The Three Musketeers

D’Artagnan continues his visits to Milady, with whom he is falling more and more in love. One night, her maid Kitty confesses her love for d’Artagnan and tells him that Milady is not in love with him. As proof, she gives d’Artagnan a note: Milady writes to the man she actually wants, the Comte de Wardes. Outraged, d’Artagnan wants revenge. Kitty pretends that she is too loyal to Milady to comply until d’Artagnan kisses her to seduce her into helping him. He spends time in Kitty’s room so he can overhear Milady’s conversations. Milady gloats that she has successfully captured d’Artagnan’s interest, by request of the cardinal. She is still frustrated that d’Artagnan didn’t kill Lord de Winter when he had the chance; Milady wants him dead so her son can inherit his fortune. The more d’Artagnan learns about Milady, the more he now finds her repulsive. However, he is also still attracted to her. D’Artagnan starts writing letters to Milady, pretending to be the Comte de Wardes.

When the three Musketeers and d’Artagnan meet up again, they all have different expressions: “Porthos, tranquility,” “d’Artagnan, hope,” “Aramis, uneasiness,” and “Athos, carelessness.” Aramis meets a stranger, who asks to see his handkerchief. When Aramis shows him the handkerchief given to him by his mistress, the man gives Aramis money from his mistress. D’Artagnan walks in on Aramis jumping for joy: He now has enough money for war equipment—though Aramis claims that it came from a poem of his being published. Porthos receives the horse and mule his mistress promised, but is angry to find that both animals are scrawny. D’Artagnan recognizes the horse as the sad pony he rode into Paris on. Porthos confronts Madame Coquenard about the embarrassing animals, but she insists she did her best.

D’Artagnan goes to Milady’s house for his nightly visit. When he teases that Kitty is much kinder than she is, Milady asks him to leave. D’Artagnan knows that, because of his fraudulent letter, Milady is expecting the Comte de Wardes. D’Artagnan hides in Kitty’s closet. The room is dark—Milady doesn’t want the comte to see her blush—so d’Artagnan approaches her, pretending to be the comte. Milady gives him a sapphire ring as a token of her affection.

The next day, d’Artagnan shows the ring to Athos and brags about his revenge. Athos is shocked to recognize the ring—it is a family heirloom that he gave to a loved one. D’Artagnan realizes that Athos must have given this sapphire ring to his wife. Athos warns d’Artagnan against seeing Milady ever again.

Kitty goes to d’Artagnan’s house—Milady asked her to deliver a message to the Comte de Wardes. D’Artagnan writes back to Milady as the comte, telling her that he has many other women occupying his time. Kitty takes this as a sign that d’Artagnan is finally hers. Milady receives the note and is extremely angry.

Milady is surprised when d’Artagnan doesn’t visit her as usual. She sends Kitty to ask why. D’Artagnan arrives; when he sees Milady’s sad disposition and her tears, he is instantly again infatuated with her: “His love, which he believed to be extinct but which was only asleep, awoke again in his heart” (729). He professes his desire, but Milady can only return his love if he kills the Comte de Wardes. Kitty is devastated by this turn of events.

D’Artagnan believes that he is in love with Milady, but he isn’t sure if she has real feelings for him. He and Milady have sex, but she can’t stop talking about him killing the comte. Unwilling to murder the man, d’Artagnan comes clean about the fake letters. Enraged, Milady punches d’Artagnan. As he tries to hold her back, her dress droops around the shoulders and he sees a fleur-de-lis brand on her shoulder, which matches that of Athos’s dead wife. Milady realizes that this “young man now knew her secret, her terrible secret” (749), so she tries to stab him with a blade. Even for the brave d’Artagnan, this is an intensely frightening moment because he is still naked. He manages to disarm Milady and barely escapes, dressed hastily in women’s clothes.

