Cap 1-3 The Three Musketeers begins with a young Gascon, d'Artagnan, leaving his home in the provinces

of France to make his fortune in Paris. His father gives him, as parting gifts, an old yellow horse and a letter of introduction to onsieur de !reville, head of the "ing's usketeers, the elite group of soldiers who make up the "ing and #ueen's personal bodyguard. $'Artagnan's father advises him to be guided by his courage and his wits, to take no flack from anyone but the %ardinal and the "ing, and to remember that with bravery and determination he can achieve anything. $'Artagnan's mother gives him the recipe for an herbal salve that will heal any wound he sustains in battle very &uickly, and with that the young man leaves home to make his fortune. At his first stop, in the town of eung, the hot'headed d'Artagnan gets into a fight with a

distinguished'looking gentlemen who ridicules him because of his mount. $'Artagnan is beaten unconscious by a group of the gentleman's lackeys. (hen he comes to, he sees the gentleman talking to a beautiful, fair woman in a carriage whom he calls ) ilady,) *ust as the two of them are riding off. He prepares himself to leave the town, but finds that the gentleman has stolen his letter of introduction to . de !reville.

$isheartened by the loss of the letter, but nonetheless full of Gascon spirit, d'Artagnan rides on to Paris and finds the home of . de !reville. Here, he is cowed by the profusion of usketeers who . spend their days lolling about de !reville's house and courtyard, telling stories of amorous and military con&uests, and mocking the %ardinal +to d'Artagnan's shock,. $'Artagnan is received into de !reville's private chamber. However, before the two can speak, de !reville calls in two of his musketeers, Aramis and Porthos. Aramis is a slight, somewhat foppish young man whom d'Artagnan had *ust overheard describing his intentions to eventually leave the showing off his new sash. . de !reville upbraids these two men, and their companion, the absent Athos, for a recent skirmish with the %ardinal's guards in which they were defeated and arrested, calling them cowards. !he men defend themselves, noting that they did in fact kill a couple of the guards. !hen, Athos''a handsome, highly distinguished man, the oldest of the three friends''makes a dramatic entrance, clearly overwhelmed by the pain of his wound. . de !reville is mollified by all of this, and his attitude turns from scolding to fatherly. .ut before he can praise the men Athos collapses from his wounds, and the whole household erupts into a fervor, looking for a doctor. usketeers and enter the %hurch. Porthos is a loud, proud, -aint .ernard'like fellow who d'Artagnan had *ust witnessed

After Athos has been tended to and everything has cleared up, d'Artagnan and

. de !reville

resume their interview. $'Artagnan e/plains the story of how he lost the letter, which, on top of a shared Gascon heritage, sparks the great man's interest in the young d'Artagnan. However, de !reville suspects that d'Artagnan might be an agent of the %ardinal, so he tests him by praising the %ardinal, guessing that any agent would have been trained to *oke about the idiocy of the )0ed $uke.) $'Artagnan surprises de !reville by eagerly agreeing, and saying how shocked he was at the usketeers' insults to one of France's most powerful men. However, before the interview can continue, d'Artagnan spots the him. an from eung, and goes tearing out of the house to challenge

Cap 4-6
$'Artagnan goes tearing after the an from eung, but he doesn't get far before he crashes into

