The Count of Monte Cristo

CHAPITRE 81. The Room of the Retired Baker

This chapter contains two parallel but intertwined plot developments set in motion by Andrea Cavalcanti’s rising fortunes. In the first half, Andrea formally proposes marriage to Danglars’ daughter, negotiates the financial terms of the union, secures the banker’s conditional approval, and walks away with 80,000 francs. In the second half, the narrative shifts to the seedy lodging of Caderousse (now disguised as “Monsieur Pailletin, retired baker”), where Caderousse refuses his modest monthly stipend, summons Andrea through a threatening letter, and the young man—disguised in his servant’s livery—arrives to discover that his old accomplice is plotting to extort far more money from him. The chapter’s climactic revelation is Caderousse’s explicit knowledge of Andrea’s true background as Benedetto and his plan to blackmail the young man into securing a much larger sum than the meager 200-franc allowance he currently receives.

Andrea Cavalcanti Proposes Marriage to Danglars’ Daughter

On the evening after Count Morcerf’s rejected proposal, Andrea Cavalcanti, immaculately groomed with curled hair, well-kept moustaches, and white gloves, arrives at Danglars’ mansion on Rue de la Chaussée d’Antin. Within ten minutes he draws Danglars aside into a bow-window recess and, after an artful preamble, confesses the anxieties that have troubled him since his “noble father’s” departure. He effusively acknowledges the banker’s family kindness in receiving him as a son and declares that his warmest affections have found their object in Mademoiselle Danglars. Danglars, who has anticipated this declaration for two or three days, listens with profound attention; his eyes glisten with barely concealed satisfaction at the prospect of recouping the alliance lost to Morcerf.

Negotiation of Marriage Financial Terms

The conversation rapidly shifts from sentiment to business. Danglars raises a conscientious objection that Andrea seems rather young to marry, prompting the young man to invoke the Italian aristocratic custom of early marriage. When Danglars asks who should conduct the preliminary arrangements, Andrea produces a persuasive fiction: his prudent father left him a letter promising 150,000 livres per annum from the day of his marriage, presumably a quarter of the marquis’s revenue. Danglars counters with his own offer of a 500,000-franc dowry, making his daughter his sole heiress. Andrea dazzles with talk of placing two or three millions in the banker’s hands at ten percent, and Danglars offers the special rate of five percent to his prospective son-in-law. The two men also discuss Andrea’s expected maternal inheritance from Leonora Corsinari, which Andrea estimates at no less than two million francs.

Danglars Conditionally Approves the Marriage

Danglars is overcome with joy at the financial prospect, comparing his feeling to a miser finding a lost treasure or a shipwrecked man reaching solid ground. He grants Andrea permission to consider the matter a settled thing, provided no obstacle arises from the young man’s side. When Andrea asks why Monte Cristo has not formally proposed on his behalf, the young man blushes slightly and explains that he has just come from the count, who esteems him highly but refuses on principle to make proposals for another. Monte Cristo has, however, promised to answer any questions Danglars may put to him and has offered Andrea a draft for 20,000 francs to cover immediate expenses. The negotiation thus reaches its preliminary financial climax.

Andrea Receives 80,000 Francs from Danglars

Andrea turns directly to the banker for an immediate accommodation: he will need to draw upon Danglars for about 4,000 francs the day after tomorrow, but Monte Cristo’s 20,000-franc draft, bearing his signature, is all-sufficient security. Danglars pockets the draft with delight, exclaiming he would be pleased to receive a million such notes, and offers Andrea a check for 80,000 francs to be delivered by his cashier the next morning at ten o’clock at the Hôtel des Princes. Andrea, who is planning a country trip, accepts eagerly. The following morning the 80,000 francs are placed in his hands as he is about to depart, though he leaves only 200 francs behind for Caderousse, chiefly to avoid the dangerous man, and returns as late as possible in the evening.