The Count of Monte Cristo

The Danglars Arrive

Madame Danglars and her husband arrive in a carriage with smoking horses. Debray assists the baroness from the carriage while Monte Cristo observes her pass a note to the secretary with practiced ease. The banker descends looking pale, and the baroness surveys the courtyard with a rapid inquiring glance. She asks Morrel if he would sell his horse, and Monte Cristo extricates his friend from the awkward position by explaining the wager that binds Morrel to keep the animal.

The Porcelain Jars

Monte Cristo shows Madame Danglars two immense porcelain jars over which marine plants wind. She marvels that a chestnut tree from the Tuileries could be planted inside one. Monte Cristo recounts that a Chinese emperor had them made specially: of twelve jars baked in a special oven, two broke and ten were sunk three hundred fathoms deep into the sea. Two hundred years later, divers recovered only three intact jars, encrusted with coral and shells. The count expresses fondness for these jars, imagining the creatures that may have fixed their eyes upon them and the small fish that sought refuge within.

The Art Collection

Monte Cristo directs attention to his paintings, which he offers to show despite knowing Danglars possesses splendid collections himself. He mentions works by Hobbema, Paul Potter, Mieris, Gerard Douw, Raphael, Van Dyck, Zurbaran, and several by Murillo. Debray recognizes the Hobbema, noting it had been proposed for the Museum which refused to purchase it, claiming government was not wealthy enough—a point Château-Renaud says he has heard for eight years without understanding.