Athos, who has *ust been released from the doctor's ministrations. Athos gets &uite cross with d'Artagnan, and once again the young Gascon's temper gets the better of him. !he two schedule a duel for noon that day to settle the issue. 1n even more of a rush, d'Artagnan runs dead into Porthos. !his time, d'Artagnan gets in trouble by mocking Porthos's new sash, for he happens to see that it is only gilded on one side. Porthos is angered, and the two set a duel for one o'clock that day. $'Artagnan cannot find his target anywhere on the street, but he does see Aramis, the third musketeer from . de !reville's chamber, down the street, engaged in conversation with two other usketeers. $'Artagnan approaches them, but again gets into a fight by tactlessly picking up a handkerchief from the ground that Aramis had been trying to hide, thus e/posing Aramis as being the lover of the lady to whom the handkerchief belongs. Aramis upbraids d'Artagnan for his rudeness, and the two set a duel for two o'clock that day. $'Artagnan is overwhelmed, but has to be amused by his own silliness, particularly in mocking Porthos for his clothing. He reasons that, at any rate, dying in a duel with a usketeer is a good way to go, for he feels he is certain to die''even if he can defeat one of them, he feels certain that he cannot take the three of them consecutively. 2ervous, but full of spirit and bravado, he goes to his first engagement with Athos. Athos and d'Artagnan arrive around the same time, and e/change gentlemanly courtesies. 3ust then, Aramis and Porthos arrive''they are to act as Athos's seconds. !he three men are all a little embarrassed to have scheduled duels with the same young man, particularly as Porthos and Aramis

have both done so for reasons they'd rather not share. $'Artagnan comports himself honorably, apologi4ing to Porthos and Aramis since it seems unlikely that they will actually get to duel him, and then preparing to fight. 3ust as he and Athos are about to cross swords, however, a troop of the %ardinal's guards rounds the corner. $ueling is against the law, and they declare their intention to arrest the fight. 1n a flash decision, d'Artagnan *oins the ranks of the usketeers. indful of de !reville's speech earlier, the three musketeers swear they won't allow it, and prepare to usketeers against the %ardinal's guards. !he fights starts, and d'Artagnan is the hero of the day5 he defeats the leader of the %ardinal's guard troop, and rescues the wounded Athos from his own assailant. 6ouis 7111, upon hearing of this embarrassing defeat for the %ardinal, asks de !reville to introduce him to the four men, with particular interest in d'Artagnan, whose valor seems all the more remarkable for his youth. However, when the four usketeers arrive to meet the "ing, they find that he has gone hunting, so they all head to play tennis together +the three musketeers have now taken a great liking to d'Artagnan,. At the tennis court, d'Artagnan gets in yet another fight, this time with one of the %ardinal's greatest guards, and is again marvelously victorious. $espite some scandal surrounding the duel, d'Artagnan and the musketeers are cleared of any blame. (hen they finally meet with the "ing the ne/t day, he commends them for their loyalty, d'Artagnan in particular, and gives the young Gascon a large sum of money to show his gratitude.

Cap 7-10
!he four friends decide that the money the "ing gave d'Artagnan should be spent on a dinner for all of them, and on getting d'Artagnan a servant. Porthos finds the servant, a man from Picardy +another province, named Planchet, and the friends en*oy a fine meal. A lengthy description of the servants and houses of the three musketeers ensues. Athos lives in a finely appointed apartment with his servant Grimaud, whom he has trained to be totally silent. Porthos lives in a house with a magnificent e/terior with his servant ouse&ueton, but no one has ever been inside his home. Aramis lives in a simple but elegant apartment with his servant .a4in, a religious man whose only wish is for his master to enter the %hurch.

6ife continues normally for awhile. !he friends spend all their time together, and eventually end up having to scrounge together free meals when their money runs out. !hen, one day, d'Artagnan arrives home to find a stranger in his house, begging him for help. !he man e/plains that he has

come to d'Artagnan because his wife has been kidnapped, and he fears that it is part of some political plot involving the #ueen. He e/plains that his wife is one of the #ueen's ladies'in'waiting, and that her kidnapping might have something to do with her knowledge of the #ueen's affair with the $uke of .uckingham. As it turns out, the little man is of onsieur .onacieu/, d'Artagnan's landlord, so d'Artagnan is all too happy to help him in return for rent. (hen $'Artagnan asks for a description adame .onacieu/'s captor, it sounds as though she has been kidnapped by $'Artagnan's own an from eung. 3ust at this point in the conversation, $'Artagnan spots that very nemesis, the

man, and goes racing after him. 8nce again, $'Artagnan loses sight of his &uarry. He returns to his apartment, and summons his three friends to discuss the news he's heard. He tells them all of adame .onacieu/'s fate, and asks what they believe they should do. 1nvolvement is risky, because it means taking the #ueen's part in what is surely a %ardinalist action against her, since the %ardinal and the #ueen are great enemies. !he four men decide, however, that they should aid adame .onacieu/ and therefore the #ueen, for this means foiling the %ardinal, and as 0oyalists the %ardinal is their primary enemy. 3ust then, onsieur .onacieu/ returns, and implores d'Artagnan to rescue him from a group of the usketeers cannot afford to be arrested,

