The Count of Monte Cristo

Villefort Bids Farewell and Departs for Paris

Overcome with vague dread and unable to shake his guilt, Villefort quickly gathers all the gold from his desk into his pockets. When his servant brings his cloak and informs him his carriage is ready, he springs from his chair and rushes out, ordering the postilions to drive to the Saint-Méran home. There, he embraces Renée, kisses the marquise’s hand, shakes the marquis’s hand, and departs for Paris along the Aix road, leaving the betrothal celebration behind.

Fates of Mercédès, Old Dantès, Morrel, Caderousse, and Danglars

The chapter closes by outlining the immediate fates of all characters connected to Dantès following his imprisonment: Mercédès returns to the Catalan quarter in deep despair, and Fernand Mondego stays by her side, though she pays no mind to his attempts at comfort, lost entirely in grief for Dantès. M. Morrel, Dantès’ kindly employer, exhausts all his connections and appeals to influential figures in Marseille to try to secure Dantès’ release, but the widespread belief that Dantès is a Bonapartist spy means all his efforts fail, and he returns home in despair, convinced nothing more can be done for his former employee. Caderousse, equally uneasy about Dantès’ fate, does not try to help him, instead shutting himself away with two bottles of black currant brandy to drown his guilty thoughts, though he remains too aware of his role in the events to find any relief in drink. Danglars, by contrast, is entirely content and at peace: he has eliminated a rival for the first mate position on the Pharaon and secured his own standing on the ship. He views Dantès’ imprisonment as a simple numerical gain to his own interests, and goes to bed at his usual time, sleeping soundly. Old Dantès, Edmond’s father, is dying of anxiety over his son’s disappearance, unaware of the fate that has befallen him.