The Three Musketeers Summary Chapters 5-15

Chapters 5-7
D'Artagan went to fight his duel with Athos. Surprisingly, Athos's seconds were Aramis and Porthos, which obviously created some confusion. As soon as their blade struck though, the cardinals guards came upon them. It was illegal to fight duels and they were ready to carry out their orders. D'Artagan realized he had to make a choice on whose side he would be. He decided to fight with the very men he had been earlier about to fight. They became the best of friends after this and shared everything. They struggled with getting enough money though.
The next twist to the story happens when D'Artagan's landlord tells him that his wife has been kidnapped and implores his help. This kidnapping is deeply political and is exactly what D'Artagan wants because it involves the queen. As they are talking, D'Artagan sees the man from Meung, the mysterious stranger, and immediately pursues him.
D'Artagan never found the man, but the landlord had offered him 100 pistols to find his wife, so all his friends were in with him. They basically declared war on the Cardinal himself to help the little draper's wife who was in deep and mysterious political intrigue.

Chapters 8-11
D'Artagan realizes that the police are interviewing all the people that come to where Madame Bonacieux, a.k.a the drapers wife, lives. He finds a place where he can listen in on all their conversations. He hears the screaming of a woman one evening and he realizes it is the lady herself. He fought of the guards fairly easily and was finally in the room alone with her. He takes her to Athos's house, where she will be safe, and explains the situation with her husband. She then explains to d'Artagnan that she was kidnapped by the Cardinal's forces, but that she escaped and now has super important services to help the Queen. She says that she must return to the Louvre, where the Queen is; D'Artagnan escorts Madame Bonacieux back to the palace. d'Artagnan has fallen in love with Madame Bonacieux, and he makes sure that he will see her again before he leaves her. He goes to Treville's to get an alibi for his actions, aware that he is now in direct conflict with the Cardinal. He changes de Treville's clock, so the thathe will think that d'Artagnan was with him at the moment when he was fighting, and his alibi will work. Athos is arrested, but Treville gets him out easily enough.

Chapters 12-15
The cardinal tells the king that the duke of Buckingham is in Paris and the king is very upset, he fears that the queen is romantically involved. He demands the Queen to present the letter the Cardinal told him she had, it proves to be only political subjects. The Cardinal has hired Milady to steal two of the diamond tags from the duke that were the Queen's. He then tells the King to request the Queen to wear them to the upcoming ball. Madame Bonacieux is very distressed by all of this and d'Artagan having overheard, he implores Madame Bonacieux to take him into her confidence and allow him to go to England for her D'Artagnan is joyous at the opportunity to serve both the Queen and his beloved Madame Bonacieux, and she herself is obviously starting to fall in love with him.

D'Artagnan rushes off to M. de Treville and, without revealing any secrets, explains the situation to the great man. Treville agrees to get d'Artagnan his leave, and gives Porthos, Aramis, and Athos a leave as well, The journey to Britain is difficult, but d'Artagnan eventually arrives. Porthos is waylaid at a duel in a pub, Aramis is shot in the arm in an ambush and has to rest and recuperate, and Athos is caught in another ambush further along the way. Forced to leave his three friends, D'Artagnan travels on to Britain, is forced to duel and nearly kill a Cardinalist agent, the Comte de Wardes, to leave France, and is able to get the letter from the Queen to Buckingham just in time. The duke finds the diamonds missing two tags and realizes that they have been stolen, in no less than two days though, he has two completely identical diamonds made and d'Artagan rushes back to Paris. The Queen thanks him in a dark room in person and gives him a ring as a token of her gratitude.

Reaction:
There was so much political intrigue in this part of the book it was at times difficult to keep up. It might be interesting to read the unabridged at certain parts here. I'm sure the plot is actually a lot more detailed in the original. Either way it makes for a good action packed read. You really want things to work out for our young hero, and you want him and Constance to be together:)

The Three Musketeers Summary Chapters 1-4

Chapter 1
d'Artagan is the main character and has set off with his father's three gifts; fifteen crowns, a horse, and a letter for the Monsieur de Treville as a recommend him a spot as a king's musketeer. He arrives at the Jolly Miller Inn and is greatly angered by a man who is making fun of his horse. He promptly challenges the gentleman to a duel. d'Artagan is slightly injured and the stranger steals the important letter. All throughout the book d'Artagan catches glimpses of this man but always he disappears.
Chapter 2
d'Artagnan arrives where Monsieur de Treville lives. He sees the muskeeters fighting with real, sharpened swords and is rather shocked. We meet Porthos who has a embroidered shoulder-belt that onlookers are admiring. We also meet Aramis who tends to be quiet.
Chapter 3
d'Artagnan meets Monsieur de Treville for the first time. He makes a good impression. Barely had he greeted d'Artagnan when he yelled for Porthos and Aramis and immediately begins shouting at them regarding their conduct. They apparently had gotten in a brawl with the cardinal's guards. Athos was called in as well. He had been severely injured. Monsieur de Treville became impressed instead of upset. After that episode he finally addressed d'Artagnan. He gives him a letter to attend the academy for free, which is really as much as he can do. d'Artagnan proudly accepts, and as he's about to leave sees the stranger that he wants to get his revenge on.
Chapter 4
In his pursuit of this mysterious stranger d'Artagnan ran straight into Athos and hurts his injured shoulder. After some misunderstands and too much pride they arrange a duel for midday the next day. He continues to try to chase down the man, but accidently bumps into Porthos and gets tangled up in his cloak, upon which they both become angry and arrange a duel for 1:00 the next day. After that he realizes he has lost his enemy and he might not survive the duels on the upcoming day. He sees Aramis drop a hankerchief and picks it up for him to be friendly. Aramis does not want the men with him to know it is his because it compromises a lady. They get into a heated argument and set up a duel for 2:00 the next day.

Reaction:
I thought the first four chapters were a very good set up for the book. It explains everything so as not to leave the reader confused. The circumstances in which he met his three future compatriots I thought were pretty interesting. The whole story with Aramis instantly gives an element of mystery to it, that you don't understand until a lot later.

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These book reviews I will be writing in the near future I hope will encourage you to continue your literary journey. The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it. ~James Bryce