The Count of Monte Cristo

Alexandre Dumas

• Publisher: Canterbury Classics
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781607107316
• eBook ISBN: 9781607108566
• Topic: Literatur
• Subtopic: Altertumswissenschaften

Hope. Justice. Vengeance. A classic tale you don’t want to miss!

Best-selling author Alexandre Dumas--who also wrote The Three Musketeers--tells this heartbreaking yet heroic tale of Edmond Dantes who takes revenge on the men responsible for his unjust fourteen-year imprisonment, keeping him from the woman he loved and the life he was supposed to live.

 

* This widely popular classic, originally written in French, tells a tale of devastating consequences for the innocent as well as the guilty.

 

The Count of Monte Cristo is a must-have for any home library or literary aficionado.

CHAPTER 1

MARSEILLES—THE ARRIVAL

On the 24th of February, 1815, the lookout at Notre-Dame de la Garde signaled the three-master, the Pharaon, from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples. As usual, a pilot put off immediately, and rounding the Château d’If, got on board the vessel between Cape Morgion and Rion Island.

Instantly, and according to custom, the ramparts of Fort Saint-Jean were covered with spectators; it is always an event at Marseilles for a ship to come into port, especially when this ship, like the Pharaon, has been built, rigged, and laden at the old Phocee docks, and belongs to an owner of the city.

The ship drew on and had safely passed the strait, which some volcanic shock has made between the Calasareigne and Jaros islands; had doubled Pomegue, and approached the harbor under topsails, jib, and spanker, but so slowly and sedately that the idlers, with that instinct which is the forerunner of evil, asked one another what misfortune could have happened on board. However, those experienced in navigation saw plainly that if any accident had occurred, it was not to the vessel herself, for she bore down with all the evidence of being skillfully handled, the anchor ready to be dropped, the bows prit shrouds already eased off, and standing by the side of the pilot, who was steering the Pharaon toward the narrow entrance of the inner port, was a young man, who, with activity and vigilant eye, watched every motion of the ship, and repeated each direction of the pilot.

The vague disquietude which prevailed among the spectators had so much affected one of the crowd that he did not await the arrival of the vessel in harbor, but jumping into a small skiff, desired to be pulled alongside the Pharaon, which he reached as she rounded into La Reserve basin.

When the young man on board saw this person approach, he left his station by the pilot, and, hat in hand, leaned over the ship’s bulwarks. He was a fine, tall, slim young fellow of eighteen or twenty with black eyes and hair as dark as a raven’s wing. His whole appearance bespoke that calmness and resolution peculiar to men accustomed from their cradle to contend with danger.

“Ah, is it you, Dantes?” cried the man in the skiff. “What’s the matter? And why have you such an air of sadness aboard?”

“A great misfortune, M. Morrel,” replied the young man, “a great misfortune, for me especially! Off Civita Vecchia we lost our brave Captain Leclere.”

“And the cargo?” inquired the owner, eagerly.

“Is all safe, M. Morrel; and I think you will be satisfied on that head. But poor Captain Leclere—”

“What happened to him?” asked the owner, with an air of considerable resignation. “What happened to the worthy captain?”

“He died.”

“Fell into the sea?”

“No, sir, he died of brain fever in dreadful agony.” Then turning to the crew, he said, “Bear a hand there, to take in sail!”

All hands obeyed, and at once the eight or ten seamen who composed the crew sprang to their respective stations at the spanker brails and outhaul, topsail sheets and halyards, the jib downhaul, and the topsail cluelines and buntlines. The young sailor gave a look to see that his orders were promptly and accurately obeyed, and then turned again to the owner.

“And how did this misfortune occur?” inquired the latter, resuming the interrupted conversation.

“Alas, sir, in the most unexpected manner. After a long talk with the harbor master, Captain Leclere left Naples greatly disturbed in mind. In twenty-four hours he was attacked by a fever, and died three days afterward. We performed the usual burial service, and he is at his rest, sewn up in his hammock with a thirty-six pound shot at his head and his heels, off El Giglio Island. We bring to his widow his sword and cross of honor. It was worthwhile, truly,” added the young man with a melancholy smile, “to make war against the English for ten years, and to die in his bed at last, like everybody else.”