%ardinal's guards who've come to arrest him. !o everyone's surprise, d'Artagnan instead allows the guards to arrest the draper''with their new plans, the whereas this, although Porthos is bewildered. !he police set up a )mousetrap) in .onacieu/'s apartment, where they capture anyone coming to visit and &uestion them about adame .onacieu/ and her husband. $'Artagnan listens to all of the adame .onacieu/ herself returns to the interrogations from his room, through the floor. Finally, onsieur .onacieu/'s arrest is fairly inconse&uential. Athos and Aramis &uickly understand

house. !he guards are trying to gag and restrain her when d'Artagnan bursts in, fights them off, and rescues her. He takes her to Athos's house, where she will be safe, and e/plains the situation with her husband. -he in turn e/plains to d'Artagnan that she was in fact kidnapped by the %ardinal's forces, but that she escaped and now has very important services to render to the #ueen. -he says that she must return to the 6ouvre, where the #ueen is9 $'Artagnan escorts back to the palace. 8ver the course of the afternoon's events, d'Artagnan has fallen &uite in love with adame . de adame .onacieu/

.onacieu/, and he makes sure that he will see her again before leaving her. He goes to

!reville's to get an alibi for his actions that evening, aware that he is now in direct conflict with the

%ardinal. He changes de !reville's clock, so the great man will think that d'Artagnan was with him at the e/act moment when he was fighting off the guards, and his alibi will be airtight.

Cap 11-15
!he four friends decide that the money the "ing gave d'Artagnan should be spent on a dinner for all of them, and on getting d'Artagnan a servant. Porthos finds the servant, a man from Picardy +another province, named Planchet, and the friends en*oy a fine meal. A lengthy description of the servants and houses of the three musketeers ensues. Athos lives in a finely appointed apartment with his servant Grimaud, whom he has trained to be totally silent. Porthos lives in a house with a magnificent e/terior with his servant ouse&ueton, but no one has ever been inside his home. Aramis lives in a simple but elegant apartment with his servant .a4in, a religious man whose only wish is for his master to enter the %hurch.

6ife continues normally for awhile. !he friends spend all their time together, and eventually end up having to scrounge together free meals when their money runs out. !hen, one day, d'Artagnan arrives home to find a stranger in his house, begging him for help. !he man e/plains that he has come to d'Artagnan because his wife has been kidnapped, and he fears that it is part of some political plot involving the #ueen. He e/plains that his wife is one of the #ueen's ladies'in'waiting, and that her kidnapping might have something to do with her knowledge of the #ueen's affair with the $uke of .uckingham. As it turns out, the little man is of onsieur .onacieu/, d'Artagnan's landlord, so d'Artagnan is all too happy to help him in return for rent. (hen $'Artagnan asks for a description adame .onacieu/'s captor, it sounds as though she has been kidnapped by $'Artagnan's own an from eung. 3ust at this point in the conversation, $'Artagnan spots that very nemesis, the

man, and goes racing after him. 8nce again, $'Artagnan loses sight of his &uarry. He returns to his apartment, and summons his three friends to discuss the news he's heard. He tells them all of adame .onacieu/'s fate, and asks what they believe they should do. 1nvolvement is risky, because it means taking the #ueen's part in what is surely a %ardinalist action against her, since the %ardinal and the #ueen are great enemies. !he four men decide, however, that they should aid adame .onacieu/ and therefore the #ueen, for this means foiling the %ardinal, and as 0oyalists the %ardinal is their primary enemy. 3ust then, onsieur .onacieu/ returns, and implores d'Artagnan to rescue him from a group of the usketeers cannot afford to be arrested,

