The Count of Monte Cristo

CHAPITRE 104. Danglars’ Signature

This chapter centers on banker Danglars’ dealings with bank receiver M. de Boville, his secret plans to flee Paris amid reputational and financial complications from the Benedetto affair, and the personal impact of the scandal on his family, including his daughter Eugénie’s decision to enter a strict convent.

Danglars Proposes Monte Cristo Receipt for Cash Needs

Danglars speaks with M. de Boville, who informs him a cash examination will take place at 2pm the next day. Danglars proposes that Boville could instead cash the Count of Monte Cristo’s Rome-payable receipt at Rothschild or Lafitte’s for a small discount of 5,000 to 6,000 francs to cover any potential cash shortfall. Boville declines the offer, and the pair agree he will visit Danglars’ bank at noon the following day.

Villefort Funeral and Eugénie’s Convent Plans

Boville asks if Danglars plans to attend Mademoiselle de Villefort’s funeral, and Danglars declines, stating he has kept a low profile since the Benedetto scandal to protect his family’s unblemished reputation. He reveals his daughter Eugénie decided immediately after the scandal to travel with a nun to join a strict convent in Italy or Spain, news that prompts Boville to express his sympathy.

Danglars’ Secret Flight Preparations

After Boville leaves, Danglars mocks him as a fool and confirms he will be gone when Boville arrives the next day. He then double-locks his office door, gathers roughly 50,000 francs in banknotes from his drawers, burns select papers, leaves others exposed to view, writes a letter addressed to his wife to leave on her table, and confirms his passport is still valid for two more months to facilitate his secret flight.

CHAPITRE 105. The Cemetery of Père-Lachaise

This chapter centers on the funeral of Valentine de Villefort at Père-Lachaise Cemetery, and the Count of Monte Cristo’s intervention to stop her grieving fiancé Maximilian Morrel from dying by suicide, culminating in the count revealing his true identity as Edmond Dantès to the Morrel family. Monte Cristo, preparing to leave France within a week, asks to be left alone with the grief-stricken Maximilian Morrel, who remains immobile and despairing over the loss of Valentine. Pressing him with the authority of a father, the count urges Morrel to hope, recounts his own past despair, and finally proposes a solemn pact: Morrel must live for one month under Monte Cristo’s care, and if, by the 5th of September—the tenth anniversary of the day the count saved Morrel’s father from suicide—he is not cured, he will be given pistols and poison to end his life. Morrel, shaken yet obedient, accepts these terms with a childlike reverence, while Monte Cristo informs him that Haydée has departed to await him and invites the young man to take her place in his household on the Champs-Élysées.

CHAPITRE 105. The Cemetery of Père-Lachaise

This chapter centers on the funeral of Valentine de Villefort at Père-Lachaise Cemetery, and the Count of Monte Cristo’s intervention to stop her grieving fiancé Maximilian Morrel from dying by suicide, culminating in the count revealing his true identity as Edmond Dantès to the Morrel family.

Valentine’s Funeral Procession to Père-Lachaise

The funeral procession for Valentine de Villefort departs from the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, traveling across Paris via the Faubourg du Temple and exterior boulevards to Père-Lachaise Cemetery. M. de Villefort selected the cemetery as the only worthy resting place for a Parisian family, and had purchased a vault inscribed with “The families of Saint-Méran and Villefort” per his late wife Renée’s final wish. The procession includes 20 mourning coaches, over 50 private carriages, and more than 500 on-foot mourners, including many of Valentine’s young acquaintances who were devastated by her sudden death in the prime of her youth.

Monte Cristo Joins the Funeral Procession

As the procession exits Paris, a four-horse equipage carrying the Count of Monte Cristo arrives at full speed. The count exits his carriage and joins the on-foot mourners, where he is soon joined by Château-Renaud and Beauchamp after they spot him. He scans the crowd intently, searching for someone he does not immediately locate.