It was late that night when Celeste, Aramis and Athos sat down to eat. Phillippe had eaten and gone straight to bed.

"More wine!" called Aramis. He looked at Athos, who was sagging in a chair, spent. "How is he?"

"Resting, he's had a long day," said Athos. "Aramis…"

"More wine!" shouted Aramis.

"You must reconsider this plan. Phillippe is like a child. He…"

"You can do it," said Aramis. He reached out and pulled Celeste into his lap and kissed the back of her neck.

She giggled. "Aramis!"

"In a year, maybe two," said Athos slowly. "I could teach him enough to…"

Aramis looked up. "Three days."

Athos gapped at him. "Three days!"

"The King is having a ball, a masquerade ball. It is the perfect opportunity and perhaps our only one. At any time, Phillippe could be discovered and what then? Remember France. Remember the poor. Remember Raoul." Aramis turned. "More wine!" he thundered. "Where are those serving girls?"

The girls where upstairs. In Porthos's room. All three of them.

But at last, Porthos rolled over. "It's no use. My sword is bent. I'm useless." He got out of bed and left the room, naked.

"Phillippe, he's very bright, he's perceptive. But he is in such a turmoil…"

"You grow fond of him," said Aramis. "That's good."

"Don't play God with me, Aramis, I…" Athos stopped when he saw naked Porthos walking across the courtyard.

"Go on," said Aramis.

Celeste turned and followed Athos's gaze. Her eyes widened slightly.

"But…What is Porthos doing?" asked Athos, his own eyes wide.

Aramis turned and glanced out the window. "Going into the barn naked…or so it appears."

Celeste burst out laughing.

Porthos entered the barn and closed the door behind him. He found a thick plow rope and fashioned a noose out of it.

Aramis turned back around. "Now. You were saying."

"But…what is he doing?" asked Athos.

"About to hang himself, I should think."

Porthos threw one end of the rope over the central beam of the barn and tied the other end off. He shoved a milking stood up below the noose. He climbed onto it and fit the noose around his neck.

Aramis turned back to Celeste and kissed her cheek. Then her lips.

Aramis's detachment only aggravated Athos's excitement. "Hang himself!"

Aramis looked up. "He's threatened to do it. It's been building up in him for months."

Celeste leaned in and kissed his lips.

Aramis turned back to her.

"We must stop him!" cried Athos.

Aramis turned. "Come now, Athos, if Porthos is determined to end his life, then he will certainly manage to find the opportunity."

"But…But…" Athos jumped up and ran for the door.

Aramis waved his hand and several hooded Jesuits moved and barred Athos's way.

Porthos's face was grave with drama. "A'dieu, cruel life! Farewell to useless Porthos!"

He stepped off the stool. His weight dropped and the rope snapped taught. The beam snapped like a twig, where it had been sawn nearly in half.

Porthos fell and slammed into the floorboards of the barn, cracking them.

Aramis, Celeste, and Athos heard the crack from where they where sitting.

"I sawed the main beam in half," said Aramis.

Athos gawked at him.

"It was Celeste's idea."

In the barn, the broken floorboards buckled and the barn walls, now deprived of their main support, fell in on each other.

Aramis almost dumped Celeste to the floor again as they jumped up as the whole barn completely collapsed around the unfortunate Porthos.

Athos gave Aramis a dirty look.

Celeste's eyes where wide.

Aramis shrugged. "I'm a genius-not an engineer!"

They ran outside.

The loud commotion drew several others, especially Porthos's three serving girls.

Aramis, Celeste, and Athos stopped in front of the pile that had been the barn. For a moment, the pile lay there, silent. Then it suddenly burst apart, causing Celeste to jump. And Porthos emgered, exploding with anger.

"Aramis!" he roared. "You did this, didn't you! You knew I would try hanging myself and you sawed the beam! Admit it! Admit it, by God! ADMIT IT!" he thundered. His eyes where bulging and he was holding one of the broken barn timbers like a club, ready to bash Aramis's brains out.

Aramis was standing there, looking totally casual. "Well of course I did it, Porthos."

Porthos stood there, blinking.

"You've been moping for months. Now that you're gotten the idea of killing yourself out of the way, you can stop boring me and start being useful to me. Now, get some rest."

"Oh." Porthos dropped the beam.

Aramis pulled his cloak off and threw it Porthos. "And for God's sake, put some clothes on."

Porthos wrapped himself in the cloak. "Well…Well…okay." He started back toward the house.

Suddenly, one of the serving girls who was heading inside, glanced up. She screamed.

Phillippe had been standing in the window, with his mask held over his face, jumped back.

Aramis, with his cold intellectual curiosity, quietly observed the woman's reaction, even as his hooded Jesuits scurried from the shadows to calm her.

"Poor Phillippe," said Celeste.

"The mask is terrifying…especially when unexpected. Do you notice?" asked Aramis.

"All I noticed was that Phillippe feels even more like an animal," said Athos. And then he hurried inside.

Aramis looked at Porthos. "See, Porthos, secrets are hard to keep. We don't have much time."