sounding hollow on the cobblestones. They are near the same
area where the riots occurred; now, at night, everything
looks deserted. Aramis steps from the carriage.

ARAMIS
Coming?

PORTHOS
What use am I?

ARAMIS
We go someplace dangerous.

PORTHOS
Why didn't you say so?

Porthos steps out with him, and Aramis leads the way down a
dark, spooky alley.

EXT. PARIS BACKSTREETS - NIGHT

They walk through the murky darkness of Paris' backstreets.

PORTHOS
It is good to be out on a mission
again... We are out on a mission,
aren't we?

Aramis grunts non-committally, lost in thought.

PORTHOS
You're right. Tell Porthos nothing.
He needs to know nothing, for he is
useless.

Just as he says this a sinister form steps from the shadows
and blocks their way. He holds a knife. Another ROBBER with
a sword rises from a doorway beside them.

ROBBER
Your money or your life.

Aramis looks bored; Porthos stands blinking in surprise.
Then a third robber steps up behind them, cocking a pistol.

THIRD ROBBER
Make it quick, old man!

PORTHOS
Old? Old?! You're all trying to
rob us because you think we're old?

The man with a sword steps forward to hack Porthos down, but
Porthos spins, slapping the pistol, making it BOOM but miss;
he kicks the swordsman in the groin, then smashes his head
against the alley wall; he backhands the gunman. The robber
with the knife tries to run; Porthos snatches a barrel from
the street and hurls it into the fleeing robber's back; he
falls in a heap.

Porthos' fury has just begun. He picks the fallen gunman up
by the throat, slams him stomach down across a broken alley
cart, and with one sweep of his mighty hand Porthos snatches
down the man's pants.

PORTHOS
Old?! I'll show you old!!

Porthos snatches the pistol from the cobblestones. We see
the shock and terror on the robber's face as he feels
something shocking happen behind him.

PORTHOS
Let's see you rob somebody with your
pistol there!

ARAMIS
Come on...

Aramis, acting as if nothing happened, leads Porthos away.

PORTHOS
I have to tell you something. I
love Paris!

Aramis has found what he's looking for: a filthy brothel.

ARAMIS
Here we are.

Aramis leads Porthos inside.

INT. BROTHEL - NIGHT

Sleazy whores lounge around, women at the very bottom of
life. They stir and try to look more appealing as the two
well dressed gentlemen enter.

PORTHOS
Aramis... These are... these are
whores!

ARAMIS
So was Mary Magdalene, and our Lord
loved her.

PORTHOS
Did she have tits like that?

A greasy, disgusting PIMP shuffles over.

PIMP
What do you want? White? Black?
Both?

ARAMIS
No. We want you, Father Belles.

The pimp reacts with fury, drawing a pistol.

PIMP
Get out! Now! I will kill you
where you stand!

Aramis slowly falls to his knees, before the pimp.

ARAMIS
Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.

The pimp -- the former Father Belles, the same man we saw as
the priest who prayed with the Queen at the royal birth in
the opening -- shoves his pistol at Aramis' face.

PIMP
Don't! Get out!

ARAMIS
I have sinned. And no other
priest's assurance of forgiveness
can mean as much as yours. Tell me
that I can be forgiven, no matter
what I have done.

Aramis' eyes are hypnotic, staring deep into the fallen
priest's soul. Porthos is bug-eyed, certain Aramis' head is
about to be blown apart.

PORTHOS
He's going to kill you, Aramis.

ARAMIS
Then let him kill me, if all my
faith is wrong.

He stares at the pimp. The pimp's finger trembles on the
trigger.

ARAMIS
I have come to help you make it
right. I have come to take you
home.

The pimp shakes convulsively; he drops to his knees, bows his
head, and weeps.

EXT. STREETS OF PARIS - NIGHT

Aramis' carriage rattles through the dark streets; we play
these secret movement sequences with an ominous, Jack-the-
Ripper quality. The carriage pulls into...

INT. CATHEDRAL COURTYARD - NIGHT

The priests scurry out to meet it. First Aramis emerges,
then Porthos -- but the appearance of the pimp surprises the
cathedral priests. They cross themselves.

PRIESTS
Father Belles!

Crossing themselves, they embrace the prodigal priest; one
MONK kneels before Aramis.

