Hearing how the three musketeers and d'Artagnan fought with five of the cardinal's guards and left four of them lying on the ground, King Louis calls in Monsieur de Treville for an explanation. The king pretends to be angry, but he is secretly pleased that his musketeers defeated the cardinal's guards. In particular, he wants to have an audience with d'Artagnan, the young Gascon who fought so daringly.
The next day, the three musketeers and d'Artagnan spend the morning playing tennis. D'Artagnan doesn't know how to play the game, and after retiring to the sidelines, he is insulted by one of the cardinal's most gifted swordsmen, Bernajoux. During a duel, d'Artagnan overpowers the superior swordsman, but he is attacked by others, and soon, musketeers and cardinalists are embroiled in a free-for-all brawl. The three musketeers, however, are able to extract themselves because they have a noontime meeting with the king; unfortunately, His Majesty went hunting that morning after one of the cardinal's men told him that there was a magnificent stag in a neighboring woods.
By the time that Treville is able to have an audience with the king, Louis has heard about this new brawl with the cardinal's guards. Treville is able to prove, though, that the cardinal's men provoked the quarrel and were soundly defeated. The king then has an audience with the three musketeers and d'Artagnan and hears d'Artagnan describe in detail the events of the preceding days. Satisfied, the king rewards d'Artagnan with forty pistoles, which d'Artagnan divides with the three musketeers.
