The Count of Monte Cristo

Burning the Evidence

Beauchamp offers Albert a choice: he alone possesses these proofs, and no human power can force him to a duel that Albert’s own conscience would later reproach. He offers to destroy the attestations and keep this frightful secret forever. The papers are entrusted to their friendship alone. Albert throws himself on Beauchamp’s neck, calling him a noble fellow, and seizes the papers with trembling hands. He tears them to pieces, then burns every fragment at the wax-light kept for cigars, trembling lest any vestige escape to confront him someday. As the papers turn to blackened ash, Beauchamp wishes that all may be forgotten as a sorrowful dream. Albert burns the last sparks, hoping only that their eternal friendship may be transmitted to their children’s children, reminding him that he owes his life and honor to Beauchamp—for had this become public, Albert would have destroyed himself or fled the country to spare his mother.

The Broken Engagement

This factitious joy soon fades, replaced by deeper grief. Albert cannot in a moment relinquish the respect, confidence, and pride that a father’s untarnished name inspired. He wonders how he can face his father now—whether to draw back from his embrace or withhold his hand. He grieves for his mother, whose portrait hangs before him, wondering if she somehow already knows and suffers. Beauchamp takes his hands and urges him to take courage. When Albert asks who inserted that first note in the journal, Beauchamp suggests an unknown enemy, an invisible foe, may have orchestrated this. He advises Albert to fortify himself, show no trace of emotion, and bear his grief like a cloud that carries ruin within it—a fatal secret known only when the storm bursts. Albert asks if all is not yet over, and Beauchamp admits all things are possible. He then asks about the Danglars marriage, suggesting the rupture or fulfillment of that engagement may connect to the person they have been discussing. Albert reveals that the engagement is already broken off, and Beauchamp seems satisfied.

Visit to Monte Cristo

Beauchamp, seeing the young man about to relapse into melancholy, suggests they go out—a ride in the wood or on horseback to refresh themselves before returning to breakfast and their respective affairs. Albert agrees but prefers to walk, thinking a little exertion would do him good. As they walk past the Madeleine, Beauchamp proposes they call on M. de Monte Cristo, whom he describes as admirably adapted to revive one’s spirits because he never interrogates. In Beauchamp’s opinion, those who ask no questions make the best comforters. Albert gladly agrees, declaring his love for the count, and the two friends set off together.

CAPÍTULO 85. The Journey

Chapter 85 depicts the Count of Monte Cristo’s invitation to Viscount Albert de Morcerf for a journey to Normandy, which transforms into a transformative experience. The chapter traces the duo’s departure from Paris, their swift travels, peaceful days at a seaside villa, and a dramatic interruption that compels Albert to return urgently to the capital. This narrative arc conceals the Count’s calculated machinations while simultaneously exposing the sins of Albert’s father to public scrutiny.

The Cavalcanti Engagement

The chapter opens with Monte Cristo engaged in correspondence concerning Cavalcanti’s documentation for his marriage to Mademoiselle Danglars. Beauchamp and Albert visit the Count, who disavows any involvement in orchestrating the match despite being commissioned to request the Major’s papers. Monte Cristo reveals he warned M. Danglars about Cavalcanti’s mysterious background—the young man was either kidnapped by gypsies, charmed by a nurse, or lost by his tutor, with his father having lost sight of him for over a decade. Albert accepts that his engagement to Eugénie has dissolved, having requested its termination himself. When Monte Cristo observes Albert appears troubled, he proposes a remedy: change of scenery. The Count explains he wishes to flee Paris, where police investigations into Caderousse’s supposed assassins have turned his residence into a target for every robber in France.