The Count of Monte Cristo

CAPÍTULO 98. The Bell and Bottle Tavern

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.

Brigadier Sets Chimney Fire to Flush Andrea

To flush Andrea out of hiding, the brigadier has sticks and straw brought to fill the hotel chimney, then lights the material to create smoke and fire in an attempt to force Andrea out of his hiding place, but the trap fails as Andrea is not in the chimney.

Andrea Hides on the Hôtel de Ville Roof

Andrea, experienced at evading authorities, had already climbed onto the roof of the massive 16th-century Hôtel de Ville and crouched behind chimney pots to avoid the chimney fire. He initially thinks he is safe when he hears the brigadier tell the gendarmes he is not in the chimney, but sees the gendarmes continue to monitor the roof openings closely. Realizing the rooftop offers no escape route, he decides to descend via an unused chimney leading to a different room. Immediately after he disappears through the chimney, a gendarme’s head appears at a window of the Hôtel de Ville, remains motionless for a moment, then leaves in disappointment.

Brigadier Declares Andrea Escaped, Orders Search

The brigadier concludes Andrea escaped early that morning, tells his gendarmes the fugitive is gone, and orders them to search the Villers-Coterets and Noyon roads and the surrounding forest to recapture him.

Andrea Falls into Occupied Room 3

Andrea begins descending the second chimney, but his foot slips two-thirds of the way down, and he falls noisily into the hotel’s Room 3, which is occupied by two guests.

Ladies in Room 3 Raise the Alarm

The crash wakes Eugénie Danglars and Mademoiselle d’Armilly, who are sharing a bed in Room 3. The fair-haired Eugénie screams in terror, while Mademoiselle d’Armilly rushes to the bell rope and rings it repeatedly to raise the alarm.

Brigadier Breaks Into Room 3

The brigadier and commissary hear the bell and screams, and the brigadier takes the inside staircase to reach Room 3, ordering a gendarme to guard the outside staircase and shoot if Andrea tries to flee. The brigadier spots Andrea through the keyhole, then breaks down the locked door with his musket to enter the room.

Andrea Surrenders to Authorities

Andrea begs the women to hide him to avoid being captured, but they refuse. Realizing he has no way to escape, he surrenders to the brigadier, throws down his useless knife, and makes sarcastic remarks to Eugénie about their past near-engagement before being taken into custody.

Ladies Leave Hotel to Avoid Public Scrutiny

The next day, Eugénie and Mademoiselle d’Armilly travel to the Hôtel de Flandre in Brussels, leaving the Bell and Bottle Tavern dressed in feminine attire to avoid public attention. Though the hotel gate is closed to shield them from view, they are forced to pass through a crowd of onlookers who stare and whisper as they exit, leaving Eugénie enraged by the unwanted scrutiny.

Andrea Incarcerated in the Conciergerie

That same evening, Andrea is taken to and incarcerated in the Conciergerie prison.

CAPÍTULO 99. The Law

This chapter chronicles the immediate aftermath of Eugénie Danglars’ failed engagement to Andrea Cavalcanti, tracking the desperate maneuvers of the Danglars family as they seek to mitigate the scandal and navigate the unyielding machinery of justice.

The Scandal’s Aftermath

While Eugénie and Mademoiselle d’Armilly quietly escape the family residence, the household remains consumed by their own turmoil. Madame Danglars had anticipated this marriage as a means of securing her independence from a daughter whose sharp intellect and obvious disdain for her mother’s lover, Lucien Debray, posed an ongoing threat to familial composure. The baroness deeply regretted the failed match—not merely for its lost potential for Eugénie’s happiness, but for the liberation it would have afforded her own freedom from this difficult guardianship.