The Count of Monte Cristo

Caderousse Refuses His Monthly Stipend

Upon returning to the Hôtel des Princes late that evening, Andrea is met by the porter with a parcel. The man informs him that Caderousse has come, and although Andrea feigns carelessness, pretending to forget whom the porter means, he pales at the news. When told that Caderousse refused the 200 francs he had left for him and insisted on speaking to Andrea in person, Andrea is visibly shaken. He can only force out, “What? he would not take them?” with slight emotion. The porter explains that Caderousse ultimately departed, leaving behind a sealed letter addressed to Andrea.

Caderousse Leaves a Summons for Andrea

Andrea takes the letter to the light of his carriage-lamp and reads its brief, threatening contents: “You know where I live; I expect you tomorrow morning at nine o’clock.” He examines the letter carefully, checking for tampering, opened seals, or indiscreet eyes, but the folding is so tight and the seal so perfect that no one could have read it. Affecting indifference in front of the porter, he remarks, “Very well. Poor man, he is a worthy creature,” and leaves the porter to puzzle over the meaning. Once alone, Andrea quickly burns the letter in his room.

Andrea Disguises Himself for Secret Travel

To avoid being recognized, Andrea conceives a plan to disguise himself. He tells his groom Pierre that he is about the same height and that Pierre had a new livery made just yesterday. He requests to borrow the livery until the following morning, claiming he has an assignation with a pretty little girl and wishes to remain incognito, possibly sleeping at an inn. Pierre obeys without question, and five minutes later Andrea slips out of the hotel completely transformed, takes a cabriolet, and orders the driver to take him to the Cheval Rouge inn at Picpus. The next morning he leaves the inn unobserved, walks down the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, follows the boulevard to Rue Ménilmontant, and stops at the third house on the left to inquire for “Monsieur Pailletin.”

Andrea Visits Caderousse’s Lodging

At Caderousse’s building, the porter is absent, so Andrea asks a fruiteress across the way for directions. She confirms that Pailletin is indeed a retired baker and directs him to the end of the yard, on the left, third floor. Andrea finds the hare’s-paw doorbell and pulls it with considerable ill-temper, prompting Caderousse to appear at the grating with a sardonic greeting: “Ah! you are punctual.” Andrea explodes into the room, throwing himself into a chair and cursing Caderousse and his punctuality, clearly wishing to hurl the furniture at his host’s head. Caderousse, unmoved, welcomes him with promises of a fine Provençal breakfast he has been preparing: dishes scented with fat, garlic, dried fish, musk, and cloves, along with sealed bottles of green and yellow wine, brandy, and fruit artfully arranged on an earthenware plate. He reminisces fondly about Andrea’s childhood appetite for his cooking while continuing to peel onions.

Caderousse Complains of His Insufficient Allowance

Over the breakfast, Caderousse, weeping tears that may be of joy or onion-induced origin, complains bitterly of the wretched life Andrea’s money has consigned him to. He points out that Andrea keeps a servant and dines at fashionable establishments while he must cook for himself, polish his own shoes, and live in a shabby room with four straw chairs and three-franc images. Though he is supposedly a retired baker, he insists that a truly wealthy retired baker would have an annuity worth living on. Andrea’s offer of 200 francs per month humiliates him, as it is a grudging and uncertain pittance that may soon dry up. Caderousse reveals that he knows of Andrea’s impending marriage to Danglars’ daughter and darkly hints that he once dined with Danglars and Morcerf when they were humble employees of the good M. Morrel—suggesting he could cause considerable embarrassment if he chose to “cultivate” his high connections.

Caderousse Plots to Extort Additional Funds

Caderousse’s plan crystallizes over the meal as he confesses to Andrea that he is tormented by remorse at being dependent on another’s charity. He claims he refused the 200 francs out of genuine remorse and struck by an idea: the misery of always waiting until the end of the month. He advises Andrea to ask for six months’ advance under the pretext of buying a farm, then decamp with the money. When Andrea caustically suggests that Caderousse himself could do the same and retire to Brussels as a bankrupt using its privileges, Caderousse mocks the impossibility of living on twelve hundred francs and declares that the appetite grows by what it feeds on. He grins like a monkey or a growling tiger, bites off an enormous mouthful of bread, and announces that he has formed a plan—one clearly aimed at extracting a far larger sum from his old accomplice than the modest stipend he currently receives.