The Count of Monte Cristo

To the Garden

Madame de Morcerf throws open the Venetian blinds, revealing the lantern-lit garden and the awaiting supper. The relief among guests is palpable as cool air flows in. She approaches her husband and his circle, inviting them to enjoy the garden rather than suffocate indoors. The elderly general jokes about not going alone, and Mercédès offers her own arm to the Count. Monte Cristo accepts, barely concealing his emotion at her gesture. They descend the flower-lined steps together, followed by a crowd of approximately twenty guests rushing out with exclamations of delight.

CHAPITRE 71. Bread and Salt

Madame de Morcerf leads the Count through a grove of lindens to a conservatory, where she offers him Muscatel grapes and later a peach, both of which he firmly refuses, causing her visible pain. She invokes the Arabian custom of bread and salt to bind people as eternal friends, but the Count explains that such friendships are rare in France, and when she asks directly if they are friends, he gives only a formal, distant response rather than the genuine connection she seeks. The Count recounts a story of loving a young girl in Malta before the war separated them, and upon his return finding her married to another; he claims to have forgiven her, yet his refusal of the grapes and the formal way he maintains distance suggest a more complicated and unforgiving heart beneath his words. Albert arrives with news that M. de Saint-Méran has died, which strikes Valentine de Villefort like a thunderbolt and delays her marriage to Franz, while Madame de Morcerf makes one final attempt to forge friendship by joining the hands of her son and the Count, only to receive again a response of formal respect rather than warmth.

Walk to the Conservatory

Madame de Morcerf leads Monte Cristo through an archway of lindens toward a conservatory, escaping the warmth of the room. She asks if he finds it too warm, and he agrees while expressing concern that she might be cold in her light dress. Without answering, she continues walking and brings him to the greenhouse filled with magnificent fruits ripening in artificial heat. She releases his arm and approaches the Muscatel grapes with a smile so sad that tears seem present on her eyelids. She offers him the grapes, apologizing for their inferiority to Sicilian or Cypriot varieties, but Monte Cristo bows and steps back.

Fruit Offer and Rejection

When Mercédès asks if he refuses the grapes, Monte Cristo explains that he never eats Muscatel grapes. She lets them fall and sighs. She then approaches a magnificent peach ripening on an adjoining wall and offers it instead. The count refuses again, prompting Mercédès to exclaim with such plaintive emotion that it nearly stifles a sob—declaring that he pains her deeply. A long silence follows as the peach, like the grapes, falls to the ground.

Bread and Salt Friendship Custom Reference

Mercédès places herself before Monte Cristo and invokes an Arabian custom: that those who have eaten bread and salt together under the same roof become eternal friends. Monte Cristo acknowledges knowing this custom but observes they are in France, not Arabia, where such eternal friendships are as rare as the custom itself.

Exchange on Their Friendship

Mercédès breathlessly presses both hands against the count’s arm, fixing her eyes upon him as she asks if they are friends. The count turns pale as death, his blood rushing to his heart before rising to crimson his cheeks. His eyes swim with the expression of a suddenly dazzled man. He replies that certainly they are friends and asks why they would not be. The answer disappoints Mercédès, who turns away to release what sounds more like a groan than a sigh. She thanks him, and they walk the entire garden length in silence.

Mercédès Questions Monte Cristo’s Past

After ten minutes of silence, the countess suddenly asks if it is true that Monte Cristo has seen so much, traveled so far, and suffered so deeply. He confirms he has suffered deeply. When she asks if he is now happy, he replies that no one hears him complain, then elaborates that his present happiness equals his past misery. She asks if he is married, and he shudders at the question, explaining that the young woman seen with him at the Opera is a slave he purchased at Constantinople—the daughter of a prince whom he has adopted as his daughter. She presses him further about family, and he reveals he has no one. When she asks how he exists without attachment, he recounts the story of loving a young girl in Malta, being carried away by war, and returning to find her married. He admits his heart was perhaps weaker than most, causing him greater suffering. Mercédès asks if he has forgiven this woman and whether he still hates those who separated them. He confirms he has forgiven the woman but harbors no hatred toward those responsible. She then offers grapes again, and when he repeats that he never eats Muscatel grapes, she dashes them into the thicket with a gesture of despair, murmuring “Inflexible man!” The count remains unmoved.