Prestige · $2.99/month
Chapter audio, theme analysis, and downloads
Alexandre Dumas
News of the king's recovery reaches camp. A letter signed Godeau, purveyor of the Musketeers, says Athos, Porthos, and Aramis have been confined at Villeroy for a disturbance and have sent a dozen bottles of Anjou wine. D'Artagnan is glad they thought of him in their pleasures. He invites two Guardsmen and sends the bottles ahead. On the day, Planchet, Fourreau, and Brisemont, the assassin he spared, prepare the table. The first bottle is thick at the bottom. D'Artagnan tells the still-weak Brisemont to drink the lees.
Cannon sounds from the forts. They run out and find the king has arrived with ten thousand men and his Musketeers. D'Artagnan embraces his three friends and brings them back to dinner. They did not send the wine. Athos knows Godeau's hand. The letter is false. They have not been confined. D'Artagnan turns pale and names another vengeance of that woman.
They rush back. Brisemont is dying in convulsions and accuses D'Artagnan of poisoning the pardon. D'Artagnan swears he was about to drink the same wine. Brisemont does not believe him and dies. Athos still doubts the woman is his wife. He hanged her so effectually she ought to be dead. He tells D'Artagnan to offer her peace or war. Aramis will ask the queen's almoner which convent holds Constance. They eat eggs and fountain water, then part.
A present that arrives in a friend's name can still be meant for your throat. D'Artagnan sets the Anjou wine for a Guardsmen's dinner, tells Brisemont to drink the lees, and only learns the letter is forged after the king arrives and Athos denies the gift.
When a package comes with a trusted signature, check the hand against someone who has seen that hand before you pour.
The king wants the English off the Isle of Ré, but the marshals quarrel over command. One night, while D'Artagnan is in the trenches, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis ride back from a drinking place called the Red Dovecot and halt two horsemen on a dark road.
What this chapter proves — the pattern beneath the scene
In this chapter, the lesson is Loyalty When It Costs — Breakfast on a Bastion.
The card below names the pattern this chapter proves — carry it with you into Dumas's yard at Meung, the noon fight, the diamond road, the bastion breakfast, and the trial on the Lys.
Loyalty When It Costs
A letter signed Godeau says the three have sent a dozen bottles of Anjou wine. D'Artagnan is glad they thought of him. The bottles are a kill. The four survive because they still test a gift that wears their own names.
Key Insight
Loyalty does not mean drinking what arrives with your friends' seal. It means knowing them well enough to doubt a kindness that is too neat.
Chapter 42
After the most disheartening news of the king’s health, a report of his convalescence began to prevail in the camp; and as he was very anxious to be in person at the siege, it was said that as soon as he could mount a horse he would set forward. Meantime, Monsieur, who knew that from one day to the other he might expect to be removed from his command by the Duc d’Angoulême, by Bassompierre, or by Schomberg, who were all eager for his post, did but little, lost his days in wavering, and did not dare to attempt any…
Public-domain chapter text, formatted for reading.
List the Godeau letter, the twelve bottles, the lees given to Brisemont, and Athos's look at the handwriting. Write one sentence naming the check D'Artagnan skipped and the person who finally did it.
When did you share something because it wore a friend's name, and who should have seen the hand first?
Purchase the complete book to access all chapters and support classic literature
Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats
Other theme-by-theme analyses from this book.
The Cassock He Asked For
Follow the Gascon who wants a cassock and is offered a commission.
The First Fight Was Not the One You Planned
Watch whom you stand beside when the first fight is not the one you planned.
A Trial Honour Will Not Name
Sit the trial on the Lys and ask what honour will not name.
Every Smile Hides a Warrant
Hear the court before you trust a smile or a warrant.
A Blank the Cardinal Already Signed
See what it costs to please a king and a cardinal at once.
Deep diving the literary elements.
Guides, life skills, and the full library.More ways to read The Three Musketeers: guides, life skills, and the wider library.
Unlock study guides and downloads, early access, and exclusive content — and support free access for everyone.
