“A year,” Athos says, half to himself, for if it seems a lifetime to Aramis, it seems like no time at all to him. He flushes faintly and nearly smiles, but his heart isn’t in it. He wonders if they realize how much their future child already occupies their conversation, their very being. “From the moment this child is conceived, you will be lost to me,” he tells them with a rueful note in his voice.