Bethune

Bethune, a modest town in the province of Artois near the Flemish border, becomes the stage for the most harrowing episode in d'Artagnan's life. It is here that Milady, having escaped from England and reported to Cardinal Richelieu, takes refuge in the Carmelite convent, and here that she encounters Constance Bonacieux, the woman d'Artagnan loves. The town's convent, with its cloistered walls and garden leading to the woods, provides the setting for a calculated act of poison that extinguishes Constance's life and seals Milady's doom. Bethune thus marks the point where the novel's romantic adventure gives way to irrevocable tragedy and the pursuit of absolute justice.

The Convent as Refuge and Trap

Milady arrives in Bethune on the evening of August 25, 1628, after a swift journey from Boulogne. She carries a letter from Cardinal Richelieu that secures her lodging in the Carmelite convent, where she presents herself as a victim of persecution. The superior, a woman of noble birth, assigns her a chamber and serves her breakfast. Milady quickly charms the abbess with tales of court intrigue, carefully probing her political sympathies. During this conversation, the abbess reveals that another boarder resides in the convent—a young woman sent by a person of high rank under the name Kitty, who has suffered much from the cardinal's vengeance. This boarder is Constance Bonacieux, whom the queen had placed in the convent for her safety after freeing her from prison in Nantes. The convent, intended as a sanctuary for Constance, becomes instead a trap when Milady recognizes her as the woman d'Artagnan loves.

The Fatal Friendship

Milady and Constance meet when the abbess introduces them. Constance, still wearing the habit of a novice, is immediately drawn to the beautiful stranger, who feigns sympathy and friendship. Milady, learning that Constance expects d'Artagnan to arrive at any moment with an order from the queen for her release, conceives a plan of unspeakable cruelty. She convinces Constance that the approaching horsemen are agents of the cardinal sent to recapture her, and that the letter from Madame de Chevreuse promising rescue is a forgery. Constance, trusting completely in this new friend, agrees to flee with Milady. The two women share a meal in Milady's chamber, and when the sound of galloping horses announces d'Artagnan's arrival, Milady pours a poison from a ring into Constance's wine glass, forcing her to drink it under the pretense that it will give her strength to escape.

The Death of Constance

D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis burst into the convent just as Milady flees through the garden. Constance, recognizing her lover's voice, cries out to him. D'Artagnan finds her sinking into an armchair, her hands icy cold, her face already livid with the poison's effect. Athos, seeing the empty glass on the table, realizes what has happened and pronounces the terrible truth: the poison Milady administers has no antidote. Constance dies in d'Artagnan's arms, her last breath passing onto his lips. The young man falls unconscious beside her corpse. Athos, who has suffered his own catastrophic marriage to this same woman, speaks the words that will define the remainder of the novel: "Friend, be a man! Women weep for the dead; men avenge them!"

The Turning Point

Bethune transforms the four friends. The death of Constance is not merely a personal loss for d'Artagnan but a crime that unites all four in an unbreakable resolve to hunt down Milady and execute justice. Lord de Winter, who has pursued his sister-in-law from England, arrives at the convent moments after the poisoning, confirming that Milady has already caused the assassination of the Duke of Buckingham. The superior of the convent, horrified by the events, agrees to care for Constance's body. The four friends, Lord de Winter, and their lackeys leave Bethune that same night, following the trail that leads to Armentieres, where Milady's trial and execution will take place. Bethune thus stands as the geographical and emotional pivot of the novel: the place where innocence is destroyed and vengeance becomes a sacred duty.