Talk about turning a corner! No sooner had I finished writing the last column and picked up my book again, that things got dramatically better. Where the heroes had been wishy-washy and divided, they become courageous and united. Where the villains had been distant and vague, they suddenly snap into nefarious focus. The last third of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers is not only great reading, but it makes what had bordered on tedious totally worthwhile.

For whatever reason, Dumas' characters in this last section seem to leap off the page. I felt like I learned more about these people in the last 200 or so pages than I did in the nearly 400 which came before. It's not just that secrets are revealed either, but we get to see the characters act and react in tense, exciting situations. Of particular note and interest are Athos and Milady, who are linked together by a common past.

SPOILER ALERT: If you are planning on reading The Three Musketeers, you may want to skip down a bit.

Athos has been something of a father figure throughout the novel. He talks less than the others, and is generally the go-to guy when a decision has to be made. This also has the effect of taking him out of much of the action. With the revelation that his young wife, long thought dead by his own hand, is alive and going by the name Milady, he withdraws even more. Like the other characters, however, when the siege of La Rochelle begins in chapters 40-41, Athos comes alive. He takes a more active role in leading the musketeers and becomes determined to help d'Artagnan bring down Milady, especially after she tries to kill the young soldier a couple of times. Ultimately it is Athos leadership, courage and ingenuity which brings about her destruction and d'Artagnan's salvation. Athos becomes the character I hoped he would be: wise, brave, distinguished, and conflicted. It is the last adjective which truly endeared him to me in the end.

You see, Milady (who is manipulative as hell, but more on that presently) once tricked Athos into marrying her. He was a well-to-do nobleman who fell in love with the beautiful sister of a priest. Turns out she was a liar and a thief, and her priest brother was actually her first husband. Learning all of this, Athos fulfills his role as a nobleman and hangs the woman, his wife. Somehow she survives, even though he thinks her dead, but the weight of betrayal and murder drives Athos to change his name and join the musketeers. While there had been hints of all this early in the story, it isn't until the last third that Dumas really gets the plot cooking.

Whereas Athos is good and just, albeit conflicted, Milady is nothing short of a Machiavellian nightmare. As an agent of Cardinal Richelieu, she is dispatched to England during the siege to find a way to assassinate the Duke of Buckingham. Fortunately, Athos, d'Artagnan and the boys catch wind of the plot and get messages off to the Duke and Milady's brother-in-law, Lord de Winter. De Winter intercepts Milady and takes her prisoner. Does this slow the lady down? Not even close. Over the course of five days, Milady uses lies and seduction to drive de Winter's best guard mad with religious and sexual fervor. The poor John Felton falls in love with her, helps her escape and then murders the Duke for her, while she takes off back to France.