Raoul and Athos head to De Beaufort’s lodgings in Paris. At his mansion, De Beaufort distributes his assets among his creditors as he aims to sell off as much as he can to finance the trip to Africa. De Beaufort gives Raoul orders to travel ahead of him and recruit more soldiers on the way. He proposes that since Athos travels with Raoul, he will help him with recruitment and not bear to leave him alone to his task. As Athos and Raoul depart, they determine that De Beaufort’s trip is more a vanity project than an expedition benefiting France.

By the time Athos and Raoul reach Toulon, there is no sign of D’Artagnan, and his trail has since gone cold. One fisherman at the docks says they cannot take to the water yet, since he needs to repair his boat due to a nobleman loading a hefty carriage case onto the vessel and insisting on a speedy voyage. The fisherman tried protesting, but the man beat him with his cane. When he tried to involve his guild, the man presented papers that overrode their authority, leaving the fisherman no right to refuse.