%ardinal's guards who've come to arrest him. !o everyone's surprise, d'Artagnan instead allows the guards to arrest the draper''with their new plans, the

whereas

onsieur .onacieu/'s arrest is fairly inconse&uential. Athos and Aramis &uickly understand

this, although Porthos is bewildered. !he police set up a )mousetrap) in .onacieu/'s apartment, where they capture anyone coming to visit and &uestion them about adame .onacieu/ and her husband. $'Artagnan listens to all of the adame .onacieu/ herself returns to the interrogations from his room, through the floor. Finally,

house. !he guards are trying to gag and restrain her when d'Artagnan bursts in, fights them off, and rescues her. He takes her to Athos's house, where she will be safe, and e/plains the situation with her husband. -he in turn e/plains to d'Artagnan that she was in fact kidnapped by the %ardinal's forces, but that she escaped and now has very important services to render to the #ueen. -he says that she must return to the 6ouvre, where the #ueen is9 $'Artagnan escorts back to the palace. 8ver the course of the afternoon's events, d'Artagnan has fallen &uite in love with adame . de adame .onacieu/

.onacieu/, and he makes sure that he will see her again before leaving her. He goes to

!reville's to get an alibi for his actions that evening, aware that he is now in direct conflict with the %ardinal. He changes de !reville's clock, so the great man will think that d'Artagnan was with him at the e/act moment when he was fighting off the guards, and his alibi will be airtight.

Cap 16-20
!he %ardinal tells the "ing of the $uke of .uckingham's visit to the #ueen. !he "ing is incensed, and the %ardinal skillfully pretends to be defending the #ueen's honor, rather than trying to destroy it. He does not mention the #ueen's gift to .uckingham of the diamond brooch. 1nstead, he emphasi4es the fact that the #ueen seems to be involved in a political conspiracy with .uckingham that also includes -pain and Austria. !he "ing is furious, and suspects the #ueen personally as well as politically.

He demands that the #ueen be searched. Humiliatingly, the #ueen's &uarters and person are searched for incriminating letters, which are found, and indeed reveal her involvement in a political conspiracy against the %ardinal, but say nothing of her personal affairs. !he "ing is mollified''a plot against the %ardinal is nothing unusual or that ob*ectionable''and at the %ardinal's suggestion decides that he will have a great ball to try to make up for his insult to the #ueen. !he %ardinal also suggests that the "ing ask the #ueen to wear the diamond brooch she gave .uckingham to the ball +the king, of course, has no idea that the #ueen has given the brooch away,. eanwhile, the

%ardinal has commissioned

ilady, an agent of his, to steal a piece of the brooch from .uckingham

at a ball in .ritain, and she has successfully done so. !he "ing attempts to confront the #ueen subtly about the diamond brooch, suspecting something, but ends up simply revealing to her that the %ardinal knows she gave it to .uckingham. !he #ueen despairs, thinking that there is no way she can get the brooch back before the ball. !hen adame .onacieu/ arrives in her &uarters and, overhearing the #ueen's woes, offers to arrange for the pickup of the brooch from .uckingham in :ngland. !he #ueen writes a letter to the $uke of .uckingham, e/plaining her need for the brooch back. adame .onacieu/ goes home to her onsieur husband, who is back from his interrogation by the %ardinal, and tries to convince him to go to :ngland to give the letter to the $uke. However, with his new %ardinalist loyalties, .onacieu/ refuses, and the two have a fight. wife's actions9 *ust then d'Artagnan knocks on Having overheard, he implores adame .onacieu/'s door. onsieur .onacieu/ leaves to tell the %ardinal of his

