⚔ En Garde! ⚔

I need to talk about my man, my buddy, Monsieur le Docteur Lemay

look at this precious dork

Specifically, I want to talk about him and Constance, and the wonderful arc that played out there.

When Doctor Lemay first met Constance Bonacieux, he paid her…exactly zero attention, actually. I don’t think he registered she was there until she started questioning his methods, at which point he brushed her off because “Um??? I am a trained professional? Who are you? I don’t need? Advice from a woman?”  overall not a fantastic start

but

it turns out Constance was right. She’s in a metric What Ton of trouble for sneaking off with the Dauphin, but Lemay realizes…the Dauphin is getting better, and he’s aware it isn’t from his treatments. He openly admits that Constance had the right of it, which, coincidentally saves her life actually. She’s won his respect.

So much so, in fact, that he cites this new trust in her judgement and requests her assistance in treating M. de Treville’s wound later on, and prior to that agrees to test Emilie’s broth for her.

Basically, we see him go from totally disregarding her, to respecting her…he sees her as an absolute equal before the end.

And that’s not the best part.

Lemay develops such a regard for Constance, that he wants to marry her. And the way his proposal is phrased, it’s as if he’s seeing the two of them as married friends, essentially, “I like you a lot, I think you like me, we should live together; it’d be fun” And now the best part.

Constance turns him down, and his reaction?

He doesn’t get angry doesn’t argue with her, doesn’t splutter or protest or in any way give the impression that she’s wrong to turn him down. Instead, he’s even more impressed with her for making her own choices and doing what she wants to do.

D’Artagnan actually started out pretty much the same way with her; his first meeting with Constance wasn’t the best first impression, a random kiss for his own purposes, blatant rudeness rather than simple disregard, though he apologized shortly. In the Garrison, he says aloud, “I don’t need a woman to protect me,” But,

then Constance helps him with Gaudet (which…he was pretty audacious to ask, but she wanted to help Athos) and it starts; the beginning of respect.

And the ball keeps rolling. D’Artagnan starts to see Constance in a different light. She’s courageous, and kind, and a bit rebellious, as he finds out in The Good Soldier when she asks for shooting lessons.

So d’Artagnan develops a respect for Constance, which turns into admiration, which, before long, turns into love. Just like Lemay.

But with the similarities, there are also notable contrasts.

Lemay is a little older, with just a bit of gray to him. D’Artagnan is the opposite; a hot-blooded youth five years younger than Constance.

D’Artagnan is all fire and passion tinted with boyish sweetness, Lemay is a soft, slow song.

Most notable however is that where d’Artagnan is impatient, and one to get angry, (as seen at least twice in S2, when in a heated moment he calls Constance a coward, and then after Bonacieux’s death snaps that he might not wait for her) Lemay calmly and even gladly accepts Constance doing what she feels best.

Of course, the circumstances of these scenarios are different as well; with d’Artagnan, he knows that Constance’s choices, though reasonable, ultimately make her unhappy, hence part of his frustration with her. Just the opposite, Lemay gets to know that Constance’s choice not to be with him is for her happiness, which he gladly accepts.