Fortnight

Fortnight denotes the fifteen-day leave of absence arranged for Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. In the immediate circumstances, it is more than a measure of time: it becomes a sanctioned interval for Athos to recuperate, for his companions to accompany him, and for their journey to appear legitimate rather than suspicious.

Definition and Official Purpose

A fortnight is explicitly understood here as a period of fifteen days. M. de Treville authorizes the absence because Athos’s wound continues to cause him suffering and his health requires rest. His written instruction directs Athos to go to the waters of Forges, or to another place more agreeable to him, and to recover as quickly as possible.

The leave is extended to Porthos and Aramis not because they independently require treatment, but because they refuse to abandon Athos in his painful condition. Their presence therefore turns a medical arrangement into a collective journey. The same period governs all three men, binding their movements together while preserving the appearance of ordinary military leave.

A Cover for Departure

The fortnight also has a political and procedural function. M. de Treville tells the men that he can send each of them leave for fifteen days and that this authorization will be sufficient proof that he approves their journey. The official documents give their departure a lawful explanation at a moment when an unexplained visit or absence might attract the attention of Cardinal Richelieu.

M. de Treville further instructs d'Artagnan to write a request to Dessessart before leaving. If a spy has followed him, the request will make his visit appear legitimate should the cardinal learn of it. The allotted time thus protects not only the travelers but also the chain of command: the journey is concealed beneath an administrative formality rather than presented as an openly conspiratorial act.

The Journey and Its Immediate Effect

When Aramis learns that he must pack for a journey of a fortnight and follow, he hesitates because he cannot leave Paris without knowing the reason. The fixed duration makes the command concrete and urgent. It is long enough for travel and recovery, yet defined enough to be recorded as ordinary leave rather than an indefinite disappearance.

Athos receives the same arrangement with astonishment. He asks what the leave and the letter mean, since the written order has arrived without an explanation he understands. M. de Treville’s letter frames the absence entirely through Athos’s health: the fortnight is presented as necessary rest at Forges and as a chance to recuperate. This stated reason conceals the broader purpose of removing the three companions from Paris together.

Narrative Significance

The fortnight joins care, loyalty, and political secrecy in one temporal device. Athos’s continuing wound supplies the visible justification; Porthos and Aramis’s refusal to abandon him supplies the moral rationale; and M. de Treville’s authorization supplies the legal protection. A simple period of fifteen days therefore becomes the interval in which friendship can operate without openly declaring its true mission.

Its importance lies in the contrast between the letter’s calm medical language and the circumstances surrounding the departure. The document speaks of rest, water treatments, and recovery, while the men are being mobilized for a journey whose purpose cannot yet be disclosed. The fortnight is consequently both a real period of convalescence and a narrative veil: it measures time, organizes the companions’ movements, and converts suspicion into apparent duty.