adame .onacieu/ to take him into her confidence and allow him to

go to :ngland for her, professing his love as a guarantee of his reliability. After much goading, she yields and e/plains the mission to him. $'Artagnan is *oyous at the opportunity to serve both the #ueen and his beloved young Gascon. $'Artagnan rushes off to . de !reville and, without revealing any secrets, e/plains the situation to usketeers on the prete/t of allowing Athos a vacation to rest adame .onacieu/, and she herself is clearly starting to fall in love with the

the great man. !reville agrees to get d'Artagnan his leave from the guards, and gives Porthos, Aramis, and Athos a leave from the his wounds. $'Artagnan then goes and gathers his friends, and they leave Paris together. !he *ourney to .ritain is difficult, but d'Artagnan eventually arrives. Porthos is waylaid at a duel in a pub, Aramis is shot in the arm in an ambush and has to rest and recuperate, and Athos is caught in another ambush further along the way. Forced to leave his three friends, $'Artagnan travels on to .ritain, is forced to duel and nearly kill a %ardinalist agent, the %omte de (ardes, to leave France, and is able to get the letter from the #ueen to .uckingham *ust in time. %ap ;<';= $'Artagnan finds the $uke of .uckingham and gives him the #ueen's letter. As the $uke is giving the brooch to d'Artagnan, he sees that a piece of it is missing''the piece that ilady, whom he knows as 6ady de (inter, cut off the brooch at a ball. !he $uke calls a total blockade on all ships leaving :nglish ports, to prevent 6ady de (inter from reaching the %ardinal with her portion of the brooch.

!his blockade represents an act of war against France. !he $uke has the brooch repaired, and d'Artagnan races back to France. $'Artagnan arrives in Paris the night before the ball. He meets with tell, however, whether the brooch is whole or missing the piece that adame .onacieu/, who takes ilady cut from it''and did

the brooch from him. !he #ueen wears the brooch to the ball the following night. !he %ardinal can't manage to get to him, despite .uckingham's blockade. He approaches the #ueen and, in front of the "ing, offers her the missing piece of her brooch. !he #ueen feigns surprise at the odd gift''the brooch is clearly whole, as .uckingham's *eweler did an e/cellent *ob. 6ater, the #ueen summons d'Artagnan to her chambers, secretly allows him to kiss her hand, and gives him a beautiful ring as a token of her gratitude. At home, d'Artagnan finds a letter waiting for him, inviting him to meet the following night. $'Artagnan then visits adame .onacieu/ for a tryst

. de !reville, who has figured out that d'Artagnan was

involved in the odd events between the "ing, #ueen, and %ardinal at the ball, although he doesn't really know how. He begs d'Artagnan to be cautious. He then spots the ring, and d'Artagnan tells him how he )met) the #ueen. !reville is impressed, but sees this as even more reason to be careful9 in fact, !reville feels d'Artagnan should sell the ring. $'Artagnan refuses, but promises to be cautious. He then goes and meets up with Planchet, and the two head out of the city to the tryst. At the appointed spot, d'Artagnan sends Planchet off, and waits for to meet. !here has clearly been a struggle, and she is not there. adame .onacieu/, came and kidnapped d'Artagnan's love. $'Artagnan heads back to Paris, and tells . de !reville of his troubles. !reville is convinced that it's adame .onacieu/ alone. After

waiting for an hour, he starts to grow an/ious, and looks inside the house where they are appointed ad with worry, d'Artagnan finds out from a local peasant that a group of men, including one smaller than the rest who identified

a %ardinalist conspiracy, and recommends that d'Artagnan leave Paris to go check on his friends, while !reville will try to find out what he can. !reville's advice is good5 when d'Artagnan returns home, Planchet informs him that the head of the %ardinal's guards came around looking for him, under the pretence that the %ardinal wanted to speak to him. After one last check at his friends' homes, during which he picks up a letter from Aramis's house that seems to be from a lady, $'Artagnan and Planchet leave Paris. .efore he leaves, d'Artagnan runs into and figures out that he must be the little man who identified onsieur .onacieu/, adame .onacieu/ to her captors.