“Why, you see, Edmond,” replied the owner, who appeared more comforted at every moment, “we are all mortal, and the old must make way for the young. If not, why, there would be no promotion; and since you assure me that the cargo—”

“Is all safe and sound, M. Morrel, take my word for it; and I advise you not to take 25,000 francs for the profits of the voyage.”

Then, as they were just passing the Round Tower, the young man shouted, “Stand by there to lower the topsails and jib; brail up the spanker!”

The order was executed as promptly as it would have been on board a manof-war.

“Let go—and clue up!” At this last command all the sails were lowered, and the vessel moved almost imperceptibly onward.

“Now, if you will come on board, M. Morrel,” said Dantes, observing the owner’s impatience, “here is your supercargo, M. Danglars, coming out of his cabin, who will furnish you with every particular. As for me, I must look after the anchoring, and dress the ship in mourning.”

The owner did not wait for a second invitation. He seized a rope which Dantes flung to him, and with an activity that would have done credit to a sailor, climbed up the side of the ship, while the young man, going to his task, left the conversation to Danglars, who now came toward the owner. He was a man of twenty-five or twenty-six years of age, of unprepossessing countenance, obsequious to his superiors, insolent to his subordinates; and this, in addition to his position as responsible agent on board, which is always obnoxious to the sailors, made him as much disliked by the crew as Edmond Dantes was beloved by them.

“Well, M. Morrel,” said Danglars, “you have heard of the misfortune that has befallen us?”

“Yes, yes; poor Captain Leclere! He was a brave and an honest man.”

“And a first-rate seaman, one who had seen long and honorable service, as became a man charged with the interests of a house so important as that of Morrel & Son,” replied Danglars.

“But,” replied the owner, glancing after Dantes, who was watching the anchoring of his vessel, “it seems to me that a sailor needs not be so old as you say, Danglars, to understand his business, for our friend Edmond seems to understand it thoroughly, and not to require instruction from anyone.”

“Yes,” said Danglars, darting at Edmond a look gleaming with hate. “Yes, he is young, and youth is invariably self-confident. Scarcely was the captain’s breath out of his body when he assumed the command without consulting anyone, and he caused us to lose a day and a half at the Island of Elba, instead of making for Marseilles direct.”

“As to taking command of the vessel,” replied Morrel, “that was his duty as captain’s mate; as to losing a day and a half off the Island of Elba, he was wrong, unless the vessel needed repairs.”

“The vessel was in as good condition as I am, and as I hope you are, M. Morrel, and this day and a half was lost from pure whim, for the pleasure of going ashore and nothing else.”

“Dantes,” said the ship owner, turning toward the young man, “come this way!”

“In a moment, sir,” answered Dantes, “and I’m with you.” Then calling to the crew, he said, “Let go!”

The anchor was instantly dropped, and the chain ran rattling through the porthole. Dantes continued at his post in spite of the presence of the pilot, until this maneuver was completed, and then he added, “Half-mast the colors, and square the yards!”

“You see,” said Danglars, “he fancies himself captain already, upon my word.”

“And so, in fact, he is,” said the owner.

“Except your signature and your partner’s, M. Morrel.”

“And why should he not have this?” asked the owner. “He is young, it is true, but he seems to me a thorough seaman, and of full experience.”

A cloud passed over Danglars’s brow.

“Your pardon, M. Morrel,” said Dantes, approaching. “The vessel now rides at anchor, and I am at your service. You hailed me, I think?”

Danglars retreated a step or two.

“I wished to inquire why you stopped at the Island of Elba?”

“I do not know, sir; it was to fulfill the last instructions of Captain Leclere, who, when dying, gave me a packet for Marshal Bertrand.”

“Then did you see him, Edmond?”

“Who?”

“The marshal.”

“Yes.”

Morrel looked around him, and then, drawing Dantes on one side, he said suddenly, “And how is the emperor?”

“Very well, as far as I could judge from the sight of him.”

“You saw the emperor, then?”

“He entered the marshal’s apartment while I was there.”

