Captain Cortemain strikes a deal with master Sabet to save lives and share the gold. He arranges for Chabert's 'company' of brigands to be recruited as crusading mercenaries by the royal duke of Anjou. Actually retrieving the treasure proves an adventure, during which Thomas witnesses lord Geoffroy de Montet being throated by his wife's captured maid. Giraud's lust becomes even more dangerous after the arrival of stone-mason Laurent, a gay seducer. Niot is offered a chance to study and enter the clergy, while his parents order him to hide and remain a farmer.
—KGF Vissers