The young d’Artagnan travels to Paris with a letter of
introduction for Monsieur de Tréville, Captain of the
King’s Musketeers. At de Tréville’s house he meets Athos,
Porthos and Aramis, who will become his firm friends.
However, before their friendship can be confirmed, they
each challenge him to a duel. Fortunately, before any
of the duels can take place, the three musketeers and
d’Artagnan are confronted by men from the Cardinal’s
guards. There is a fight, which the musketeers win and
when the King hears about the fight, he makes d’Artagnan
one of the King’s guards, though not yet a musketeer.
Meanwhile, Cardinal Richelieu is planning to trap the
Queen and make sure that the King has proof of her
infidelity with the English Duke of Buckingham. She has
foolishly given the twelve diamond pins, which the King
had previously given to her, to the Duke as a sign of her
affection. The Cardinal has arranged for Lady de Winter
to steal some or all of the pins. She manages to steal two.
Thus, Richelieu is sure that when the Queen tries to get
the pins back in time for a dinner and dance at which she
must wear them, she will not be able to get the full set
of twelve. But d’Artagnan and the Duke upset the plan
by having two replacement pins made. D’Artagnan takes
the diamond pins from London to Paris in time for the
dinner. The action then moves on to an account of a civil
war. The King and the Cardinal are desperate to take the
Protestant Huguenot stronghold of La Rochelle and, with
the help of the four friends, they succeed. D’Artagnan is
summoned to see the Cardinal. He fears for his life but he
returns to his friends with a piece of paper, making him a
lieutenant in the musketeers.