“And you spoke to him?”

“Why, it was he who spoke to me, sir,” said Dantes, with a smile.

“And what did he say to you?”

“Asked me questions about the vessel, the time she left Marseilles, the course she had taken, and what was her cargo. I believe, if she had not been laden, and I had been her master, he would have bought her. But I told him I was only mate, and that she belonged to the firm of Morrel & Son. ‘Ah, yes,’ he said, ‘I know them. The Morrels have been shipowners from father to son; and there was a Morrel who served in the same regiment with me when I was in garrison at Valence.’”

“Pardieu, and that is true!” cried the owner, greatly delighted. “And that was Policar Morrel, my uncle, who was afterward a captain. Dantes, you must tell my uncle that the emperor remembered him, and you will see it will bring tears into the old soldier’s eyes. Come, come,” continued he, patting Edmond’s shoulder kindly, “you did very right, Dantes, to follow Captain Leclere’s instructions and touch at Elba, although if it were known that you had conveyed a packet to the marshal and had conversed with the emperor, it might bring you into trouble.”

“How could that bring me into trouble, sir?” asked Dantes. “For I did not even know of what I was the bearer; and the emperor merely made such inquiries as he would of the firstcomer. But, pardon me, here are the health officers and the customs inspectors coming alongside.” And the young man went to the gangway.

As he departed, Danglars approached, and said, “Well, it appears that he has given you satisfactory reasons for his landing at Porto-Ferrajo?”

“Yes, most satisfactory, my dear Danglars.”

“Well, so much the better,” said the supercargo, “for it is not pleasant to think that a comrade has not done his duty.”

“Dantes has done his,” replied the owner, “and that is not saying much. It was Captain Leclere who gave orders for this delay.”

“Talking of Captain Leclere, has not Dantes given you a letter from him?”

“To me? No—was there one?”

“I believe that, besides the packet, Captain Leclere confided a letter to his care.”

“Of what packet are you speaking, Danglars?”

“Why, that which Dantes left at Porto-Ferrajo.”

“How do you know he had a packet to leave at Porto-Ferrajo?”

Danglars turned very red.

“I was passing close to the door of the captain’s cabin, which was half open, and I saw him give the packet and letter to Dantes.”

“He did not speak to me of it,” replied the shipowner; “but if there be any letter he will give it to me.”

Danglars reflected for a moment. “Then, M. Morrel, I beg of you,” said he, “not to say a word to Dantes on the subject. I may have been mistaken.”

At this moment the young man returned; Danglars withdrew.

“Well, my dear Dantes, are you now free?” inquired the owner.

“Yes, sir.”

“You have not been long detained.”