MONK
You have made a miracle!

ARAMIS
God makes miracles. You make
dinner.

As Aramis strides toward the dining room, a Jesuit hurries up
to him.

JESUIT
The ball has been rescheduled -- for
tomorrow.

As Aramis hears this in surprise --

SMASH TO:

EXT. ROADS - NIGHT

The carriage thunders through the countryside, back toward
the manor house.

EXT. MANOR HOUSE - DAY

Athos and Phillippe sit at a table in the shade of a tree; on
the table is a model of the palace which Athos is using to
drill Phillippe on the palace's layout.

ATHOS
These rooms are yours. Up these
stairs -- or through this hidden
passage -- is the room of your
mistress... Michelle.

PHILLIPPE
Whose rooms are those?

ATHOS
Your mother's.

They are interrupted as the carriage bearing Aramis and
Porthos clatters in. Aramis is out immediately.

ARAMIS
Change the horses! Clear out
everything! NOW!!

INT. CARRIAGE - ROLLING - DAY

The three Musketeers, plus Phillippe, are hurrying back
toward Paris.

ATHOS
Aramis, this will never --

ARAMIS
Louis is planning a visit to the
Vatican, then who knows where after
that. If we miss him now we may not
get another chance.

ATHOS
But --

ARAMIS
It presses us but it is good for us
too! Louis' whims make him more
vulnerable. We are less ready, but
so are his guards!

PORTHOS
D'Artagnan, unready?

ATHOS
At a ball, everyone watches the
King!

ARAMIS
But what if something extraordinary
happened? Something so unusual that
all the attention went to someone
else? Someone whose confirmation of
Phillippe the King would never be
questioned.

PORTHOS
Who?

ARAMIS
The Queen Mother. Anne.

And Aramis leans forward to tell them his plan...

EXT. PALACE - DAY

Teams of servants are filing in and out of the palace with
food and flowers, decorating the ballroom for the ball that
evening. In contrast, Anne and her devout retinue of nuns
move in single file toward the garden chapel.

INT. GARDEN CHAPEL - DAY

The nuns kneel at the altar as Anne enters the confessional.

INT. CONFESSIONAL BOOTH - DAY

ANNE
Bless me Father, for I have sinned.

FATHER BELLES
So have I.

He slides open the partition window between them.

ANNE
Father Belles -- ?!

He taps a silencing finger to his lips.

ANNE
They told me you were dead.

FATHER BELLES
I was. I see you are still a woman
of faith. I have come back to ask
you if you believe that one lie can
poison your whole life... and one
truth can put it back together
again.

Anne stares at the eyes of the priest, back from hell.

INT. PALACE - KING'S ROOM - DAY

As Louis' tailors outfit him in a dazzling gold peacock
costume, complete with a jeweled mask at the end of a wand,
he amuses himself by looking out the window at the beautiful
young women arriving early for the ball.

LOUIS
It shall be interesting tonight.

D'Artagnan enters, looking concerned.

D'ARTAGNAN
Your Majesty. This ball, with an
open invitation to the nobility of
Paris -- we have no way of
checking --

LOUIS
You will protect me as you always
have, d'Artagnan.

Through the window Louis sees more beautiful young women.

LOUIS
By the way, Claude -- inform
Mademoiselle Beaufort that she will
be moving from her rooms --

He looks up to see that Michelle has entered through the open
door behind him.

LOUIS
Never mind, it seems we have already
told her.

But Michelle's appearance brings him up short. It is not the
cruel brush-off; she is already harshly different: her eyes
are red from crying, her lips are tight in anger.

MICHELLE
Murderer! Murderer!

She holds a letter, crushed in her hand.

MICHELLE
I wrote Fromberge! Under your seal!
I wrote as you, demanding to know
why he disregarded my order to keep
Raoul from danger! He writes back:
"But your Majesty! Your last letter
ordered me to put him in front of
the cannon!"

She hurls the crumpled letter into his face. Everyone is
frozen, silent. She staggers toward Louis as if to attack
him, then falls to her knees, weeping. No one helps her...

Except d'Artagnan. He kneels, hugs her shoulders, helps her
to her feet, and guides her toward her room. But d'Artagnan
looks back once, toward Louis.