D’Artagnan runs to Athos’s house. Athos laughs because d’Artagnan is still dressed as a woman. When d’Artagnan describes Milady’s fleur-de-lis, Athos agrees she must be his former wife, who he thought was dead. Athos doesn’t know how she survived, but he is certain that Milady is working for the cardinal, making the situation even more dangerous. D’Artagnan gives Athos his family ring back, and Athos decides to sell it and split the money with d’Artagnan.

Kitty arrives, desperate to get out of her situation. If she stays, Milady will make her life miserable. D’Artagnan asks Aramis to find Kitty a new job in a new city, so Aramis arranges to send her to Tours.

The three Musketeers now have the money they need for their equipment. They vow to stay by d’Artagnan’s side to keep him safe.

Planchet brings d’Artagnan two letters. An unsigned letter invites d’Artagnan to a rendezvous; d’Artagnan assumes it is from Constance. The second letter is from the cardinal, ordering d’Artagnan to a meeting. Treville encourages him to meet the cardinal out of duty.

When the musketeers and d’Artagnan go to the meeting place specified in the first letter, a carriage drives by with a woman d’Artagnan is certain is Constance inside. The whole thing seems like a set-up. The Musketeers, along with others of the corps, then accompany d’Artagnan to his meeting with the cardinal. Although d’Artagnan is not yet a Musketeer, many of the Musketeers are happy to support their future comrade. Still, d’Artagnan is nervous because of Cardinal Richelieu’s immense power in France.

Cardinal Richelieu admires d’Artagnan’s short but fruitful time in Paris. He knows everything d’Artagnan has been up to, even remarking on the diamond d’Artagnan is wearing, which the queen gave him in thanks for completing the mission to England. The cardinal offers d’Artagnan a job in his own Guards, but d’Artagnan refuses. He can’t give up his Musketeer friends. The Cardinal is surprised and offended; he remains outwardly amiable, though his manner indicates that he knows more than he lets on. On his way out, a somewhat frightened d’Artagnan almost reconsiders the Cardinal’s offer, but knows he doesn’t want to leave his friends.

The Musketeers and other units line up for the King’s review of their equipment ahead of war. Porthos and Madame Coquenard have a tearful last night together before he leaves. Aramis writes a long letter, though no one knows to whom. As d’Artagnan joins his unit, Milady points him out to two of his fellow soldiers.

The cardinal started the war to reclaim La Rochelle—first because the city is now held by the English and populated by Huguenots, and second, because it is an important port connecting England and France. For the cardinal, this battle will also be revenge on the duke for his affair with the queen and for evading the king’s suspicions.

D’Artagnan’s unit arrives at the battle before the Musketeers, who are traveling slowly with the King.

D’Artagnan takes stock of his life. He has high hopes for the war, which he believes will prove his mettle enough for him to become a Musketeer; however, although he has won the favor of the Queen of France, he also made enemies of the cardinal and Milady. He believes he is in love with Constance, but their relationship remains unconsummated.

As d’Artagnan thinks about these things, he suddenly sees a musket aimed at him. He just manages to dive for cover as someone shoots at him. Back at camp, he can think of three possibilities. The first and most obvious is that a soldier from La Rochelle noticed d’Artagnan and took the opportunity to kill an enemy. But the bullets shot at him came from a weapon too sophisticated to be a regular soldier’s gun. That means the shooter was sent by the cardinal or by Milady. D’Artagnan sleeps fitfully, worried that he will be attacked again.

D’Artagnan is selected to scout the Rochellais bastion’s defenses. As his small group goes on their mission, two of the men suddenly disappear. Suddenly, d’Artagnan and his remaining companion soldier are shot at. The shooters are the missing two men. D’Artagnan plays dead, and then leaps at the men when they come closer. One runs toward the bastion, hoping to join the Rochellais, but they shoot him. After d’Artagnan subdues Brisemont, the other would-be killer, Brisemont confesses that they were sent by Milady. D’Artagnan wants the letter from Milady as proof, but it is in the hands of the assassin who ran to the bastion. D’Artagnan manages to reach him, using him as a human shield while he runs away from the bastion. On the dead assassin is a letter that orders the assassination attempt and also reveals that Constance has eluded Milady’s goons and is hiding in a convent.

