Greetings. Am still in Colorado Springs and will be either here or in Parker, Denver for the next week.

Thank you so much to all those of you who have been reading this and other stories in the past few days and also to those who are reviewing. This chapter is the first of the ones I have written since coming away and I am trying to get used to a new tablet as I go along. Useless as I am, I can't find accents so, from here on in, Treville, the Chatelet, Athos' former title etc are all without the appropriate accents, for which I humbly apologise!

So, will Richelieu get the better of our men? I certainly hope not! Treville's mind begins to work overtime as he sees conspiracy and revenge everywhere whilst his concerns for Athos continue to grow apace.

CHAPTER 17

When the Musketeers returned to the Palace, they found that Richelieu had had four tables and chairs brought into the vast room to enable them to work. It was also obvious that whilst the tables were spaced out, there was a significant gap between them and his desk. He clearly did not want them anywhere near him, not that any of them minded.

On the top of each table sat a pile of documents for the respective soldier to peruse, along with spare paper, a quill and ink for the compilation of a list of suspects.

"I presume your men are all capable of meeting the task," he said snidely to Treville, whilst his eyes were firmly fixed upon Porthos, who heard the comment and paused in the process of sitting down so that he could glare at the man who had spoken. His ability to read and write was being called into question and, not for the first time, he was thankful that both Athos and Aramis had expended time and energy in teaching him to be more proficient with his letters.

Yet again, the Captain had to bite back the anger, knowing that Richelieu was deliberately pushing him and his men, exploring just how much it would take to elicit an unfavourable response, but he was determined that he would not give the Cardinal any such satisfaction.

"We are all quite able to rise to the challenge of the task, Cardinal, but I thank you for your concern. We would not all be here otherwise," Treville answered icily.

There was an unbridled tension in the room but as each man settled to the job in hand, there was a renewed sense of unity and the frequent scratch of a nib on paper as they listed possibilities was initially reassuring; their time was not being wasted. However, there was a disturbing realisation as the lists grew.

His Majesty had potentially upset a somewhat large proportion of his nobles in the previous twelve months.

Richelieu alone viewed the existing guest lists for the Versailles hunting parties whilst Treville referred to documents relating to the incarceration or release of any of France's nobility from the Chatelet or Bastille during the last year. He then turned his attention to court papers; there was always the possibility that a non-custodial yet still humiliating punishment had been awarded or, worse, a death sentence proclaimed.

The Captain's thoughts wandered to that terrible day only weeks earlier when Athos had been arrested on the King's orders and brought before him on charges of multiple murder and theft. The 'evidence' had been a complete fabrication and, despite Treville's protests to that effect, Athos faced execution with less than twenty-four hours for Aramis and Porthos to prove his innocence. If truth be told, the Captain had desperately hoped they were successful but secretly feared that it could not be done and the former comte was already standing before a firing squad when Aramis delivered the King's pardon.

That Louis had never offered Treville's lieutenant an apology for the miscarriage of justice rankled with the Captain but he had known Louis long enough to realise that the King often took every conceivable measure to ensure that he did not have to take responsibility for or admit to any errors on his part. Treville wondered if, on returning with the desired information, Athos would receive any thanks or recognition for the risks he had undertaken. The unpalatable likelihood was that if Athos returned, whether unscathed or injured, Louis would regard it as being a necessary inconvenience for the privilege of being a member of his personal guard.

The question still remained in Treville's mind as to the identity of the person or persons behind the accusations levelled at Athos. The man who had claimed to be him whilst carrying out a range of crimes had died by d'Artagnan's hand for being the one who had actually murdered the Gascon's father in cold blood. There had been other Red Guard involvement: the one who had furnished Porthos and Aramis with much-needed information had died suddenly of poisoning in the Chatelet and no-one there seemed to recall who his last visitor had been. How convenient!

Treville had his suspicions for there had not been any attempt on Richelieu's part to bring his errant men to account. It was the Cardinal who had advised the King that information had been received of musketeers running amok on a crime spree and it was the Cardinal who insisted that Louis should order Treville to investigate, demanding to know if any men were missing. Yes there were, but they were good, reliable men on a mission. He later learned that they had been cut down, their bodies left to rot in a snowy field when their uniforms were stolen to perpetuate the allegation of Musketeer wrong-doing.

A chill ran down Treville's spine as he suddenly thought of another snowy field in Savoy five years earlier, red with the blood of his men and where he had found a terribly injured Aramis. Was it coincidence or a sinister similarity? Richelieu had been cognisant then of the group of training Musketeers, using the information given him by Treville to fool Savoy into thinking that he was under Spanish attack when it was a move to protect the Duchess, Louis' sister and a spy for France.

Had Richelieu subsequently manoeuvred Athos deliberately into the position of scapegoat for some nefarious purpose of his own design? One that would bring the Musketeer regiment into disrepute with the King and the people of Paris? And did his failure to see Athos executed then have any bearing on his insistence now that Athos be the one for this particular mission? Treville did not think the Cardinal was beyond some form of revenge when the occasion called for it.

"Here." A voice broke his train of thought even as a hand clasping a goblet of wine nudged his shoulder and set the drink before him.

Momentarily startled, Treville looked up to see Aramis gazing down on him in concern.

"You were lost just then," the marksman commented.

Treville nodded. "Just my nasty, suspicious mind working overtime." He took a sip of the wine. It was good stuff. "Where did this come from?"

"The Cardinal. He's gone for his evening meal and will return when finished. He did not extend an invitation to us but has, at least, ordered some food to be brought to us here whilst we continue to work, rather than have us waste time by going back to the garrison. It seems we are to remain until every avenue has been exhausted."

"He said all that?" Treville was puzzled. Just how long had he been distracted and had the Cardinal noticed?

"Not in so many words," Aramis conceded, "but the hint was there."

Treville stretched to ease the kinks in his back where he had sat in one position for too long. At the same time, the doors opened to admit two servants carrying trays of food which they set down on a coffer standing against a wall. A tantalising aroma reached the hungry Musketeers.

"That smells good," Porthos announced from his table.

"Well I would hate it to go cold," Treville declared, "so I suggest we avail ourselves of the Cardinal's rare generosity and eat as we work. I, for one, would be happy to see this job concluded before he comes back."