The Count of Monte Cristo

KAPITEL 98. The Bell and Bottle Tavern

This chapter centers on Andrea Cavalcanti, whose ill-timed interruption of his social rise comes after he steals the bridal corbeille (trousseau) from the disrupted Danglars salon. The narrative tracks his frantic escape from Paris, travel via hired cab and stolen horse to the Bell and Bottle tavern in Compiègne, his detailed plan to disguise himself as a woodcutter and flee across the French frontier, and the arrival of gendarmes at the inn pursuing him as the wanted murderer of Caderousse. Chapter 98, titled The Bell and Bottle Tavern, tracks fugitive Andrea Cavalcanti as he evades a gendarme search at the hotel, accidentally falls into a room occupied by Eugénie Danglars and Mademoiselle d’Armilly, surrenders to authorities, and is incarcerated, while the two women depart to avoid public scandal.

KAPITEL 98. The Bell and Bottle Tavern

This chapter centers on Andrea Cavalcanti, whose ill-timed interruption of his social rise comes after he steals the bridal corbeille (trousseau) from the disrupted Danglars salon. The narrative tracks his frantic escape from Paris, travel via hired cab and stolen horse to the Bell and Bottle tavern in Compiègne, his detailed plan to disguise himself as a woodcutter and flee across the French frontier, and the arrival of gendarmes at the inn pursuing him as the wanted murderer of Caderousse.

Theft of the Corbeille

Amid the chaos of the disrupted Danglars salon, Andrea passes through a room displaying the bride-elect’s luxurious trousseau, or corbeille, filled with diamonds, Valenciennes lace, cashmere shawls, English veils, and other high-value valuables. Taking advantage of the confusion, he helps himself to the most expensive ornaments from the collection before fleeing the premises.

Fleeing the Salon

After stealing the corbeille, Andrea leaps from a salon window and flees on foot, driven solely by the need to avoid the gendarmes he knows will be dispatched to the scene. He walks for a quarter of an hour through Paris streets, guided by instinct to take the safest path away from the theft, before stopping breathless at the end of Rue La Fayette, uncertain of his next move.

The Paris Cab

While paused at the end of Rue La Fayette, Andrea spots a slow-moving cab at the top of Faubourg Poissonnière, driven by an exhausted cabman who has earned only 7 francs all day. Andrea offers to add 20 francs to the driver’s meager earnings if he will take him towards Louvres, claiming he is trying to overtake a friend who was supposed to meet him with a cabriolet but left early.

The Ride to Louvres

Andrea and the cab driver travel rapidly through the Faubourg Saint-Denis, Faubourg Saint-Martin, and across the Paris barrier into the Villette district. Andrea repeatedly asks passersby and late-open inns along the road about a green cabriolet with a bay horse he claims his friend is driving, but never locates the fictitious companion. When the horse is too exhausted to continue, they arrive at Louvres, where Andrea pays the driver 30 francs, claims he will stay at the Cheval Rouge hotel, and slips away on foot once the cab is out of sight.

The Phantom Friend

Throughout the cab ride to Louvres, Andrea repeatedly inquires after the fictional green cabriolet and bay horse belonging to his supposed friend, using the ruse to justify his urgent travel direction. At one point his cab passes a calash carrying Mademoiselle Danglars and Mademoiselle d’Armilly, and Andrea laments that he would trade anything for the fast post-horses and valid passport that would let him travel as freely and quickly as the two women.

Arrival at Louvres

The exhausted cab arrives at Louvres after a long, fast ride. Andrea decides to abandon the cab there, judging that continuing would kill the overworked horse and draw unwanted attention, and pays the driver the promised 30 francs. He tells the driver he will stay at the Cheval Rouge hotel and take the first coach out in the morning, then feigns heading to the inn before slipping away on foot as soon as the cab departs.