D’Artagnan dumps the dead assassin, but brings Brisemont one back to camp. When he tells no one what Brisemont tried to do, he wins the approval of his unit for his brave mission and gains a new ally in Brisemont.

D’Artagnan gets a letter from the Musketeers’ purveyor, informing him that Athos, Porthos, and Aramis are confined in the King’s temporary castle after partying too much, but they are sending d’Artagnan a case of Anjou wine so he can drink to their health. D’Artagnan hosts a little banquet for his favorite friends in his unit.

Their party is interrupted by the arrival of the king and the cardinal. Porthos, Athos, and Aramis are happy to reunite with d’Artagnan. However, they insist they did not send him any wine—and the handwriting in the letter is not that of their purveyor. Meanwhile, Brisemont begins convulsing on the ground. He dies a horribly violent death, cursing d’Artagnan for betraying him—it turns out that the wine was poisoned.

The men agree that they must defeat Milady, but they need to be careful about their plan. D’Artagnan wants to free Constance and assumes the queen knows which convent she is in. Aramis has an intimate connection with someone who might be able to get this information from the queen.

The French defeat the English in the Battle of La Rochelle. Montague, an envoy of the Duke of Buckingham, is captured with a letter that proves that Spain, England, Germany, and Lorraine are all working together against France. In the Duke of Buckingham’s abandoned belongings, the French discover evidence against Queen Anne and her friend Madame Chevreuse. The cardinal mulls what to do with this information while the war continues.

Meanwhile, Aramis, Athos, and Porthos sneak away to drink at a bar called the Red Dovecot. They run into two suspicious-looking horsemen and demand to know their identity. One turns out to be the cardinal. None of the four should be away from camp, so all four have reason to cooperate. The Musketeers claim that they were at the Red Dovecot to defend a woman from rape. The cardinal, meanwhile, asks them to join him in an empty inn. The three Musketeers wait while he meets someone else in secret.

Listening in on the cardinal’s conversation, the three Musketeers discover that he is meeting with Milady. He has arranged for an English boat to sail Milady to her next mission: to threaten the Duke of Buckingham with the fact that the cardinal has proof of the affair and of political machinations against France. What’s more, the cardinal has imprisoned Montague and will torture him if the duke doesn’t comply. What’s more, Milady is to find an assassin who will kill the Duke of Buckingham for religious reasons. Milady in turn tells the cardinal about Constance, who is hiding out in a convent; the cardinal will try to find out which one. Finally, Milady confesses that she has made a dangerous enemy in d’Artagnan. The cardinal assures her that once he has proof of d’Artagnan’s conspiracy with the duke, he can have d’Artagnan imprisoned.

Porthos and Aramis leave with the cardinal. Once they’re gone, Athos returns and confronts Milady in her room. She is horrified to see him. He knows about everything she’s done, from stealing the queen’s diamond studs, to sleeping with d’Artagnan when he was disguised as the Comte de Wardes. Though he’s amazed and confused that Milady is still alive, Athos is more concerned about what she might do next. He doesn’t care if she kills the Duke of Buckingham, but if she hurts d’Artagnan, Athos will make her pay for it. Athos points a gun at her head and demands she hand over the cardinal’s signed instructions. He then meets up with the other Musketeers, and they go to find d’Artagnan.

The three Musketeers want to tell d’Artagnan about everything that has transpired, but they need privacy. They go to an inn, thinking it will be empty, but it’s full of soldiers eating breakfast. When d’Artagnan tells his friends about his role in the battle for the Bastion of Saint-Gervais, another soldier interrupts their conversation to hear the story. Knowing that they won’t get any privacy here, Athos bets the soldier that the three Musketeers can eat breakfast at the Bastion of Saint-Gervais without being killed by the English, who are certain to come back to try to win it back. Athos’s friends are upset by this dangerous bet, but Athos points out that there are still dead English soldiers on the battlefield; they can steal the dead men’s belongings.