I was struck by the treatment of the valets, especially Planchet. On hiring Planchet, d'Artagnan wondered how to engender respect and loyalty in him and came up with this solution:
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D'Artagnan duly thought it over and decided to beat Planchet provisionally, a task he performed with the conscientiousness he applied to everything, and then, having given him a good going over, he forbade him to leave his service without his permission.
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This approach filled the musketeers with respect for d'Artagnan's policies; Planchet was equally admiring and made no further mention of leaving his employ.
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Which seems particularly insensitive to a modern reader, even if reasonably accurate to the 17th century (and not the part about Planchet's attitude toward being beaten).
I'll add that while Dumas' grandfather brought his father to France and freed him, he sold his mother and sisters when he left what is now Haiti.