LOUIS
Hysterical woman.

CLAUDE
Sire, misuse of the royal seal -- !

LOUIS
She'll be gone tomorrow.

As d'Artagnan and Michelle move out, they pass Anne, coming
in. Anne and d'Artagnan exchange a look; he remembers to
give her a respectful nod, but she moves past, into the
King's dressing room. Louis is surprised.

LOUIS
Mother -- ?

ANNE
May I speak with you? Alone?

LOUIS
I am preparing for a ball!

ANNE
We haven't visited in three years.
And we should have privacy.

Exasperated, Louis waves his attendants away.

LOUIS
What is it, mother?

ANNE
I wish to discuss your brother.

LOUIS
He is dead! By God's choice! There
is nothing to discuss.

ANNE
First they told me he had died at
birth. Then your father admitted he
was alive, but well cared for, in
secret. But the message that told
of his death said he had been a
prisoner.

LOUIS
I am King, Mother! And I do not
wish to discuss this with you.

ANNE
He was my blood -- and I demand to
know what happened to him.

LOUIS
Why would you ask now? You never
asked before!

ANNE
Because I have dreamed of him. Not
as the baby they took away, but as a
man.

LOUIS
You have prayed too much. Your mind
is weak.

Avoiding her stare, Louis lifts a plaster bust of his father,
its eyes like the sightless pupils of Greek gods.

ANNE
I believe in dreams, Louis. They
are our souls speaking to us, from
that world beyond our eyes. And
that son I never saw in daylight was
standing in the moonlight of my
dreams. And he wore an iron mask.

We see her from a low angle, from a POV behind Louis -- and
we see the plaster bust burst upon the marble floor.

LOUIS
It -- it doesn't matter, Mother! He
is dead now! Dead!

ANNE
Yes. Dead. Two nights ago. The
night of my dream.

And the night of Louis' "dream." Anne begins to walk out.

LOUIS
If... if he was wearing an iron mask
in your dream, then how could you
know he was your son?

Louis smiles; he thinks he has her.

ANNE
Then you did do it, Louis. You did
put your brother in an iron mask.

All the blood is gone from Louis' face. Anne walks from the
room, past Louis' waiting tailors. He snaps at them.

LOUIS
I have a ball to attend!

They rush in. As they scurry about, dressing him in gold,
Louis' composure returns; he stares at himself in the golden
mirror, likes what he sees... and smiles.

EXT. ROAD - NIGHT

Aramis' carriage pulls off the road and into the trees. The
Musketeers and Phillippe pile out, to find another much
grander carriage there waiting. Aramis ushers them into it.

PHILLIPPE
Whose carriage is this?

PORTHOS
It was mine. But since you are
about to be the king, it is yours.

The new carriage lurches away.

INSIDE THE NEW CARRIAGE

are bundles of elaborate clothes.

ARAMIS
Phillippe first.

They begin to dress Phillippe in a masquerade costume.

ARAMIS
Remember, Phillippe... nobility is
born in the heart.

ATHOS
Hold your goblet with two fingers.

PORTHOS
And make love as if you don't care.
The way Kings do. And fart whenever
you wish.

Aramis tucks a note into Phillippe's pocket.

ARAMIS
Remember, all you have to do is get
through tonight. Smile and nod a
lot, and if you get stuck just wave
and announce, "Continue." In the
morning you hand this note to
d'Artagnan, pardoning Athos and
instructing that he, Aramis and
Porthos be brought to the palace as
your advisors. And all is well.

Phillippe nods; everyone's nervous. Aramis grabs more
clothes and hands them out.

ARAMIS
Now the rest of us.

EXT. THE PALACE - NIGHT

Carriages disgorge guests, wildly attired for the masquerade
ball. Porthos' carriage pulls in among them.

INT. PALACE BALLROOM - NIGHT

A magnificent masquerade ball is in full swirl; the dazzling
light of chandeliers bounces off the gilt ceiling and
sparkles on the jewels of swirling dancers, their numbers
multiplied in the polished mirrors that line the walls.

The King is dancing and laughing with sexy young ladies.
D'Artagnan stands to the side of the ballroom, ever watchful,
ever remote.

