Following the monastery victory, M.
de Tréville seeks to preempt Cardinal Richelieu by appealing directly to King Louis XIII at his evening card game. Finding the monarch in a winning mood, Tréville strategically frames the clash as self-defense against aggressive Cardinalist guards. Fascinated to hear how three musketeers—Athos, Porthos, and Aramis—alongside a young Gascon cadet defeated five of Richelieu's finest men, the King's pride is stoked. Learning that the youth, d'Artagnan, single-handedly felled the formidable Jussac, King Louis XIII schedules a private audience for all four men the following day at noon via a hidden palace staircase.
The next morning, d'Artagnan joins the musketeers for a game of tennis near the Luxembourg stables to pass the time. After a heavily struck ball from Porthos narrowly misses his face, d'Artagnan steps out of the game to watch from the gallery. There, a notorious Cardinalist guard named Bernajoux insults d'Artagnan as a cowardly apprentice, prompting the hot-blooded Gascon to demand an immediate duel in the street. Showing brilliant theoretical skill, d'Artagnan severely wounds Bernajoux in the lung. When Bernajoux's allies ambush him, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis intervene, triggering a massive chaotic street battle involving the household of M. de La Trémouille. The musketeers prevail, but the commotion delays them past noon. Upon returning, Tréville discovers that the Cardinal has already counter-maneuvered, convincing the King to leave Paris for an impromptu hunting trip to Saint-Germain.
To regain the upper hand, Tréville visits M. de La Trémouille to resolve the conflict directly. He proposes they interview the bedridden Bernajoux and accept his words as absolute truth. Facing death, Bernajoux honestly confesses that he provoked d'Artagnan and that the musketeers were not the aggressors. Exonerated, Tréville hosts a celebratory dinner for the four companions, where d'Artagnan is praised as the hero of both consecutive days.
At six o'clock, Tréville brings the young men back to the Louvre. When the King returns from hunting in a visibly foul mood, he ignores the musketeers entirely and retreats to his chambers. Tréville boldly enters the royal cabinet alone, finding Louis XIII complaining bitterly about a ruined hunt and political fatigue caused by Cardinal Richelieu. The King abruptly channels his irritation into the recent street brawl, angrily accusing Tréville's musketeers of assassinating a man, disrupting an entire neighborhood, and attempting to burn down Paris.