The Count of Monte Cristo

第九章 The Evening of the Betrothal

This chapter unfolds on the evening of Gérard de Villefort’s betrothal to Renée de Saint-Méran, immediately after Villefort condemns the innocent Edmond Dantès to imprisonment to protect his father’s Bonapartist secrets. It tracks Villefort’s urgent preparations to travel to Paris to secure royal political favor, his first encounter with Dantès’ heartbroken fiancée Mercédès, his dawning, unshakable remorse over betraying an innocent man, his farewell to his betrothed and future in-laws, and the divergent immediate fates of all figures tied to Dantès in the wake of his arrest.

Villefort Secures Asset Liquidation and Royal Audience Access

Villefort returns to the Saint-Méran household on the Place du Grand Cours, where anxious guests are waiting for him after his abrupt departure earlier that day. He requests a private conversation with the marquis, Renée’s father, and reveals he must depart for Paris immediately on urgent state business. He urges the marquis to liquidate all of his investments held in funds without delay to avoid total financial loss, warning he may already be too late to act. He also secures a letter of introduction to King Louis XVIII from the marquis’s contact M. de Salvieux, which will grant him direct access to the Tuileries without the delays of formal audience protocols, so he can claim full credit for the intelligence he brings about the Bonapartist threat.

Villefort Rejects Mercédès and Experiences First Remorse

As Villefort steps outside his home to depart, he is stopped by Mercédès, Dantès’ fiancée, who has come unobserved seeking news of her missing lover. He recognizes her immediately from Dantès’ prior description, and coldly informs her Dantès is a dangerous criminal and he can offer her no help, then pushes past her to enter his house. Once inside, the weight of his actions crashes over him: he is struck by his first ever pangs of remorse, realizing he has sacrificed an innocent man to advance his own political career. He is tormented by visions of Dantès pale and threatening, accompanied by a slow, consuming guilt that grows more agonizing with each passing hour, a far cry from the fierce, brief regret he has felt over punishing guilty men he has condemned in court. He finds no relief in the fact that his fiancée Renée harbors no sympathy for Dantès, only distress that his departure will keep them apart on the eve of their wedding.