The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 53. Robert le Diable – Chapter 60. The Telegraph

The night of Robert le Diable at the Académie Royale thrums with the performative chaos of Parisian high society: the first act plays to a half-empty house, as fashion dictates the elite arrive late, spending the opening minutes gossiping about fresh arrivals rather than the stage. Albert de Morcerf holds his customary orchestra stall, flanked by his boon companions Château-Renaud and Beauchamp, while the minister’s highly coveted box passes through a string of hands: first offered to Albert, rejected by his mother Mercédès, then gifted to the Danglars family at Albert’s urging, with Lucien Debray dispatched to escort the baroness and her daughter Eugénie to avoid the scandal of them attending unchaperoned.

The intermission sparks a flurry of social maneuvering and idle rumor. Albert and Château-Renaud dissect the recent Jockey Club race, where a mysterious horse named Vampa and its tiny, shot-stuffed jockey won by three lengths, and Albert reveals the Count of Monte Cristo—who rescued him from Italian bandits months prior—is the owner, having sent the winning gold cup to the Countess G—— as a gift. When the Danglars arrive, Albert visits their box, where the party dissects the enigmatic count: Madame Danglars is fascinated by his legendary, unaccountable wealth, Eugénie is aloof and openly dismissive of Albert’s awkward flirtations, and the group debates whether his beautiful Greek ward Haydée is a princess in hiding or a pampered slave, marveling at the millions in jewels she wears.

The Count of Monte Cristo arrives mid-second act with Haydée, and the entire theater falls silent, all eyes fixed on her ethereal beauty and opulent Eastern dress. Albert runs into Monte Cristo in the lobby during the next intermission, and the two trade barbs about Parisian obsession with the count’s every move, with Monte Cristo teasing Albert for feeding the gossip mill and asking after Count de Morcerf, whom he has not yet had the chance to meet. He then pays his respects to the Danglars box, where he is introduced to Eugénie, but the evening shatters when Haydée spots Count de Morcerf standing beside Monte Cristo. She recoils as if seeing Medusa, crying out in a sharp, horrified voice that Morcerf is the traitor who sold her father, Ali Pasha of Yanina, to the Turks for a personal fortune. Monte Cristo calms her quickly, claiming she is prone to fainting at strong scents, and the pair leave the opera early, with the Countess G—— noting to Albert that the count never stays for the full performance—a quirk that only deepens the mystery around him.

A few days later, Albert visits Monte Cristo at his sprawling Champs-Élysées palace, accompanied by Lucien Debray, who is secretly acting as Madame Danglars’ spy, feeding her details of the count’s lavish household and secret finances. The conversation turns to the long-arranged marriage between Albert and Eugénie Danglars: Albert confesses he has no interest in the match, and that his mother Mercédès loathes the Danglars, suspecting their banking fortune is built on shaky, unethical ground. Lucien lets slip that Madame Danglars has made a reckless 300,000 franc profit speculating on Haiti bonds, and Albert half-jokes that he could teach her a lesson by feeding her false stock tips through Lucien, whose position as a minister’s secretary gives his words enormous market weight. Monte Cristo, feigning disinterest, notices Lucien’s obvious discomfort, and when the secretary leaves, the count secures his agreement to attend a dinner at his Auteuil country house on Saturday—deliberately excluding the Morcerfs, so the gathering does not look like a pre-wedding negotiation that would further upset Mercédès. Albert invites Monte Cristo to a small, intimate family dinner with just him and his mother, but the count declines, claiming he is already hosting two old Italian acquaintances, Major Bartolomeo Cavalcanti and his son Andrea, that same evening.

The ruse of the Cavalcantis unfolds that night. First, the shabby, middle-aged Major arrives, his threadbare coat and gendarme-style hat marking him as a man down on his luck, carrying a letter from the Abbé Busoni claiming he is a wealthy Lucca noble looking for his long-lost son, kidnapped at age five. Monte Cristo plays along, confirming the major’s identity, teasing him about forgetting his marriage certificate and his son’s baptismal records, and revealing he has the documents in hand. He gives the major 8,000 francs on account of the 50,000 franc annual allowance he has promised the pair, directs him to a pre-booked room at the Hôtel des Princes, advises him to wear his old Austrian military uniform to the Saturday dinner, and tells him his son Andrea is waiting in the next room.

Andrea arrives shortly after: a handsome, smooth-talking young man with a letter from “Sinbad the Sailor”—another of Monte Cristo’s aliases—directing him to Paris to claim his inheritance and meet his father. He spins a dramatic, rehearsed story of being kidnapped as a child, raised by captors who gave him a first-class education so they could sell him back for a higher price, and Monte Cristo slips him a packet of banknotes for his settling expenses in Paris, then introduces him to the major. The pair perform a tearful, over-the-top reunion, but the moment Monte Cristo leaves the room, they drop the act entirely, comparing notes and realizing they have both been scammed: the letters from Abbé Busoni and Sinbad the Sailor were both written by Monte Cristo, and they are both being paid to play the part of father and son for a mysterious patron. They split the cash they have already received, agree to keep up the ruse for as long as the money lasts, and leave arm in arm. Monte Cristo watches them go from his window, muttering that it is a pity the two scoundrels are not actually related, before turning his thoughts to a visit to the Morrel family, reflecting that disgust is an even more sickening feeling than hatred.

The narrative shifts to the walled garden of the Villefort house, where Maximilian Morrel waits for Valentine, his secret fiancée. She arrives late, accompanied by Eugénie Danglars, who has spent the afternoon confiding that she hates her arranged marriage to Albert de Morcerf and dreams of being an independent artist, like her friend Louise d’Armilly. Valentine admits she shares Eugénie’s hatred of her own arranged match to Franz d’Épinay, and Maximilian tells her of his strange, instinctive bond with the Count of Monte Cristo, who gave him a prized horse by winning it in a card game, and whose presence seems to bend fortune in his favor. Valentine confesses she feels the count avoids her, that she believes he dislikes her, and worries he may side with her stepmother Madame de Villefort against her. Maximilian begs her to have faith, and they share a tender, secret moment before she is summoned to her grandfather’s room.