The next day, all of Paris is talking about the upcoming ball. That night, the king is especially pleased to see that the queen is wearing her diamond tags. The cardinal, however, calls the king's attention to the fact that the queen has only ten tags. He gives two diamond tags to the king and tells him to inquire of the queen about the two tags which are missing. During their next dance together, the king is unable to count the number of diamond tags on his wife, so at the end of the dance, he tells her that two of her tags are missing — and he gives her two more. The queen triumphantly announces that now she has fourteen! The king counts the tags: she is wearing twelve and now she does have two more diamond tags. The cardinal is stunned at the news, but recovers from his astonishment and explains to the king that the two extra diamond tags are his way of making a gift to the queen. Anne is not fooled, however, and she subtly lets the cardinal know that his two diamond tags probably cost him more than the king's original twelve.
Later, d'Artagnan is rewarded for his success in returning the tags; Constance Bonacieux leads him down a series of corridors where the queen presents her hand to be kissed. As d'Artagnan does so, she presses a magnificent ring into his hand. Constance then returns and tells d'Artagnan that she left a note for him at his house.
