The campaign began in in the chill winter February 1625, as a French soldier, Adrien Sannom, an ensign of pikemen in the Picardy Regiment, was sent to Paris to deliver dispatches for his colonel.
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Buoyed by his success at the tables of Le Tonneau de Vin a few days earlier, the chevalier de Saint-Sauvan decides to revisit the tavern to try his luck once more. He pays no mind when one of the servants of the Hôtel de Galbert politely inquires about where monsieur le chevalier is going for the evening, and does not notice when the servant slips out of the door of the lodging a moment later.
The fall air is warm as Saint-Sauvan cheerfully walks the night-dark streets to the tavern. There is no warning when a rapier flashes out of a shadow and slips deep into his side, followed by the form of a man.
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It’s a two-day ride from Turin to the fortress of Casale in the neighboring duchy of Monferrato. Nominally neutral in the conflict between Savoy, Genoa, and Milan, the duchy sits at the junction of all three states, and soldiers from each criss-crossed the duchy in recent months with only token resistance from the duke, Ferdinando Gonzaga. The raid on the Lisowczycy encampment in which Riordan O’Neill seized the Poles’ banner was actually in Monferrato, Razmann, the German colonel, notes, as the duelists ride toward Casale.
The invitation from the graf von Hentzau specified five duelists, and the comte de Challons asked Riordan, Razmann, Captain Vaile, and the baron de Saint-Jurs to stand with him. Surgeon Guillaume Sébastien is invited by the count as well, of course, and the party is accompanied by a handful of servants, including Riordan’s lackey, Jean-Luc.
Challons places Vaile, the chevau-légers fencing master, in charge of arranging the specifics of the duel for the French soldiers.
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Challons’ plan
The attack by Challons’ battalion on the Imperial cavalry encampment is a success. In addition to Riordan capturing the Lisowcycy banner, Lieutenant Vaile takes an Austrian cavalry officer prisoner, a son of the graf von Felseck. Pierre Gaignaire, the young Genevan law student, also captures an officer, an Albanian lieutenant, suffering a serious sabre wound in the process. Sergeant Valdimontone leads the squad that captures the enemy pickets and seizes the bridge leading into the Monferrini village, enabling the French to attack with surprise.
Unfortunately Sergeant Courtivron‘s ill-luck follows him into battle once more – seriously wounded by an arquebus ball in the leg in the first engagement against the Albanians months earlier, and still not fully recovered, he takes an arrow in the neck from one of the Polish troopers. He is one of many so injured – for Guillaume, it’s a clinical lesson in the treatment of arrow wounds, as well as the more expected sabre slashes and pistol balls.
The battalion falls back to a Piedmontese étape to rest and refit amid the warmth of Saint Martin’s summer as October turns to November.
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After his humiliation at the sword of the fencing master Laplante, the chevalier de Saint-Sauvan is in a foul mood, but with the injury to his arm, it is a couple of weeks before he is ready to face people again. Aside from walks to and from the Église Saint Laurent pres Les Moulins for Mass, he has little contact with anyone beyond the servants of the Hôtel de Galbert.
Realising that his winnings from d’Espard won’t last forever – and wishing to avoid another encounter with La Gautier – the chevalier decides to head for Le Tonneau de Vin, a slightly more reputable tavern than Lo Diable, catering to merchants. The sleeve of his doublet, ripped by Laplante’s sword is mended, and in his blue-and-green finery he walks into the tavern.
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The salle d’armes of the Scuola di Cavalcabo is long but narrow, flooded with bright summer sunlight through tall narrow windows. Woodblock prints illustrating different fighting stances adorn the whitewashed walls. Racks with a variety of practice swords and long wooden benches line the wall opposite the piste marked on the floor beneath the windows. Urbain de Foresta catches a glimpse of himself in a mirror of glass and tin at the far end of the piste as he enters the studio.
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It is the end of June as the Chevau-légers de Challons begin the march over the Col de Montgenèvre for the Val di Susa, escorting a mule train of powder. Cornet Riordan O’Neill, recovered from the most recent attempt on his life and resplendent in a scarlet uniform coat, bears the personal standard of the comte de Challons, a bend argent on a field sable , near the head of the column; the company’s barber-surgeon, Guillaume Sébastien rides toward the rear of the column, near the creaking fourgon – ambulance wagon – carrying his supplies and instruments.
Challons relays hard news as the company departs – the duc de Lesdiguières, constable of France and commander of the Army of Genoa, is returning to Dauphiné, suffering from camp fever. The French soldiers in Piedmont are now under the command of his deputy, the marquis de Créqui. Privately Challons confides in his officers that Carlo Emanuele and the Savoyards blame Lesdiguières for the failure of the expedition against Genoa; the count explains that the veteran warrior advanced cautiously, seeing plainly the trap into which the Savoyard and French armies were marching.
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A few days pass after Guillaume saves Riordan from the poisoned wine. Riordan is given a room inside the manor house at La Vauvraye to convalesce, tended to by Madame de La Vauvraye and her two young daughters. Courtivron arrives one afternoon, covered in dust. After inquiring after Riordan’s health, the Musketeer shakes his head. “I can’t decide if the captain is a genius or a madman,” he says. Courtivron describes how Challons is teaching the troop to attack, not at the stately trot to carbine range of the caracole, but a full bore charge, with carbines fired at the last minute and swords drawn for the moment of impact. It’s nothing like he’s experienced before, Courtivron, the veteran of two campaigns against the Huguenots, adds.
The next day Madame de Vauvraye announces that Riordan has two visitors from Grenoble, Mageron, the provost-martial, and Monsieur de Barral, a procureur – prosecutor – for the Parlement de Grenoble. Guillaume and helps Riordan to the salon, where the one-armed provost-martial waits with another, a well-groomed, owlish man in his early thirties with various papers spread out on a table and a quill and inkpot close at hand.
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The warmth of the June day vanishes into the sea with the sunset, and the cool night slips down the alleys and streets of Marseille in its wake.
Resplendent in a blue and green silk and velvet doublet, the slashed sleeves revealing a white silk shirt beneath, the chevalier de Saint-Sauvan adjusts his hat and cape as he sets out for the Upper City, to locate a tavern known as Lo Diable. A merchant on the quays, fresh from haggling over the price of olive oil, recommended the Devil to the chevalier earlier in the day as a place where one could be sure to find games of chance.
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Arriving in Grenoble to discover that the lieutenant of the Chevau-légers de Challons is missing, the adventurers – Riordan O’Neill, sergeant of King’s Musketeers; Doctor Guillaume Sébastien, surgeon and Renaissance man; and Bruno Faucon, fencing instructor and man of mystery; along with Riodan’s lackey, Jean-Luc, and another Musketeer, Barthélemy de Courtivron – must regroup. The solicitous innkeeper, Monsieur Charnière, of the Auberge des Dauphins, arranges a private room for the weary, bedraggled travellers, giving them a chance to collect their thoughts while performing ablutions and exchanging soiled clothing for clean; he also provides them with bread and wine.
Guillaume and Riordan inquire about Gourjon, the missing officer. The innkeeper reiterates what the provost-martial, Mageron, told Riordan and Courtivron earlier: Gourjon disappeared two weeks earlier, and no trace of him has yet been found.
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