The siege of La Rochelle allows the cardinal an opportunity to fulfill two aims. First, he wants to rid France of its enemies, and second, he wants to take vengeance on a rival. That is, the cardinal was once in love with the queen, Anne of Austria, but she rejected him and accepted the romantic overtures of the duke of Buckingham, who is now declaring war on France, hoping to return triumphantly to Paris and rendezvous with the queen.
Since the king has a fever and cannot go to the battlefront, the musketeers are forced to remain behind with him. Thus, for the first time, d'Artagnan is separated from his friends. Since he has made no friends among the guards of his own division, he is out walking alone on an isolated road at twilight when he suddenly sees the end of a musket on one side of the road and another musket on the other side. He quickly and instinctively takes cover when both muskets are fired at him and he manages to escape before the ambushers can reload. He ponders the meaning of the attack and rejects the idea that it was the enemy who fired on him because the muskets were not military weapons. D'Artagnan cannot fathom the cardinal's stooping to ambush; finally, he decides that Milady was involved.
Two days later, Monsieur des Essarts, commander of the guard, informs d'Artagnan that the commander-in-chief is going to call for volunteers for a dangerous mission. D'Artagnan volunteers and, not surprisingly, he is made leader of the expedition. Two other officers and two ordinary soldiers also volunteer. The mission is to discover whether the enemy, on recapturing a bastion, left it guarded or unguarded. They will have to get dangerously close to the bastion. When they are approaching it, a volley of shots rings out, wounding one of the officers. Then two more shots ring out, and d'Artagnan is very nearly killed. He realizes instantly that the shots did not come from the enemy but that they came from behind him. He also realizes that the two common soldiers are trying to kill him and make it seem as though the enemy killed him. In fact, d'Artagnan believes, the two traitorous soldiers are the same two men who tried to ambush him earlier; he is absolutely certain that Milady conceived this plot.
