These two chapters reveal to the reader what a powerful enemy d'Artagnan made when he saw the branded fleur-de-lis on Milady's naked shoulder. The extent of her drive for revenge is enormous. Three separate attempts on d'Artagnan's life have been made, and it is only because of d'Artagnan's alertness and daring during the first two attempts, and purely by accident during the incident of the Anjou wine that he is still alive. Even though these attemps to kill d'Artagnan are foiled, we will see in future chapters that Milady will never give up. She has vowed to see d'Artagnan dead — or die trying.
The beginning of Chapter 41 again emphasizes that the cardinal's persecution of the French queen is partly a result of jealousy: the queen prefers Buckingham to the cardinal. Dumas is insistent that the cardinal not be seen as merely a clever manipulator of people, but as a three-dimensional man, one spurned by the queen of France.
It is also worth noting that the separation of d'Artagnan from his friends sets the stage for several attempts on his life. Since his only close friends until now have been the three musketeers, it is believable that he would go for solitary walks. Were his three friends with him, d'Artagnan would never have been attacked by two cowardly dastards. However, because he is alone, he is attacked. Similarly, because he is alone and bored and eager to put some adventure into his life, he volunteers for a dangerous mission. D'Artagnan is continually trying to establish his own sense of identity and display leadership qualities — apart and separate from the three musketeers.
Lest someone think that d'Artagnan would not likely know that the unsigned letter in the wounded solder's uniform was from Milady, remember that he is familiar with Milady's handwriting. He has received love notes from her and, because of Kitty, he has been able to intercept love notes which she wrote to Count de Wardes. Dumas ties up most of his complicated plot elements very neatly and effectively.
