The Count of Monte Cristo

The Intermission

The curtain falls almost immediately after the entrance of Madame Danglars into her box, the band quits the orchestra for the customary half-hour’s interval, and the audience is left at liberty to promenade the salon or lobbies, or to pay and receive visits in their respective boxes. Morcerf and Château-Renaud are among the first to avail themselves of this permission. For an instant, Madame Danglars imagines that the young viscount’s eagerness arises from his impatience to join her party, and she whispers her expectations to her daughter that Albert is hurrying to pay his respects. Mademoiselle Eugénie, however, returns a dissenting movement of the head, and with a cold smile directs her mother’s attention to an opposite box on the first circle, in which sits the Countess G——, and where Morcerf has just made his appearance.

Albert Visits the Countess

Albert enters the Countess G——’s box, and she greets him with the warmth and cordiality of an old acquaintance, thanking him for recognizing her so quickly and bestowing his first visit upon her. Albert assures her that he would have paid his respects sooner had he known of her arrival in Paris and her address, and introduces his friend, Baron de Château-Renaud, as one of the few true gentlemen now to be found in France. Château-Renaud reveals that it was he who informed Albert of the countess’s presence at the races in the Champ-de-Mars, and the countess turns to him eagerly to ask whether he can tell her who won the Jockey Club stakes. The baron regrets that he cannot, having asked Albert the very same question, and Albert offers to satisfy her curiosity about the name of the owner of the winning horse.