The Musketeers BBC / I can't breathe without you

Chateau Fontainbleau

Constance stepped out of the car. The stately home before her was larger than everything she had ever seen.

"Did I promise too much?" D'Artagnan was still holding the door open for her, giving her a knowing grin. The first time he had seen Chateau Fontainbleau he had just stood there himself, captivated by the sight. At that time it had been dark and rainy, but that hadn't diminished the size and beauty of the building. Today was a fine day, already rather warm for May and the light brown facade was practically glowing. D'Artagnan threw a surreptitious glance at the woman standing beside him. She was just as beautiful as Louis' cousin with her hair open and her locks tumbling loosely across her shoulders. She wore a simple pair of jeans and a print t-shirt with a light blue blazer.

A small man came down the steps towards them. For Constance's taste he was dressed far to gaudily. Black patent leather shoes, green chinos, a red v-neck shirt and a navy blue jacket. The men immediately stood at attention.

"Dear cousin Anne, how are you? Did you have a comfortable journey?" The man approached Anne, took her hands and kissed them. Constance noticed that her friend, who had been rather relaxed around Aramis, a stranger, tensed in the presence of her cousin Louis.

"Thank you for your kind invitation and for sending four men for our protection, although that seems a little too much. It was a very quiet journey."

"Good, good." Louis seemed distracted, aimless.

"Monsieur, perhaps someone should show the ladies to their rooms. I am sure they would like to freshen up and get some rest." Porthos decided to help his employer out of his apparent misery.

"Oh yes, of course, the rooms."

"If the ladies would follow me, please." With an inviting gesture, Porthos proceeded to show the two women the way to their rooms.

Once inside the chateau the three guards didn't have to deal with the luggage, as there were enough servants.

"There will be a banquet tonight in honour of your arrival," Porthos explained to the women. "Other than that there are no fixed meal times, the King always dines in his rooms. And speaking of rooms, here are yours." He opened the double doors to a very large apartment with ornamented furniture. "You have a lovely view of the garden. A large bedroom, a living room and an office. Madame Constance, you will be one floor above us in apartment 48, which has a direct connection to this one here. I would now like to leave you to yourself. A servant will show you the way to dinner later. If you need anything just pull that rope over there, it's connected to a bell in the servants' rooms. You will be safe here."

"Thank you, Porthos." Anne squeezed his hand for a moment, before she turned to the window to look out into the garden. Porthos bowed briefly and left.

Constance started to deal with their luggage.

"Constance, I can take care of that myself. Please, go, take a look at your room and get some rest."

"You're right, I'll take a little nap. All these new impressions." Constance left too, leaving Anne alone with her thoughts.

Anne had just placed one of the last suitcases on the bed when she heard a knock at the door. "Come in," she called.

"Excuse the interruption, Madame, but I have your emergency phone for you. That way we can always locate you and the first four numbers on speed dial are our pager numbers, so that you can always contact us." Aramis placed the black cell phone on the table in the living room.

Anne came over to him. "Thank you. You went to a lot of trouble, seeing that I'm only his cousin."

"It's our job and we always take that very seriously. And now I'll let you get back to your unpacking." Aramis grinned at her mischievously. Anne was puzzled. Why was he grinning at her like that? Suddenly she blushed. The bra she had been about to put away when Aramis had come in was still in her hand. Quickly she tried to hide it behind her back.

"Madame," Aramis walked back to the door, the grin still on his face.

"Oh God, how embarrassing." Still blushing, Anne went back to her suitcase. "And it just had to be the one with the flowers, too." She huffed out a breath.

"Are you alright, Anne?" Constance, who had just entered the room, came over to her friend.

"Yes, yes, I just managed to embarrass myself a little."

Constance laughed. "It can't have been all that bad." Quickly the two women finished unpacking.

"Is your room alright?" Anne asked, worried for her friend as usual.

"Yes, thank you. It's more than alright, the room looks like a grand hotel."

Anne regarded her friend.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm fine. Let's not think about it and just enjoy the time."

-----

"What put that grin on your face?" Porthos asked his friend.

"Nothing special, just the pleasures of a man." Aramis sat beside his friend at the table. They had a meeting in the office of their boss, Treville, in a few minutes, where they would be informed about the procedures for the next couple of days.

"Aramis, restrain yourself. She's the King's cousin and her friend is married." Athos gave his friend a serious, warning look, fully aware of his reputation and the problems his charm could cause.

"Married? To whom? She's still so young. And where is that man then? Did he let her travel here on her own?" D'Artagnan looked at his friends, astonished.

"Before you rake me over the coals for something that hasn't even happened yet, you'd better keep an eye on the little one here," Aramis said, pointing to D'Artagnan. Before the matter could turn into a discussion, Treville, the chief of security, came over to their table and the talk turned to the next couple of days.

"Tonight will be normal level 0 security. The gates are closed, the dogs are out in the outer rings and we have guards at the King's room and the ballroom."

"Maybe we should also have a guard at the cousin's room?" Athos looked at the others questioningly.

"That is covered by the cameras. The command center is staffed around the clock now."

"Any excursions planned?" Porthos got uo to get himself a Coke.

"You could have brought one for me too," Aramis interrupted Treville.

"If the Coke crisis has been dealt with.... tomorrow should be quiet. Maybe the garden or the woods."

With the meeting finished, the group broke up and went into the ballroom for the banquet.

Anne and Constance joined them there a few minutes later, taking seats at the upper end of the long table. Louis took his time appearing. The room slowly filled with people, and the noise level rose accordingly.

"Anne, where's is your cousin?"

"I don't know."

"Please don't wonder," Treville joined the conversation. As chief of security his place was at the upper end of the table too. "The King is always a little later. His sense of time is different from ours."

Half an hour later Louis arrived and dinner was served.