As the dancers swirl, each one wearing a distinctive mask in
the garish style favored by the French nobility of the
1600's, we see one particular couple -- a large man, with an
excessively large woman. They are dancing vigorously, and as
they take a break behind a huge pillar, they lift their masks
enough for us to see that the man is Aramis, and the "woman"
is Porthos.

From the folds of their elaborate costumes they both withdraw
replicas of the iron mask that Phillippe once wore.

PORTHOS
D'Artagnan watches everything. We
have to be lucky.

ARAMIS
We will make our own luck tonight...
if Phillippe holds up.

Aramis peers across the ballroom, to where Athos and
Phillippe mix among the revelers, using thin sticks to hold
broad masks to their faces. Behind the masks we see their
eyes -- Athos' intense, Phillippe's nervous and darting.

ATHOS
Stay calm, you're doing fine.

Then Phillippe's eyes go strangely still; he sees, for the
first time in his life, his twin brother, the King.

PHILLIPPE
My brother...

Louis dances the minuet, prancing as if he is the center of
the universe; but this bliss is broken when one of the
dancers who swirls by him -- it is Aramis -- lifts the
baroque outer mask he's wearing and reveals an iron mask
beneath.

The King staggers, stopping. The sight stuns him, confuses
him; he looks around but the wearer of the mask has
disappeared among the weaving patterns of dancers. Louis'
hands dart to his eyes: are they playing tricks on him?

Seeing his reaction, Phillippe whispers --

PHILLIPPE
He knew. He knew what they did to
me.

The YOUNG BEAUTY dancing with Louis notices him falter.

YOUNG BEAUTY
What is wrong, your majesty?

LOUIS
Nothing, I -- continue.

Louis rejoins the dancing... and then sees, on the balcony
above him, a different person -- a huge "woman," Porthos --
who lifts off an outer mask to reveal an iron mask below.

LOUIS
There! Do you see it?

YOUNG BEAUTY
See what, Majesty?

Porthos has slipped away from the railing when the King looks
back up; the young beauty sees nothing, and turns back to the
King with a look that questions his sanity.

D'Artagnan notices the King's reaction -- though he did not
see the glimpse of the iron mask -- and is just as baffled as
everyone else when the King turns and staggers away.

D'ARTAGNAN
Your Majesty...?

LOUIS
... tired. Must... lie down.

The music splatters to an awkward stop; Louis hurries out,
leaving his partner abandoned in the center of the ballroom,
with everyone staring as if she just ruined the party.

D'ARTAGNAN
Carry on, everyone...

The music begins again, and the party goers, not knowing what
else to do, politely continue.

Athos draws Phillippe away from the ballroom, into a side
corridor.

AT THE FOOT OF THE STAIRS TO THE BALCONY

Porthos waddles down stairs, and meets Aramis.

ARAMIS
Quick, to the passages.

They hurry in the same direction Athos and Phillippe went.

INT. PALACE HALLWAY - OUTSIDE THE KING'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

D'Artagnan catches up to the King as he is entering the door
of his royal apartment.

D'ARTAGNAN
Your Majesty, is there anything -- ?

The King shuts the door in d'Artagnan's face.

INT. THE KING'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

The King falls upon his bed, pressing his hands to his head.

INT. PALACE CORRIDOR - NIGHT

The three Musketeers and Phillippe move quietly up a stairway
and to the door of a room. Phillippe whispers...

PHILLIPPE
The room of the King's favorite
mistress?

ATHOS
She will be at the ball.

INT. MICHELLE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

The door opens and they move in; it is in fact empty, though
a mess. They move to the wall, where Aramis, after a little
looking, locates the levers to open the wall/door to the
King's secret passageway. Aramis enters first, the others
follow. We half expect Michelle to pop up at any moment, but
the Musketeers enter the passage without incident.

INT. SECRET PASSAGES - NIGHT

Aramis silently leads the others through the secret passage,
to the portal into the King's bedroom.

INT. KING'S BEDCHAMBER - NIGHT

The King is lying on the bed; we see him from the POV of
someone approaching him slowly, silently. When his eyes open
in panic, it is too late... We see Aramis, Athos, Porthos
from the KING'S POV as they swarm him.

ARAMIS
It is Judgment Day.

His fist drops into frame... Louis loses consciousness.

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