The Count of Monte Cristo

Bertuccio’s Terror in the Garden

When they enter the garden under a gloomy moonlit sky, Bertuccio stands paralyzed with horror. His haggard eyes search for traces of some terrible event, and his clenched hands seem to shut out horrible recollections. Monte Cristo insists they visit despite the steward’s protests. Bertuccio cries out that Monte Cristo is standing exactly where “he fell,” and pleads with him to move away from that spot. The Count responds coldly that Bertuccio must be mad and threatens to have him committed to a lunatic asylum. Bertuccio joins his hands, declaring the evil has arrived.

Bertuccio Confesses to a Past Assassination

Bertuccio falls at Monte Cristo’s feet and confesses that his vengeance was accomplished in this house—someone was assassinated here. When the Count points out that this is the house of the Marquis de Saint-Méran, Bertuccio clarifies the assassination was not of him but of another. Bertuccio insists it was fate that led Monte Cristo to purchase this particular house where his crime occurred. The Count descended to the garden by the same staircase the victim used, stopped at the spot where he received the blow, and two paces farther lies the grave where a child had just been buried.

Monte Cristo Confronts Bertuccio’s Secret

Monte Cristo warns Bertuccio that in France, unlike Italy, vendettas are considered in very bad taste—gendarmes occupy themselves with such affairs, judges condemn, and scaffolds avenge. The Count examines Bertuccio coldly, comparing his look to that bent upon an execution in Rome. He mentions that the Abbé Busoni recommended Bertuccio with a letter of praise, but now Monte Cristo will write to the abbé holding him responsible for his protégé’s misconduct. Bertuccio protests his faithful service and declares he has always been an honest man. Monte Cristo observes that a quiet conscience does not cause such paleness and fever in a man’s hands.