Aramis asks for leave to go away on family business. D’Artagnan and Porthos tell Treville that Athos is being held in prison. Treville goes to the Louvre to free him.

The king is in a bad mood because he suspects his wife of having an affair, and the cardinal takes advantage of this suspicion: “It is well known how violent the king’s prejudices were against the queen, and how carefully these prejudices were kept up by the cardinal, who in affairs of intrigue mistrusted women infinitely more than men” (299). The king has escalated tensions with his wife by sending away her friend Madame de Chevreuse, whom he suspects of being the go-between for the queen and the duke. The king has also heard that a Musketeer helped in this affair, so when Treville arrives to advocate for Athos, the King is angry with him.

Treville successfully defends his Musketeers despite the cardinal’s influence. The king commands for Athos to be freed. When Treville leaves, the cardinal tells the king that the Duke of Buckingham has been in Paris for five days.