The Count of Monte Cristo

CHAPITRE 60. The Telegraph

Chapter 60. The Telegraph In this chapter, Monte Cristo announces his intention to visit a telegraph station during a conversation with Villefort, who inquires about the Count’s destination and his choice of telegraph. Monte Cristo explains that he prefers a rural telegraph to the official ones, declines an introduction to the minister, and receives directions for the route. Upon leaving, he encounters two notaries at the door who have just completed the act disinheriting Valentine.

Rural Telegraph Selection

Rural Telegraph Selection When Villefort asks which telegraph Monte Cristo intends to visit—the Home Department or the Observatory—the Count rejects both, fearing that officials there would force him to understand technicalities and dispel the illusions he prefers to keep about the insect-like mechanism. Instead, he chooses a country telegraph staffed by a “good-natured simpleton” who knows no more than the machine he operates.

Refusal of Official Introduction

Refusal of Official Introduction Villefort suggests that Monte Cristo study the Spanish line, the one most in use at the time, and offers a letter of introduction to the minister so officials might explain its workings. Monte Cristo firmly declines, insisting that comprehension would destroy the mystery and reduce the telegraph to mere signs from M. Duchâtel or M. Montalivet transmitted to the prefect of Bayonne. He wishes to preserve the awe-inspiring image of the insect with black claws in his imagination rather than reduce it to two Greek words, têle and graphein.

Telegraph Route Directions

Telegraph Route Directions Concerned that nightfall will arrive within two hours and obscure the view, Villefort urges Monte Cristo to depart. He provides the route: the road to Bayonne, then the road to Châtillon, passing by the tower of Montlhéry. The Count thanks him and promises to share his impressions of the telegraph on Saturday.

Encounter with Disinheritance Notaries

Encounter with Disinheritance Notaries As Monte Cristo departs through the door, he meets the two notaries who have just completed the legal act disinheriting Valentine. They leave under the self-satisfied conviction that their work will reflect greatly upon their professional credit.

CHAPITRE 61. How a Gardener May Get Rid of the Dormice that Eat His

The Count of Monte Cristo travels to the Montlhéry telegraph tower, where he bribes the tower’s gardener to send a false telegraph reporting that Don Carlos has fled Bourges and returned to Spain. The false report prompts banker Danglars to sell all his Spanish bonds, triggering a temporary market drop; when the report is corrected as a fog-related telegraph error, Spanish fund values rebound, leaving Danglars with a total loss of 1 million francs. Monte Cristo later notes he paid 25,000 francs to execute the scheme, which he frames as discovering how a gardener can eliminate dormice stealing his peaches.

The Journey to Montlhéry

The Count of Monte Cristo travels via the Barrière d’Enfer on the road to Orléans, passes through the village of Linas without stopping at the local telegraph, and arrives at the Montlhéry tower situated on the highest point of the local plain. He dismounts at the foot of the hill and ascends the 18-inch wide winding path to the tower’s summit.

A Garden at the Telegraph Tower

At the summit, Monte Cristo finds a small, immaculately maintained 20x12 foot garden enclosed by a hedge, bordered on one side by an ivy-covered, flower-studded old tower. The garden features a red gravel path shaped like a figure 8 that creates a 60-foot walk, a sun-dial, a rose parterre with no signs of slug or aphid damage, and no weeds or grass in its beds or paths, tended with exceptional care.

The Telegraph Operator-Gardener

Monte Cristo encounters the telegraph tower’s operator, a 55-year-old man who has worked at the tower for 10 years (5 prior as a supernumerary), and who tends the small garden as a passionate hobby. The gardener notes his pay is 1,000 francs per year with free lodging, and he will earn a 100-crown annual pension after 25 years of service; he values the job because he does not understand the signals he repeats, so he bears no responsibility for their content. He tends the garden during his rest breaks and fog-related “holidays”, when telegraph work is suspended.