Villeroy

Villeroy, the royal château where King Louis XIII was forced to halt in late June 1628 after falling ill with fever while traveling to join the siege of La Rochelle, became a pivotal waypoint in the campaign and the site of a murderous plot against d'Artagnan. The king's illness at Villeroy not only delayed the royal progress but also separated d'Artagnan from his three inseparable friends, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, who were detained there after a disturbance. From this château, a forged letter purporting to be from the Musketeers' purveyor dispatched a dozen bottles of poisoned Anjou wine to d'Artagnan in the camp, an assassination attempt that nearly succeeded and that the friends later traced back to Milady's vengeance.

The King's Illness and the Halt at Villeroy

King Louis XIII, having held his Bed of Justice on 28 June 1628, felt himself attacked by fever and was anxious to set out for La Rochelle, but his illness became more serious and he was forced to stop at Villeroy. The king's indisposition at Villeroy was severe enough that he could not continue the journey, and whenever the king halted, the Musketeers halted. This meant that d'Artagnan, who was still serving in the Guards under Monsieur Dessessart, found himself separated from Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, who remained with the king's escort at Villeroy while d'Artagnan proceeded to the camp before La Rochelle.

The Forged Letter and the Poisoned Wine

While the three Musketeers were confined at Villeroy after creating a disturbance at an entertainment, a letter dated from Villeroy and signed by the purveyor Godeau was sent to d'Artagnan in the camp. The letter stated that Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, after enjoying themselves very much, had been ordered confined for some days, and that they desired d'Artagnan to drink to their health in a dozen bottles of their favorite Anjou wine, which the purveyor forwarded. D'Artagnan, believing the wine to be a gift from his friends, invited two fellow Guardsmen to share it. However, Athos later recognized that the letter was not in Godeau's handwriting, and the wine was discovered to be poisoned. The false soldier Brisemont, who had tried to assassinate d'Artagnan earlier and had since entered his service, drank the lees from the first bottle and died in horrible convulsions, confirming that the wine was intended to kill d'Artagnan. The friends immediately understood this was another attempt by Milady to destroy him.

Separation and Reunion

The halt at Villeroy thus created a dangerous separation among the four friends at a critical moment. D'Artagnan arrived at the camp before La Rochelle on 10 September 1627 without his companions, feeling isolated and given up to his own reflections. The king's convalescence at Villeroy was reported in the camp, and it was said that as soon as he could mount a horse he would set forward. When the king finally arrived at the camp in early November, his Musketeers proceeded and followed him, and d'Artagnan was reunited with Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. The reunion came just in time, for the poisoned wine had been sent only days earlier, and the friends were able to confront the plot together.

Narrative Significance

Villeroy functions in the narrative as a place of enforced separation that nearly proved fatal to d'Artagnan. The king's illness there, a historical detail, is woven into the fiction as the mechanism that keeps the three Musketeers away from their friend when he most needs their protection. The forged letter from Villeroy, with its false signature and plausible story of confinement, demonstrates how thoroughly Milady and the cardinal's network could exploit real circumstances to create deadly traps. The château's name becomes synonymous with the poisoned wine plot, a reminder that even a royal halt could become the setting for an assassination attempt.