Greetings, all. Thank you SO much for reading and commenting on the last chapter. So, the task is on for Treville. Can he keep Athos out of trouble? I have read this several times so apologies if I have still let the odd error slip through.

The next chapter of 'La Rougeole' will come in the next few days. It was supposed to be the last one but … who knows?

CHAPTER 27

"There is nothing new from any of Richelieu's intelligencers?" Athos asked later, when he and the Captain were settled in the office on either side of the large desk. As a concession to his ongoing recovery, he was seated at Tréville's insistence and, if he were totally honest with himself, Athos appreciated the gesture.

"Not a thing," Tréville answered, his frustration apparent. "There were several possibilities as to those responsible for the murder of Méndez. Richelieu and I have been over it again and again. It was made to look like a French attack and we contemplated the involvement of the English and Dutch but, more than ever, we are inclined towards it being the work of Spaniards against the Treaty, especially when we consider the three letters written in blood by Méndez' own hand."

"And de Calatrava is definitely opposed to the Treaty?" Athos wanted to know.

"Without a doubt," Tréville confirmed. "But we have no proof, save for those letters and their reliability could be questioned, scribbled as they were in a man's death throes. They could be deemed mere suspicion on his part."

Athos was thoughtful. "And so the trail goes cold on his murder and the deaths of all those with him. Yet the attack on us was of French design. Who do we know was in opposition to the settlement?"

"There were only two on the council who expressed their reservations, but they have neither the power, contacts or inclination to take such a step, nor would they have the means to learn the intricacies of the travel arrangements. Richelieu would have had no reason to inform them. All the council members were kept in ignorance of the details for the very reason of security."

Tréville slumped in his chair. "The only men who knew all the plans before the morning of your departure were the King, Richelieu and me."

"I cannot imagine the King having any reason to sabotage the peace he so desperately seeks," Athos said, discounting any possibility of the monarch's involvement.

"And I swear that no betrayal came from me. Details were under lock and key and the first I repeated any of it was to you just before you left here."

"It would never occur to me to think that such treachery would be from this office," Athos declared without any hesitation.

There was a pause. Had he imagined it or, just for a moment, was there some disquiet in the Captain's demeanour?

He decided that it was his imagination for, in the next breath, Tréville gave a small smile. "I thank you for your trust in me."

"Always," Athos said immediately, his face earnest. "Never doubt it."

"Then that just leaves Richelieu," Tréville stated. "A notion to which I keep returning!"

"What would he stand to gain by blocking the Treaty? Did you not say that he had worked hard during the negotiations?"

"He did, very hard, or so it appeared; and it is that effort that set me to thinking about it a lot in recent days."

"What do you mean?"

Tréville sighed heavily. "I was not privy to the actual discussions, only hearing of them from him and the King afterwards, but from what I can gather, he was pushing for more concessions from the Spanish; he felt that we were giving way too much. Unfortunately, Méndez was thinking the same from the Spanish perspective. The negotiations would have been at a complete standstill had the King not insisted upon yielding to Spanish demands. Richelieu was not happy and insisting that he was only trying to offer the best advice, but Louis was determined to exercise his authority. It was he who swayed the Council members."

"But Richelieu then supported it in full?" Athos was keen to understand all.

"From that moment, Richelieu was in full favour of the Treaty and there was no more opposition from him. He could not do enough when he was negotiating the finer details and then when we were finalising the practicalities of the signing and movement of the Treaty."

Tréville slapped a hand to his forehead. "How could I have been such a fool? How could I have so easily accepted his acquiescence? I should have realised that if he were so strongly opposed to something, he would not change his mind but seek any possible method to pursue his own aims. He did not think the Treaty favourable to France's interests and he is quick to stress that his actions are always for the crown and France.

"If he were convinced that Louis was making a terrible mistake but was becoming intransigent because of Anne being Phillip's sister, Richelieu is tactical enough to retreat and find some other means to get his own way."

"Like choosing three of your Musketeers to collect the Treaty from the Ambassador in a move that only he and Méndez knew about. We were surprised beyond measure when Méndez informed us that we were carrying the real one. Is that not suspicious? Especially when we were set upon by Loret and his men? Somehow this whole mission of being a decoy unit did not seem authentic nor did it sit easy with me when we set off."

"And yet you never voiced that concern," Tréville commented.

Athos shrugged. "We were following your orders. If you thought it appropriate for us to be decoys carrying a false document, then I had no reason to question it, especially when it was also hoped that we would detract attention from the Ambassador's party. Richelieu took advantage of all of this to use us to his own ends; we were more than just decoys. He made sure we were carrying the valid Treaty so that he could accuse the Spanish of some malpractice when we were killed and the document stolen."

"He did not blame the Spanish for long," Tréville admitted.

"He could not do anything else when we survived, the brothers in the abbey were able to add their witness accounts and we had Loret and others from his group in custody. He could not persist in accusing Spain of being responsible."

"I cannot believe that I was so readily deceived." Tréville's tone was flat, a mark of his disgruntlement.

"You were not to know that there were two distinct factions opposed to the Treaty."

Both men sat quietly, lost in their own thoughts.

"We need to find this woman and link her to Richelieu. We have no other proof," Tréville said with a sudden burst of anger.

