Summary
Milady has sailed for England to carry out her mission of meeting with Buckingham. Her ship encounters bad weather, and unbeknownst to her, she lands in England the same day that Planchet is departing to return to France. She is quickly escorted to a carriage and taken to a remote castle, where she realizes she is a prisoner. Lord de Winter meets her there; he doesn't reveal how he knew of her arrival, but he makes it clear that he knows many of her secrets and plans to see her punished. He introduces her to a man named John Felton, who will be her jailer. Lord de Winter is confident Felton will not fall prey to Milady's wiles. Nonetheless, Milady starts scheming and believes she has a chance of seducing Felton. She notes that he is not Catholic, and puts on a show of being a Puritan (a Protestant religious sect). The display of her beauty and seeming piety starts to tempt Felton, who tries not to spend too much time around her.
The day when Lord de Winter said Milady will be transported to the colonies fast approaches. When Felton finds Milady praying, she tells him that she fears Lord de Winter is going to rape her, and asks for a knife. Felton suspects that Milady is considering killing herself, but he does not say anything to Lord de Winter. He seems to be taking more and more of an interest in her. On the fourth day of her captivity, Felton interrupts Milady trying to hang herself. He begs her not to hurt herself, and to tell him the story of how she came to be imprisoned. Lord de Winter knows something is going on, and cautions Felton to hold on for a few more days.
Nonetheless, late that night, Felton sneaks into Milady's room, bringing her a knife. Milady is determined to escape and tells Felton a story of being abducted and raped. She claims she is now being held captive so that she can't tell her story to anyone, and that she is truly a virtuous and religious woman. She uses the mark on her shoulder to her advantage, claiming it was inflicted by her captor. She implies that the man who assaulted her was the Duke of Buckingham, and Felton swears to kill him on her behalf. Pretending to be in despair, Milady threatens to kill herself while Felton begs her not to. Lord de Winter walks in, and assures Felton that Milady will not carry out her threat. To prove her intention, Milady stabs herself, but is careful to ensure she doesn't sustain any real injury.
While Milady recovers from her "injuries," Lord de Winter tells her that Felton was sent away, since the situation was becoming too risky. That night, Felton sneaks to her window with a ladder and the two of them escape and board a ship. Felton is determined to kill Buckingham, which works out perfectly for Milady. She agrees to wait for him onboard the ship while he carries out the assassination; if he doesn't return by the appointed time, she will sail back to France. They plan to meet at the convent at Bethune.
Back at La Rochelle, France's enemies are waiting on aid from England. Richelieu is anxious because he has not heard from Milady. He runs into D'Artagnan and the musketeers discussing amidst themselves one day, and gets annoyed when they won't tell him what they are talking about. It turns out that the musketeers were looking at a letter from their contact in Tours, informing them that Constance Bonancieux is now in a convent at Bethune. To protect this secret, they make Grimaud eat the letter.
Analysis
While D'Artagnan is the hero and protagonist of the story, a significant portion of the latter part of the novel is actually presented from the perspective of Milady. In some ways, she is the most interesting and complex character in the novel. Relatively little is ever revealed about the internal lives of the musketeers, and D'Artagnan is often quite shallow in his impulses and reactive in his emotions. Milady, on the other hand, is thoughtful, strategic, and highly skilled at reading people. Her reaction to imprisonment shows her utilizing a strategy where she carefully plans and plots each move as though she is playing a chess game. As a woman, she has had to learn how to achieve her ends through very different means, and her strategic and controlled approach contrasts directly with the impulse to physical violence that the musketeers generally employ.
Milady's gradual seduction of Felton is a masterclass in psychological manipulation. For many men, Milady's beauty and the possibility of sleeping with her would be the best motivation to help her. Milady, however, can quickly tell that Felton is ideologically motivated and will not betray his principles out of lust. Because she is so good at reading people, Milady is able to understand what narrative Felton will be moved by, and then performs that narrative. She can pretend to be a religious and virtuous woman if it suits her purposes, and this pretense provides further confirmation of how soulless and amoral she truly is. Nothing is beyond the scope of what she is willing to do if it furthers her ends.
John Felton is based on a historical figure, since a man by that name did indeed murder the Duke of Buckingham, partly out of religious principles and partially out of frustration with his experience in the war effort. In Dumas' novel, Felton continues the pattern of excitable and somewhat reckless men who are easily swept away by their emotions. Felton makes some attempt to resist and trust that Lord de Winter is telling him the truth. But his religious faith is rooted in emotion, not logic; he feels a sense of persecution as a religious minority, and therefore also feels immediate loyalty to someone who shares his faith. Felton's chivalrous desire to protect and avenge Milady when he believes that she is a wronged woman shows how romanticized and idealized depictions of women can be perverted and turned against the very men who believe themselves to be noble protectors.
Meanwhile, the Cardinal is becoming increasingly vulnerable. He has taken a political risk by banking on success in the conflict at La Rochelle, but has made a poor choice in believing that Milady will serve him before her own ends. He is increasingly aware of the skill, cunning, and bravery of the musketeers. They have been able to use all of their resources to finally determine the location where Constance is being held. Interestingly, this information ultimately required the intervention of another woman: Aramis's mysterious mistress, who is strongly hinted to be the banished Madame de Chevreuse. In what at first seems like a world dominated by men, women are shown to have the strategic sensibility and patience for the long game which ultimately makes them more dangerous enemies and more valuable allies.