$'Artagnan first reaches the inn where he left Porthos to his duel. Porthos is alive, but wounded. $'Artagnan is able to find out some information from the innkeeper5 first, Porthos was wounded by a %ardinalist agent looking for d'Artagnan, and second, Porthos's mistress is in fact a middle'aged banker's wife, not a $uchess, as he is wont to claim. !he innkeeper knows this because Porthos had to ask her for money to pay for his bill at the inn, which she refused him, thinking that he was cheating on her. Armed with this information, d'Artagnan goes to check on his friend. He lets his friend get away with his grand lies''Porthos claims to have hurt his knee, after defeating his opponent in the duel, and that his )$uchess) mistress must be away on some grand adventure, as he has had trouble reaching her. %ontent that Porthos is safe, d'Artagnan travels on to check on Aramis. %ap ;>'?@ $'Artagnan arrives at the inn where he left the wounded Aramis, and discovers him and two churchmen discussing Aramis's religious thesis5 Aramis has again decided to *oin the %hurch. $'Artagnan figures out the root of Aramis's conversion, however''Aramis believes that his mysterious mistress, the author of the letter d'Artagnan picked up, has abandoned him. $'Artagnan produces the letter and, upon reading it, Aramis's whole attitude changes''he no longer wants to renounce the world9 in fact, he seems more enthusiastic about living life than ever. .y now, $'Artagnan has figured out that adame de %hevreuse, the mysterious woman who met adame .onacieu/ in Aramis's apartment at the beginning of the story, is in fact Aramis's mistress. Aramis needs more time to recuperate from his wound, so d'Artagnan leaves him to go in search of Athos.

At the inn where he and Athos were ambushed, d'Artagnan is harsh with the innkeeper, who was part of the attack. 1t becomes clear, however, that the innkeeper was a pawn in another %ardinalist plot to capture d'Artagnan. After d'Artagnan left, Athos fought off his attackers, and barricaded himself in the inn's basement with Grimaud, where he has remained since then. !his is causing the innkeeper considerable consternation, as all his wine and food is stored there, and he can't get in. $'Artagnan coa/es Athos out. He and Grimaud emerge reelingly drunk9 they have deliberately been trying to consume all the landlord's stock to punish him for the attack. !his causes everyone e/cept the landlord considerable amusement, and Athos and d'Artagnan take a regular room in the inn. 1n his drunken stupor, Athos makes an e/traordinary confession to d'Artagnan. He tells of a )friend) of his, a nobleman, who married a young woman of humble background under his rule, breaking the

rules of social conduct for idealistic love. 8ne day, his friend discovered that this woman was branded with the Fleur'de'6is on her left shoulder, a symbol put on the most heinous of criminals. !he young woman was a fraud9 all she wanted was money and social power. 1n mad sadness, Athos's friend hung his wife. After hearing this horrible and e/traordinary story, which is clearly about Athos himself +Athos lapses into the first person toward the end of it,, d'Artagnan feigns sleep, unable to take any more from his friend that night. !he ne/t day, Athos and d'Artagnan both agree to chalk up the previous night's conversation as drunken rambling on Athos's part, and not mention it anymore. !hey then head back to Paris, picking up their friends along the way. Apon returning to Paris, each of the four friends finds a letter from de !reville informing the musketeers that the campaign against .ritain has begun, and that they must e&uip themselves. !his causes considerable consternation, as they simply don't have enough money to outfit themselves appropriately. $'Artagnan is also immediately interested in knowing if there has been any news of adame .onacieu/ in his absence, which there has not. .

