The Count of Monte Cristo

第七十一章 Bread and Salt

Madame de Morcerf leads the Count through a grove of lindens to a conservatory, where she offers him Muscatel grapes and later a peach, both of which he firmly refuses, causing her visible pain. She invokes the Arabian custom of bread and salt to bind people as eternal friends, but the Count explains that such friendships are rare in France, and when she asks directly if they are friends, he gives only a formal, distant response rather than the genuine connection she seeks. The Count recounts a story of loving a young girl in Malta before the war separated them, and upon his return finding her married to another; he claims to have forgiven her, yet his refusal of the grapes and the formal way he maintains distance suggest a more complicated and unforgiving heart beneath his words. Albert arrives with news that M. de Saint-Méran has died, which strikes Valentine de Villefort like a thunderbolt and delays her marriage to Franz, while Madame de Morcerf makes one final attempt to forge friendship by joining the hands of her son and the Count, only to receive again a response of formal respect rather than warmth.

Walk to the Conservatory

Madame de Morcerf leads Monte Cristo through an archway of lindens toward a conservatory, escaping the warmth of the room. She asks if he finds it too warm, and he agrees while expressing concern that she might be cold in her light dress. Without answering, she continues walking and brings him to the greenhouse filled with magnificent fruits ripening in artificial heat. She releases his arm and approaches the Muscatel grapes with a smile so sad that tears seem present on her eyelids. She offers him the grapes, apologizing for their inferiority to Sicilian or Cypriot varieties, but Monte Cristo bows and steps back.