Bastion Wager

The Bastion Wager is the most audacious stratagem of the four friends' campaign against Milady de Winter. By publicly betting that they could breakfast inside the enemy-held Bastion St. Gervais and hold it for an hour, Athos created a space where the four could confer in absolute secrecy, surrounded by the din of battle and the corpses of the morning's assault. The episode simultaneously cemented their reputation for reckless gallantry and allowed them to forge the plan that would ultimately bring Milady to justice.

The Wager and Its Purpose

On the morning after d'Artagnan had survived a poisoned wine intended for him, Athos proposed the wager in the crowded taproom of the Parpaillot inn. Surrounded by dragoons, Swiss soldiers, and light-horsemen, he bet Monsieur de Busigny that he and his three companions would go and breakfast in the bastion St. Gervais and remain there for one hour, whatever the enemy might do to dislodge them. The stake was an unlimited dinner for eight. Porthos and Aramis immediately understood the deeper purpose: the inn was too public for the secret council they needed to hold. As Athos explained to d'Artagnan, they had to talk where the cardinal's spies could not reach them, and a desert would not serve because every bird, fish, and rabbit could be a spy. The bastion, however, had no ears. The wager also served to mask their true intentions; no one could divine the real cause of such a seemingly mad exploit.

The Breakfast and the Council

Once inside the bastion, the four friends found it occupied only by a dozen corpses, French and Rochellais. While Grimaud spread the table, they collected the fallen soldiers' muskets and cartridges, arming themselves with fifteen guns and a hundred charges. Seated on the ground with their legs crossed like Turks, they began their breakfast and their secret conversation. Athos revealed that he had seen Milady the previous night at the inn of the Red Dovecot, that she had demanded d'Artagnan's head from the cardinal, and that she was now bound for England with the mission of assassinating the Duke of Buckingham. The friends debated their course of action: d'Artagnan proposed a second journey to England to warn Buckingham, but Athos rejected this as treason now that England was an enemy. Porthos suggested strangling Milady himself, while Aramis proposed informing the queen. Athos ultimately devised the plan that would prove decisive: they would write to Lord de Winter, Milady's brother-in-law, warning him of her murderous intentions and urging him to place her in a secure establishment. The letter, composed by Aramis in a style that would not compromise them if intercepted, was to be carried by Planchet to London.

The Defense of the Bastion

The council was repeatedly interrupted by Rochellais attacks. The first wave, consisting of sixteen pioneers and four soldiers, was met by Athos who mounted the breach and courteously requested them to wait until breakfast was finished. When they fired, the four friends returned fire with deadly accuracy, killing three soldiers and wounding a pioneer. A second, more determined assault of twenty to twenty-five soldiers followed. The friends fired in disciplined volleys, and when the enemy reached the ditch and prepared to scale the breach, Athos ordered them to push down an enormous sheet of the wall. The collapsing masonry crushed most of the attackers; only three or four limped away. Athos checked his watch: they had been in the bastion for an hour and a half, exceeding their wager. Before retreating, Athos ran back to retrieve the white napkin they had raised as a flag, braving a final fusillade that turned the cloth into a true flag pierced by three balls.

Consequences and Significance

The exploit made the four friends the talk of the entire camp. More than two thousand soldiers had watched the spectacle, and when the four returned, they were carried in triumph. The cardinal, hearing of the affair, sent La Houdiniere to inquire and learned the names of the participants. Recognizing them as the same men who had repeatedly crossed his path, he murmured, "These four men must positively be mine." That same evening, he ordered Monsieur de Treville to transfer d'Artagnan from the Guards into the Musketeers, uniting the four friends in the same company. The Bastion Wager thus achieved its dual purpose: it provided the secrecy needed to plan Milady's downfall, and it inadvertently elevated d'Artagnan to the rank he had dreamed of since arriving in Paris. The episode also produced the money they needed, as d'Artagnan sold the queen's diamond for seven thousand livres, funding the messengers who would carry their warnings to Lord de Winter and to Tours.