"And we may never find her," Athos said, the voice of reason. "We have to face it that we may well not have any evidence for Richelieu's involvement. After all, he has managed to evade all other prior incrimination. The same way we cannot prove that de Calatrava was responsible. Perhaps our King can warn his brother-in-law so that he can, at least, be on his guard, but our best move is to make sure that the Treaty is protected and signed as it stands."

"I fear that you are correct," Tréville conceded reluctantly, "which brings me to the next thing that I need to discuss."

"And what might that be?"

"Richelieu wants to interrogate Loret."

Athos snorted in disgust, "Kill him more like."

"My thoughts exactly. He knows that Loret can identify the Mystery Woman, the Cardinal's agent. Our chances of finding her are worse than slim but he cannot rely upon that. All he knows is that Loret met with her. She has been ruthless in covering up her tracks by means of murder and I am sure she would want to kill Loret, which is why I have kept him here at the garrison. However, I cannot keep him here for ever and Richelieu knows that. Getting his hands on Loret means that the man could die during interrogation and there would be no questions asked of the Cardinal. Loret would just be another criminal to fall foul of Richelieu's techniques and who deserved what he got!"

"Then he has to stay here," Athos insisted.

"But it is not as easy as all that. I have run out of excuses for keeping him here. I have explained to Louis my purpose in having Loret at the garrison but Richelieu has convinced him that Loret knows more than he is telling and that I have failed miserably in extracting that information from him so now he wants his turn. Louis believes that Loret knows something that might lead to the apprehension of Méndez' killer."

"But that is ridiculous! Does he not realise that there are two factions involved here, both opposed to the Treaty?" Athos objected.

"I have tried to make that clear to him, but he does not want to consider the possibility that there is a French party working against the settlement. He would prefer to blame it entirely on some rogue Spaniards. Therefore, he has given Richelieu his support in seeing Loret. It was not helped when Richelieu offered a compromise."

Athos shook his head. "And we've had previous experience of the Cardinal's compromises. What does he propose then?"

"Well I have been adamant that Loret will not be safe if transferred to the Châtelet and so he is to be transported to the palace, to Richelieu's office," Tréville explained. "I have been assured that he will be returned to us at the end of each day required."

"So we have to move him repeatedly? That might be dangerous in itself," Athos said, shocked. "Can't Richelieu come here to see the prisoner?"

Tréville rewarded him with a withering look. "Lower himself to come to the garrison? He has never come here. I certainly cannot imagine him seeing Loret in the holding cell."

"Perhaps he could make use of your office," Athos suggested. Then he thought about it. "Perhaps not!"

"With me around, he is not going to interrogate Loret the way he would like," declared the Captain.

"So we have to consider the best way of moving Loret backwards and forwards and still maintain his safety," Athos summarised.

"That's about it," Tréville acknowledged. "Which is why I wanted to discuss this with you. A large protective detail would only draw unwanted attention, as would varying our route to the palace. The more observant would be asking the question why we were not going by our usual or most direct way."

"You suspect that someone – possibly Richelieu's agent – might make an attempt on Loret's life so that he never arrives at the Louvre?" Athos wondered.

"I have to suspect everything and almost everyone right now," Tréville admitted.

Athos let out a long, low breath. "Then we do what we have always done. The palace security detail will ride out of here and back at its usual time, but it will have an additional soldier in the column. We will dress Loret as a Musketeer. We will, in effect, hide him in plain sight."

Tréville visibly brightened. "It is a simple but effective ruse. Why didn't I think of it?"

Athos gave a slight smile. "Because your mind is clouded with other issues." He hesitated. "It would, perhaps, be advisable that you did not mention to Richelieu what we were going to do."

The Captain's moment of relief was shattered. "If I refuse to impart the details, he will know that I suspect him."

"Not him perhaps, but you believe that there is a leak of information somehow from his office and you would do all within your power to safeguard against that."

Tréville shook his head. "That will not appease him."

Athos gave the problem a little more thought. "Then tell him an alternative route and time. Even better. Let us have our own decoy group with a Musketeer in civilian clothing using that other route."

"It would endanger one of the men," Tréville objected.

Athos rolled his eyes. "We are frequently in danger in our tasks," he reminded the Captain. "Besides, we are hoping – assuming even – that whoever it is knows Loret; ideally, that it is the woman. We pick a Musketeer who is totally unlike Loret …"

"Like Porthos, you mean," Tréville interrupted.

Athos huffed in amusement. "Well, he might be a good example. My point is that by the time whoever it is sees the Musketeers and realises that Loret is not in their midst, it will be too late. We will have got him to the palace within the regular duty patrol."

"That ruse will only work once, and that is on the way there. We still have to get him back here. And what would Richelieu say when he learned of our deception?"

"What could he say without incriminating himself? At best, he could praise our initiative in keeping this man safe and at worst, he would have to stay silent. He could hardly admit to having had an assassin along that other route, only for them to discover that their time had been wasted. And maybe we could secrete Loret amongst supplies being delivered here in a cart for the return journey."

Tréville appraised the young man he had long been considering as his prospective lieutenant and realised that the time for procrastination was over. He would make his recommendation to the King as soon as the time was right, namely when this business with the Treaty had been aptly concluded. He eyed Athos with a new appreciation.

"With your scheming mind, I am forever thankful that we are working on the same side, as it were."