The Count of Monte Cristo

Fernand Departs to Submit the Denunciation

After Danglars pretends to discard the letter as a jest, tossing it into a corner of the arbor, Caderousse passes out. Danglars then departs with the drunkard toward Marseilles, ostensibly leaving Fernand behind. However, as they walk away, Danglars looks back and sees Fernand retrieve the crumpled letter from the corner, pocket it, and rush toward Pillon—the direction of the city, not the Catalans where he claimed to be going. Danglars notes that the scheme “is at work and it will effect its purpose unassisted,” confirming that the conspiracy will proceed without further intervention from its architect.

第五章 The Marriage Feast

The chapter opens on a bright morning as the wedding feast of Edmond Dantès and Mercédès is set out on the second floor of La Réserve, where guests from the crew of the Pharaon and other friends gather on the wooden balcony in their finest attire an hour before the twelve o’clock celebration. The arrival of M. Morrel, the shipowner, is greeted with enthusiastic applause, and the company rejoices in the news that Dantès will succeed the late Captain Leclere, while Fernand, the disappointed lover who trails behind the radiant bridal pair, grows increasingly pale and tormented by dark, unspoken emotions. The festive mood swells as the guests feast on Arlesian sausages, lobsters, prawns, and other delicacies, and Dantès announces that thanks to M. Morrel’s influence the usual formalities have been waived so that he and Mercédès will be wed at the city hall within the hour, with a second, more elaborate marriage feast to follow upon his return from Paris. The joyful clamor is suddenly shattered by the measured tread of soldiers on the stairs and three authoritative knocks on the door; a magistrate enters in the name of the law and arrests Edmond Dantès before the stunned assembly, leaving his father to plead in vain for mercy and the celebration to collapse into dread and confusion. Chapter 5 depicts the immediate aftermath of Edmond Dantès’s arrest during what was meant to be his marriage feast. Caderousse confronts Danglars, suspecting foul play from the previous night’s conspiracy, while Dantès calmly surrenders and bids farewell to Mercédès. As grief spreads among the loved ones left behind, Morrel returns with grave news: Dantès has been charged as a Bonapartist agent. Danglars skillfully manipulates Caderousse into silence, maneuvers himself into command of the Pharaon, and privately celebrates the success of his plot, leaving Fernand to comfort Mercédès and friends to tend to the broken old father.