!he first of the friends to solve his e&uipment problem is Porthos. He is able to get back into his mistress's +the attorney's wife, he spots the (oman from right''she is adame %o&uenard, affections, and she supplies the funds. $'Artagnan happens to witness the beginning of this scene, but becomes e/tremely distracted when eung. He feels that this woman is somehow affecting his life, and he is ilady, an agent of the %ardinal. ilady, her connection to the an from eung, and how it all

$'Artagnan becomes obsessed with relates to

adame .onacieu/'s disappearance. He happens to run into her having an argument with ilady's brother. !he two men make an

a man on the street, and sei4es the opportunity to intercede. A fight breaks out between d'Artagnan and the man, 6ord de (inter, who turns out to be assignation to duel the following day. %ap ?<'?B $'Artagnan meets 6ord de (inter and three friends for their duel, with Porthos, Aramis and Athos as his seconds. !he :nglishmen force the usketeers to reveal their true names''the usketeers do so secretly, and Athos notes that he must now kill his opponent5 he wants no one to know his true identity. !he fight begins, and Athos kills his man. Aramis and Porthos defeat their opponents, and d'Artagnan disarms 6ord de (inter, but spares him, declaring that he loves his sister. 6ord de (inter is infinitely grateful, and promises to introduce d'Artagnan to 6ady de (inter.

Athos is confused by d'Artagnan's behavior''he talks about being in love with

adame .onacieu/,

and now he's obsessed with 6ady de (inter. $'Artagnan tries to rationali4e his interest by saying that he believes her to be a %ardinalist agent, but this e/cuse is only half true9 something definitely draws him to this odd :nglishwoman. !he ne/t day, 6ord de (inter introduces d'Artagnan to 6ady de (inter. -he is charming, but d'Artagnan is shocked by the faces she makes when she thinks no one is watching9 her e/pression changes from that of a pleasant, beautiful hostess to a murderous animal, only to switch back the moment anyone addresses her. %onfused, but more intrigued than ever, d'Artagnan starts calling on ilady every day. As d'Artagnan falls further in love with with d'Artagnan. 8ne day, "itty takes d'Artagnan aside and confesses that she loves him. -he also tells him that ilady does not love him, she loves the %omte de (ardes. $'Artagnan persuades "itty to let him overhear ilady confessing her hatred of d'Artagnan, because if he had killed 6ord de (inter, she would have inherited all the 6ord's money. -he says the only reason she hasn't )dealt with him) is that the %ardinal wants her to treat him carefully. -he also mentions her involvement in the kidnapping of adame .onacieu/. ilady is a %ardinalist agent and a sinister villain. $'Artagnan is ilady and the ilady, her maid, "itty, begins to fall in love

All suspicions are now confirmed.

determined to have his revenge9 he uses "itty to intercept correspondences between

%omte. He sends her a false letter under the %omte's name, making an assignation to meet at her house. "itty helps d'Artagnan because she loves him9 for his part, d'Artagnan pretends to return her feelings, even having se/ with her to make his act convincing. $'Artagnan's plan is to compromise her and forcing her to tell him where her. !he two have se/, and ilady, and then reveal his true identity to her, thus humiliating adame .onacieu/ is. .ut when the hour of the tryst comes, ilady's home, and finds himself seduced by

d'Artagnan disguises himself as the %omte and goes to ring, as a token of her affection.

ilady''still believing d'Artagnan to be the %omte''gives d'Artagnan a

1n the sober light of the ne/t morning, d'Artagnan reali4es what a mess he's gotten himself into. He goes to Athos for advice. Athos tells him to stay away from that she gave him as one he used to have. $'Artagnan writes that he must not see her anymore. ilady, and, oddly, recogni4es the ring ilady a letter as the %omte, saying

.roken'hearted "itty faithfully delivers the letter, and

ilady flies into a wild rage. -he wants revenge

on the %omte for spurning her, and so sends d'Artagnan a letter, inviting him to come visit her again. He goes, and she seduces him, e/changing se/ for the promise that he will kill the %omte, whom she says has greatly insulted her. After a night of lovemaking, ilady presses d'Artagnan for details5 ilady is how, specifically, does he plan to kill the %omteC $'Artagnan decides that enough is enough, and tells her that it was he she slept with as the %omte, and produces the ring to prove it. overcome with fury, and attacks d'Artagnan. 1n the scuffle, he tears her shirt, revealing that she has a Fleur'de'6is branded on her left shoulder. -hocked and horrified, d'Artagnan escapes the dagger' wielding ilady, and runs out onto the street.