Chapter 4: The Shoulder of Athos, the Baldric of Porthos and the Handkerchief of Aramis

Summary

     This is basically the chapter in which d’Artagnan manages to get himself into an astounding amount of trouble. We left our young protagonist running frantically after the letter thief, and we continue from there. As d’Artagnan sprints after the thief, he happens to smash right into Athos, who is also exiting the office after being tended to. And what’s more, d’Artagnan smashes right into Athos’s wounded shoulder! Athos is understandably in great pain, and does not handle the pain very well, morphing it into anger. He is furious at d’Artagnan, who he calls “Monsieur Man-in-a-hurry, “and challenges him to a duel at noon. D’Artagnan hurriedly accepts and runs off again to try and catch up with the thief.

     As he jogs wildly, the hapless d’Artagnan finds himself about to run smack into two men talking – one, of course, is Porthos. Learning from his previous mistake, he turns himself sideways and tries to run in between the two men. This works about as well as one might expect – that is to say, not well at all. The wind blows Porthos’s magnificent cloak up just as d’Artagnan is running in between the men, and d’Artagnan gets hopelessly tangled up in the cloak. He struggles violently to free himself, but tries to make sure he doesn’t damage the baldric, knowing how fond Porthos is of it. However, in his attempts, he somehow finds himself pressed up against Porthos’s back. That would be uncomfortable normally, but even more so when he sees the back of the lovely baldric, which is plain, with no gold on it! Porthos could not afford to have a completely gold baldric, so he was hiding the plain part at the back. Porthos is quite embarrassed when he realizes that d’Artagnan saw his little secret, and acts rude and confrontational about the collision. Our bad-tempered friend, predictably, gets angry, and makes an impudent allusion to the plain side of the baldric. Porthos is furious, and challenges d’Artagnan to a duel at 1:00. D’Artagnan accepts, and dashes off again.

     Sadly, d’Artagnan cannot find the thief at all now! He slows to a walk, and as he ambles along, his temper cools and he begins to feel remorse for his interactions with Athos and Porthos, and his abrupt departure from M. de Treville. D’Artagnan cannot believe that he just picked fights with two of the three Musketeers he admires the most, and is wracked with shame. He gives himself a little pep-talk, aloud, as he walks down the streets. He first proceeds to lecture himself about not running into people and not peering under people’s cloaks. Then, he laughs loudly at his follies. Next, he resolves to henceforth be a paradigm of politeness on the off-chance that he survives both duels.

     As d’Artagnan walks along, talking to himself in a wonderfully insane way, his gaze alights on who should it be, but Aramis! Eager to start on a good note with at least one of the three best Musketeers, he walks up to the group Aramis is in and, smiling widely, bows very low. All conversation in the group dies down at once. D’Artagnan immediately perceives that he is not wanted in the group, and tries to figure out a way to exit gracefully. He suddenly notices that there is a beautiful handkerchief on the ground, which Aramis is stepping on. D’Artagnan swoops down on this handkerchief, tugs it out from under Aramis’s foot despite the Musketeer trying desperately to prevent him from doing so, and hands it gallantly to him. Aramis turns bright red, and tries to pretend the handkerchief is not his. Earlier, Aramis and his friends had been arguing about how well Aramis knew a certain lady, and the friends now gleefully use the handkerchief as proof that he knows her well, for it is hers. Aramis skillfully talks his way out of the mess, and he parts ways amiably with this friends. He then turns on a nervous d’Artagnan, and angrily berates him for compromising a lady’s honor. They argue, and Aramis finally challenges d’Artagnan to a duel at 2:00 and d’Artagnan accepts. He then walks off, regretting all the arguments, but glad that he will at least die by one of his heroes’ hands.

Reaction

     This chapter is beautifully written. Dumas somehow makes it plausible that d’Artagnan gets into a fight with all three of the best Musketeers, and makes all the arguments unique and entertaining. My fondness for d’Artagnan has increased even more this chapter – he is so amusingly tactless and his social fails are wonderful to behold. Though in my opinion, only the duel with Porthos was avoidable. D’Artagnan had good intentions for both other confrontations, and his only fault in those two was responding in kind to rude words. In addition, I loved how Athos called d’Artagnan ‘Monsieur Man-in-a-hurry.’ Athos also names people in awesome hyphenated form! I feel a bond between us. Maybe the bond will give me some sword skills? Or a nobler face?

     My favorite line was part of d’Artagnan talking to himself and trying to stick to his resolution of being polite: “And in spite of himself, the young man began to laugh aloud, looking round carefully, however, to see that his solitary laugh, without a cause in the eyes of passers-by, offended no one.” Oh d’Artagnan. How you amuse me.