“No. I gave the customhouse officers a copy of our bill of lading; and as to the other papers, they sent ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• CHAPTER 1: Marseilles—The Arrival
• CHAPTER 2: Father and Son
• CHAPTER 3: The Catalans
• CHAPTER 4: Conspiracy
• CHAPTER 5: The Marriage Feast
• CHAPTER 6: The Deputy Procureur du Roi
• CHAPTER 7: The Examination
• CHAPTER 8: The Chåteau d’If
• CHAPTER 9: The Evening of the Betrothal
• CHAPTER 10: The King’s Closet at the Tuileries
• CHAPTER 11: The Corsican Ogre
• CHAPTER 12: Father and Son
• CHAPTER 13: The Hundred Days
• CHAPTER 14: The Two Prisoners
• CHAPTER 15: Number 34 and Number 27
• CHAPTER 16: A Learned Italian
• CHAPTER 17: The Abbe’s Chamber
• CHAPTER 18: The Treasure
• CHAPTER 19: The Third Attack
• CHAPTER 20: The Cemetery of the Chåteau d’If
• CHAPTER 21: The Island of Tiboulen
• CHAPTER 22: The Smugglers
• CHAPTER 23: The Island of Monte Cristo
• CHAPTER 24: The Secret Cave
• CHAPTER 25: The Unknown
• CHAPTER 26: The Pont du Gard Inn
• CHAPTER 27: The Story
• CHAPTER 28: The Prison Register
• CHAPTER 29: The House of Morrel & Son
• CHAPTER 30: The 5th of September
• CHAPTER 31: Italy: Sinbad the Sailor
• CHAPTER 32: The Waking
• CHAPTER 33: Roman Bandits
• CHAPTER 34: Vampa
• CHAPTER 35: The Colosseum
• CHAPTER 36: La Mazzolata
• CHAPTER 37: The Carnival at Rome
• CHAPTER 38: The Catacombs of Saint Sebastian
• CHAPTER 39: The Compact
• CHAPTER 40: The Guests
• CHAPTER 41: The Breakfast
• CHAPTER 42: The Presentation
• CHAPTER 43: Monsieur Bertuccio
• CHAPTER 44: The House at Auteuil
• CHAPTER 45: The Vendetta
• CHAPTER 46: The Rain of Blood
• CHAPTER 47: Unlimited Credit
• CHAPTER 48: The Dappled Grays
• CHAPTER 49: Ideology
• CHAPTER 50: Haidee
• CHAPTER 51: The Morrel Family
• CHAPTER 52: Pyramus and Thisbe
• CHAPTER 53: Toxicology
• CHAPTER 54: Robert le Diable
• CHAPTER 55: A Flurry in Stocks
• CHAPTER 56: Major Cavalcanti
• CHAPTER 57: Andrea Cavalcanti
• CHAPTER 58: In the Lucerne Patch
• CHAPTER 59: M: Noirtier de Villefort
• CHAPTER 60: The Will
• CHAPTER 61: The Telegraph
• CHAPTER 62: How a Gardener May Get Rid of the Dormice That Eat His Peaches
• CHAPTER 63: Ghosts
• CHAPTER 64: The Dinner
• CHAPTER 65: The Beggar
• CHAPTER 66: A Conjugal Scene
• CHAPTER 67: Matrimonial Projects
• CHAPTER 68: At the Office of the King’s Attorney
• CHAPTER 69: A Summer Ball
• CHAPTER 70: The Inquiry
• CHAPTER 71: The Ball
• CHAPTER 72: Bread and Salt
• CHAPTER 73: Madame de Saint-Meran
• CHAPTER 74: The Promise
• CHAPTER 75: The Villefort Family Vault
• CHAPTER 76: A Signed Statement
• CHAPTER 77: Progress of Cavalcanti the Younger
• CHAPTER 78: Haidee
• CHAPTER 79: We Hear From Yanina
• CHAPTER 80: The Lemonade
• CHAPTER 81: The Accusation
• CHAPTER 82: The Room of the Retired Baker
• CHAPTER 83: The Burglary
• CHAPTER 84: The Hand of God
• CHAPTER 85: Beauchamp
• CHAPTER 86: The Journey
• CHAPTER 87: The Trial
• CHAPTER 88: The Challenge
• CHAPTER 89: The Insult
• CHAPTER 90: A Nocturnal Interview
• CHAPTER 91: The Meeting
• CHAPTER 92: Mother and Son
• CHAPTER 93: The Suicide
• CHAPTER 94: Valentine
• CHAPTER 95: Maximilian’s Avowal
• CHAPTER 96: Father and Daughter
• CHAPTER 97: The Contract
• CHAPTER 98: The Departure for Belgium
• CHAPTER 99: The Bell and Bottle Tavern
• CHAPTER 100: The Law
• CHAPTER 101: The Apparition
• CHAPTER 102: Locusta
• CHAPTER 103: Valentine
• CHAPTER 104: Maximilian
• CHAPTER 105: Danglars’ Signature
• CHAPTER 106: The Cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise
• CHAPTER 107: Dividing the Proceeds
• CHAPTER 108: The Lions’ Den
• CHAPTER 109: The Judge
• CHAPTER 110: The Assizes
• CHAPTER 111: The Indictment
• CHAPTER 112: Expiation
• CHAPTER 113: The Departure
• CHAPTER 114: The Past
• CHAPTER 115: Peppino
• CHAPTER 116: Luigi Vampa’s Bill of Fare
• CHAPTER 117: The Pardon
• CHAPTER 118: The 5th of October