Ambush at Chantilly

The Ambush at Chantilly occurs during the four friends' urgent journey to London, a mission on which d'Artagnan carries a letter from the queen to the Duke of Buckingham. The party stops at an inn in Chantilly for breakfast, and a gentleman who has just arrived from Dammartin sits at the same table. He opens the conversation on trivial subjects, then proposes a toast to the cardinal's health. Porthos replies that he will gladly do so if the stranger will also drink to the king's health. The stranger declares he acknowledges no king but his Eminence. Porthos calls him drunk, and the stranger immediately draws his sword.

The Duel and Its Aftermath

Athos, Aramis, and d'Artagnan recognize that Porthos has been drawn into a deliberate trap. Athos says, "You have committed a piece of folly," but adds, "it can't be helped; there is no drawing back. Kill the fellow, and rejoin us as soon as you can." All three remount their horses and set out at a good pace, leaving Porthos to fight. As they ride away, Athos remarks, "There goes one!" after five hundred paces. D'Artagnan later reflects that the stranger attacked Porthos because he was talking louder than the rest, and was therefore taken for the chief. Athos murmurs, "I always said that this cadet from Gascony was a well of wisdom."

Porthos's Wound and Concealment

Porthos is wounded in the duel, receiving a sword thrust through the chest. The host of the inn later reveals to d'Artagnan that the stranger, after disarming Porthos, asked his name and, learning it was Porthos and not d'Artagnan, assisted him to rise and brought him back to the inn. Porthos, however, conceals the true nature of his injury, claiming he slipped on a stone and strained his knee. He insists that no one know he received the wound except his mistress, the procurator's wife, whom he hopes to interest with an account of his adventure. The host, who witnessed the fight from curiosity, describes how the stranger made a feint and a lunge so rapidly that Porthos had three inches of steel in his breast before he could parry.

Consequences for the Journey

The ambush at Chantilly is the first of a series of attacks that systematically reduce the four friends' company. Porthos is left behind, unable to continue. The remaining three proceed to Beauvais, where they stop for two hours to rest their horses and wait for Porthos, but he does not come. They resume their journey, and shortly after, they are ambushed again near Crevecoeur, where Aramis is wounded. The pattern of deliberate, escalating attacks confirms that the cardinal's agents are tracking their movements and attempting to prevent any of them from reaching London. The ambush at Chantilly thus serves as a calculated blow, isolating Porthos and weakening the group's strength before the more dangerous encounters ahead.