D'Artagnan's Introduction to Milady is the decisive social encounter in which D'Artagnan first enters Milady's private world and Milady first studies him as a possible threat, instrument, or enemy. Lord de Winter presents the meeting as an act of gratitude after D'Artagnan had spared his life, but Milady's concealed anger turns the introduction into a scene of political and erotic danger. D'Artagnan leaves delighted by her welcome, while the reader is shown that her gracious surface conceals an immediate and violent reaction to his presence.

Arrangement and Setting

Lord de Winter gave D'Artagnan his sister's address after their conflict and promised to introduce him. She lived at Number 6 in the Place Royale, then the fashionable quarter, and Lord de Winter agreed to call for D'Artagnan at eight o'clock. The appointment occupied D'Artagnan's thoughts because Milady had already appeared mysteriously in the affairs of his life. He suspected that she was connected with Cardinal Richelieu, feared that she might recognize him as the man of Meung and Dover, and understood that her knowledge of his friendship with M. de Treville would identify him with the king's cause. Yet he was also irresistibly drawn toward her, an attraction that made the visit more dangerous precisely because he knew he was entering uncertain territory. Lord de Winter arrived punctually, while Athos, warned of his coming, withdrew into another room. He found D'Artagnan alone and took him in an elegant carriage drawn by two excellent horses. The rapid journey to the Place Royale gives the scene the outward form of a polished visit, but the preparation beneath it is strategic: D'Artagnan wants information, Milady wants to learn what he knows, and Lord de Winter unknowingly brings a potential adversary into the household.

The First Presentation

Milady received D'Artagnan ceremoniously in a remarkably sumptuous hotel. Although most English residents had left, or were preparing to leave, France because of the war, Milady had been spending heavily on her residence, suggesting that the general measure against the English did not constrain her. Lord de Winter introduced D'Artagnan by emphasizing both their former hostility and his restraint: D'Artagnan had twice been his enemy, had been insulted by him, and nevertheless had held his life in his hands without abusing that advantage. He asked Milady to thank the young man if she felt affection for her brother-in-law. The presentation produces an immediate split between appearance and reality. Milady frowned slightly; a nearly invisible cloud crossed her brow, and a peculiar smile appeared on her lips. D'Artagnan noticed these three signs and almost shuddered, whereas Lord de Winter, distracted by her favorite monkey, perceived nothing. Milady then answered in a voice of singular sweetness that contrasted with the ill humor D'Artagnan had detected and told him that he had acquired eternal rights to her gratitude. Her words offer welcome, but her face and body disclose hostility before her speech can conceal it. Lord de Winter proceeded to describe the combat in every detail. Milady listened with the greatest attention, yet the account plainly displeased her: blood rose to her head and her little foot moved impatiently beneath her robe. The combat had apparently placed D'Artagnan in the position of a benefactor, but Milady experiences the story as an unwelcome revelation. When Lord de Winter turns away to pour Spanish wine, D'Artagnan watches her in a mirror and sees her expression become almost ferocious once she believes herself unobserved. She bites her handkerchief, making private rage visible through a gesture that her brother-in-law entirely misses.

Courtesy, Inquiry, and Attraction

As the conversation becomes more cheerful, Milady explains that Lord de Winter is her brother-in-law rather than her brother. She had married a younger member of the family, who died leaving her a widow with one child. That child was the only heir to Lord de Winter if he did not marry. The explanation supplies family facts while also deepening the sense of concealment: D'Artagnan recognizes that a veil covers some further matter, though he cannot yet penetrate it. He also discovers that Milady is his compatriot, since she speaks French with elegance and purity. D'Artagnan responds with gallant speeches and declarations of devotion, and Milady answers his simple advances with kind smiles. He leaves the salon as the happiest of men. The contrast is central to the event's dramatic mechanism: D'Artagnan interprets courtesy as encouragement, while the narrative has already taught the reader to interpret courtesy as performance. On the staircase he encounters Milady's pretty soubrette, Kitty, who gently brushes against him, blushes deeply, and apologizes in a sweet voice. D'Artagnan grants the pardon at once, but his attention remains fixed on Milady, preventing him from recognizing the soubrette's unmistakable interest. D'Artagnan returns the following day and is received even more favorably. With Lord de Winter absent, Milady conducts the evening herself, asking where D'Artagnan came from, who his friends were, and whether he had ever considered attaching himself to Cardinal Richelieu. D'Artagnan remembers his suspicions and answers cautiously. Rather than reveal his allegiance, he praises the Cardinal and says that he would have joined the Cardinal's Guards instead of the king's Guards had he known M. de Cavois rather than M. de Treville. Milady changes the subject without seeming to do so and asks whether he has ever been in England. Her repeated lip-biting shows the strain of questioning a young man who refuses to disclose himself.

Repetition and Escalating Danger

The visit does not end with the first presentation. D'Artagnan comes again on the next day and the day after that, and each time Milady receives him more graciously. The repeated invitations transform an isolated introduction into a developing relationship. Every evening he meets Kitty in the antechamber, corridor, or on the stairs, yet he pays no attention to her persistence because he is absorbed by Milady. The household therefore contains two kinds of unreadable signal: Kitty's direct but overlooked affection and Milady's carefully staged welcome, behind which D'Artagnan has already observed ferocity. The encounter also establishes the unequal distribution of knowledge that governs their later conflict. D'Artagnan knows that Milady may belong to Cardinal Richelieu's circle and worries that she may recognize his past encounters with the man of Meung and Dover. Milady knows that D'Artagnan is connected to M. de Treville and the king, tests his possible allegiance to the Cardinal, and reacts violently to the account of his combat with Lord de Winter. Their conversation appears intimate, but it is simultaneously an intelligence exchange in which each participant conceals more than he reveals.

Narrative Consequences and Significance

The introduction joins social favor to political peril. Lord de Winter intends to honor D'Artagnan and acknowledge his generosity, but by bringing him into Milady's house he places the two future enemies within easy reach of one another. D'Artagnan's attraction makes him vulnerable to the very woman he suspects, while Milady's controlled manners give her access to a man whose loyalty to the king and friendship with M. de Treville make him a danger to her designs. The scene's decisive value shift moves from apparent gratitude to concealed hostility, and from romantic promise to mutual surveillance. Milady's hotel becomes a theater in which gestures are more truthful than speeches: her brow darkens, her foot trembles with impatience, her face turns ferocious in the mirror, and her lips betray frustration when D'Artagnan evades her questions. The introduction thus does not merely begin an acquaintance. It creates the emotional and strategic conditions for D'Artagnan's later involvement with Milady, making attraction itself one of the instruments through which danger advances.

The event is also shaped by a persistent instability of interpretation. D'Artagnan sees enough to distrust Milady, yet not enough to resist her; he reads her smiles as kindness while missing Kitty's clearer affection; and he treats the visit as a triumph even though the reader has witnessed Milady's hostility. The encounter's importance lies in that gap between what is seen, what is understood, and what is deliberately concealed. Milady enters the story as both hostess and adversary, while D'Artagnan enters her house as both guest and future opponent.