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Originally Posted by Hitch
I don't think that there's a way to write a female-centric retelling that gets Milady off the hook on the Constance angle--I don't see a "Mists of Avalon" version of TTM emerging anytime soon. Unless you significantly change the boys themselves, and turn them into decent human beings--which is, let's face it, more than a "retelling," and show Constance's alleged poisoning to be something else, NOT at the feed of LdW, which is not possible without just throwing over the book completely...you can't get there from here. By this time, any shreds of humanity remaining in LdW are pretty thoroughly stamped out. She does murder Constance in cold blood, just to revenge herself upon D'Artagnan. That is unforgiveable, in any environment. But I suspect that most people, having been dealt the cards that Milady was dealt, might be pretty damn blackhearted by that point, too.
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Oh, I think you can get Milady off the hook for Constance. Let's assume a version of the story in which Milady escapes execution and writes an account of her life, which is preserved for years, and finally found by someone who decides to correct the record and publish the "real story," not the self-justifying one the musketeers told.
In Milady's version, the musketeers are the criminals and they lie about Constance's death--perhaps she dies accidentally, perhaps she stays in the convent. They lie about Milady's execution because they are embarrassed that she outwitted them.
Okay, maybe it's more a reinvention than a retelling, but since the musketeers are already clearly a pack of thugs, why believe their story? All that's needed is to turn up their deceit and lawlessness a little bit more.