Chapter 3 Summary

Chapter 3 - Madrid Steel

The next Sunday, Alatriste, Inigo, and don Quevedo go to mass at Las Benitas, the chapel attached to the convent of Adoratrices Benitas. The chapel is popular because of Fray Coroado's homilies and Teresa de Guzman, the wife of the Conde de Olivares, along with many other women of the upper class, regularly attends its mass. While Alatriste and don Quevedo examine, from a distance, the nunnery chapel, where the young women of the convent watch the mass behind a spiked, ornate screen, Inigo spots the eldest de la Cruz son in the crowd, also peering toward the screen. After the mass, as don Quevedo greets acquaintances on the street, Alatriste studies the exterior of the convent, looking for weaknesses and points of entry. The eldest son too, skulks about outside, eying the walls.

While following the captain, Inigo...