D'Artagnan sets out for Treville's house to tell him about the arrest and other events. On a bridge, he sees two figures — one is dressed exactly like Constance Bonacieux and the other is in a musketeer's uniform; his appearance resembles Aramis. When d'Artagnan brashly stops them, calling out Aramis's name, he discovers that Constance Bonacieux is escorting the duke of Buckingham to the Louvre Palace. D'Artagnan is pleased to escort them safely to the palace.
At the palace, Constance leads the duke through a series of corridors and leaves him in a private anteroom. Soon, Anne of Austria, the queen of France, appears, and the duke makes his protestations of love to her, but she continually and sadly rejects his overtures, even though she is obviously in love with him. As a parting gift for him, she goes to her chambers and returns with a rosewood box as a token of her love. Inside the rosewood box are twelve diamond tags, or studs (button-like ornaments).
