The Lady's Party

In the days after they return via ship from Isla Tormentos, the heroes resettle into Paix life. Sebastien spends time with Christine, with whom he is growing close, and a friend - Benoit Bagot - asks him to cover one of his shifts as corporal of Musketeers so Benoit can escape to the country for a wekeend with his lady. Aleksei - through some consultation with Sister Martine - manages to place the rescued Vodacce Fate Witches in a country manor in his father's district. Shortly before the affairs at hand begin, Julien is approached by a man to execute a forged map, which he does and keeps quiet.

The Invitation and Monsieur Du Lac's Problem

The heroes receive invitations from Lady Moncrieff - she is hosting a salon and dinner party for an unknown guest from Charouse who is intimated to be quite important. This is a social coup; Lady Moncrieff's salons are well-known, exclusive affairs, and invitations are very hard to come by.

As they are discussing the invitation, Lucien du Lac - the Porté mage who associates with Philip du Paix - calls upon the heroes. He has a problem; the son of a woman he (to put it delicately) is friendly with has become enamoured of Lady Moncrieff. The boy Jacques is a servant, however - only a passing fancy for the lady - and so his mother, the Widow Placide, knows his heart will be broken. She went to Lucien, who originally placed him in Le Labyrinthe, and Lucien in turn asks the companions - known to be friends of Lady Moncrieff - for aid.

Lady Moncrieff's Salon

The four friends attend the salon: Aleksei brings Marie-Celeste as his plus-one, and Sebastien brings Christine. Julien attends in the guise of a servant, to better mingle with the maids and footmen there. Jacques - the valet - is easy enough to find: he's watching Lady Moncrieff like a hawk, mooning after her. With some investigation, however, Julien learns that one of the serving girls has fallen in love with Jacques, and the heroes resolve to break Jacques of his infatuation with Lady Moncrieff and send him into the arms of the girl. This is accomplished largely by Aleksei and Julien; Aleksei plays the lover, entwining himself with Lady Moncrieff, while Julien goads broken-hearted Jacques into a fight. After some fisticuffs, Jacques is hurt and sent into the arms of the girl to nurse his wounds.

More momentous events are afoot, however: no-one at the party appears to be all that friendly to L'Empereur. In addition to Lady Moncrieff, present are a number of out-of-towners, including the writer Hubert du Gloyure and a lawyer friend of his, Arnaud Charouse. Among the bourgeois of Paix is a printer, Maximilien Gispert, and when - late to dinner - the evening's guest is announced it is none other than Lady Jamais Sices du Sices, the foremost wit of Charouse.

In all, the party is a sort of introduction for the heroes; this group of nobles, rich men and their retinues have detected in the heroes a healthy concern for L'Empereur's war-mongering and over-reaching, and so they hope to bring the companions into their company.

A Musketeer's Duty

Several days later, Sebastien - as he promised his friend - is at the Musketeer hôtel as corporal on duty when Pierre Fagan, Chief Intendant of Paix, enters. The Chief Intendant - the senior bureaucrat for the generality of Paix - has an arrest warrant for Maximilien Gispert, the printer Sebastien met several days earlier at Lady Moncrieff's salon. According to Fagan, an informant has said that Gispert was involved in the bombing of the Paix Public Works six months earlier, and that evidence linking him to that crime will be found at his office. Sebastien sends a man ahead to warn Gispert (but also to tell him not to flee) and then proceeds to the printing-shop, where he arrests him on Fagan's warrant. During a search of the premises, one of the Musketeers finds a blueprint of the public works with incriminating notations in Gispert's hand.

Suspicious, Sebastien orders Gispert to be taken to the cells beneath Le Labyrinthe while he takes the map and goes to Julien, asking him if it is a forgery. Julien replies that it is not, or that if it is, it is very well done. The heroes come together; they determine that they will find the truth or falsity of this accusation, for it seems to them all that Gispert is not the sort of man who would have done this.

Investigation

Julien and Sebastien return to the printing shop, where they interview employees, the printer's wife, and search the premises again with more care. They clear the print-workers of wrongdoing - they did not have a key to the office where the map was found - and determine that the plates that originally made the map were not stolen. Then, when searching the office, they have a breakthrough: a bloody crossbow bolt, found underneath a desk, and from that conclude that a Porté mage must have stolen into the room to plant the map.

Meanwhile, Aleksei and Marie-Celeste have gone to Le Labyrinthe to learn what they can about Pierre Fagan. They meet his deputy, Jean Tourvelle - the Intendant for Justice - and learn something of Fagan's character. The man is an opportunist, an ambitious political climber, and while Tourvelle won't speak directly ill of the man he suggests that a miscarriage of justice may be occurring. He also lets on that Fagan has a prisoner at Les Chaines who says she will testify that Gispert was involved in exchange for clemency.

The Shadow of Philip du Paix

After oblique hints that Philip du Paix - and Lucien - may have been involved, Aleksei goes to confront the man in Le Labyrinthe. There, Philip directs Aleksei to Julien when the half-Ussuran nobleman questions Philip about the map's origin. Thus armed, Aleksei returns and the companions confront Julien, who admits that he had something to do with the forgery of the map. He promises to make things right, however, and disappears while the other companions put into action a plan to save Gispert.

The details are complex - they have Julien forge a letter recalling Fagan to Charouse, while they work to arrange Tourvelle as a replacement judge in Gispert's case and then plan to intercept the prisoner from Les Chaines. As a backup, they prepare to break Gispert out of prison in a sham prisoner-transfer and then spirit him and his wife to freedom.

Incriminating Evidence & Aftermath

None of this is needed, however; Julien returns to tell Sebastien that matters have been taken care of, and the Captain-lieutenant of Musketeers informs Sebastien that Philip has informed him that Fagan is into something dirty. Instructions are given to arrest Fagan and search his desk; there, in a secret compartment, incriminating ledgers and documents are found, some of which Fagan seems quite surprised to see. Fagan is ordered arrested, and Gispert is released. Fagan is stripped of his post, and - for the time being, at least - Tourvelle becomes acting Chief Intendant of Paix.

Persons of Note

• Philip du Paix -- Spymaster, ne'er-do-well, and patron of the heroes.
• Lucien du Lac -- Porté master and associate of Philip's.
• Lady Adelaide Moncrieff -- A lover of Aleksei's and the grand dame of Paix society.
• Lady Jamais Sices du Sices -- The greatest wit in Montaigne and a leading lady of court in Charouse.
• Hubert du Gloyure -- A well-known poet and artist from Charouse.
• Maximilien Gispert -- A wealthy printer in Paix.
• Captain Luc Duchard -- Captain-lieutenant of Musketeers in Paix.
• Jean Tourvelle -- Chief Intendant of the generalite of Paix; formerly Intendant of Justice.