The three men jumped out of their skins as a door burst open and a dark shape ran towards them.
Luckily Athos had drawn his sword at the sight of the candle, so blocked the blow sent in his direction, getting a brief glimpse of the man behind the sword.
"D'artagnan!" he shouted. "Stop, it is Athos."
The man dropped the sword in shock.
"Athos?" he stammered. "I… what are you doing here? I could have killed you!"
"Unlikely" deadpanned Athos.
"Glad we've found you, whelp" grinned Porthos, clapping D'artagnan on the back. "We were worried we'd missed you for a moment."
"I don't understand" said D'artagnan. "Why are you here?"
"Why, to make you see sense and bring you back to Paris, of course!" laughed Aramis. "You cannot seriously want to remain here- look at this place!"
D'artagnan frowned as he relit the candles. "'This place' is my home, Aramis. I know it's rather worse for wear but I am working on that- give me a chance, I have only been back a couple of days."
Athos' brow wrinkled in confusion. "But… you do not have to, D'artagnan. I have spoken with Treville and no one blames you for what happened. If you return with us you can continue your normal duties and training at the Garrison; Treville wants you back more than he wants you punished for something that was not your fault."
"I assume you read my letter that I left for Constance?" asked D'artagnan quietly, avoiding their eyes. "I cannot return with you; not because I do not believe there is a post waiting for me, but because I cannot have any more blood on my conscience."
Athos was truely lost now. "Whose blood, D'artagnan? No one has died because of you."
"Not yet, no" admitted the Gascon. "But I am not in a place where I can serve the King without something going wrong. I am sorry you have all had a wasted journey, but look at this place! My father would be ashamed if he could see how I have let his estate go. I am hiding from the villagers due to unpaid debts, missing livestock and undelivered goods; you must have seen how things were as you travelled here. I must remain and arrange my affairs."
"That is something you do not have to do from here, D'artagnan" said Athos. "I have plenty of experience from running a far larger estate from Paris- I can help you with this one too. We can hire farmhands and accountants to run the farm in your stead; that will create employment for the village and ensure everyone gets what they need. And as for your debts, there will be a lot of money tied up in this property which will help you there! Did no one ever teach you any of these things?"
"No" admitted D'artagnan. "My father's death was so unexpected; he thought he had years left, and I spent all my time chasing my dream of becoming a Musketeer; any time he tried to sit me down to explain the economics of running a farm, I would make excuses to go and train; my head was in the clouds."
"You were following your dream, D'artagnan" said Aramis gently. "And now you have achieved it; your father would not begrudge you that."
"Perhaps not" replied D'artagnan. "But he would begrudge the state of his land. I have let it get to this state, so I must be the one to fix it. I appreciate you coming all this way, but you have had a wasted journey. I am not coming back. You may stay here overnight; I'm afraid it's not too comfortable, but there are rooms upstairs you are welcome to use. But in the morning, I must insist you leave."
Aramis sighed, ready to begin another speech, but Athos caught his eye and shook his head. He knew there was nothing to be said to dissuade the Gascon tonight. Thinking back to D'artagnan's previous behaviour however, Athos knew there must be something else going on. D'artagnan had never mentioned his father's land before, and his note to Constance did not refer to any issues with the estate. It seemed to Athos that D'artagnan had found a convenient excuse to stay, but that was not the main reason for his hasty departure from the Musketeers.
THE MUSKETEERS
D'artagnan did not know what to make of his brothers following him. He had made it very clear in the note he left for Constance that he wished to be left alone, yet a mere two days after arriving, the Musketeers break into his house, insult it, and insist he returns to Paris with them. Whilst he knew their efforts were well meaning, D'artagnan was mortified to imagine what they must think of him, giving up his spot in the Musketeers to look after a run-down farm.
He wasn't sure how he was going to wiggle his way out of returning to Paris without telling the full truth. He had already revealed part of it, but his guilt over the incident with the King and fear over something worse happening in future only covered a part of his reluctance to return to the Garrison. How could he explain his sheer inability to pretend any more, his exhaustion at keeping up the facade that everything was fine? Cracks had already begun to show, and if he returned to his normal duties he knew it was only a matter of time before his brothers figured out he was struggling.
But was that such a bad thing? D'artagnan had been raised to show his emotions and to let his heart rule his actions; it wasn't until he joined the Musketeers and had the "head over heart" motto drilled into him that he began to hide his emotions, lest they cloud his actions whilst on duty. But what about when he was not on duty? His brothers clearly cared enough about his feelings to embark on a two week round trip to convince him to return to Paris, which suggested their attachment towards him went deeper than he expected.
Even if they hadn't followed him, D'artagnan knew deep down that the men cared. But opening up about whatever was plaguing him would be difficult when D'artagnan couldn't even put a finger on what was wrong himself. But at the same time, he couldn't use the excuse that he was needed on the farm forever. Athos had already put some valid arguments across; his offer to help with the finances and running of the land had taken D'artagnan by surprise, and further reinforced the thought that his brothers genuinely wanted him back in Paris.
But there was no way he could return until he had banished the dark cloud from his mind.