The Count of Monte Cristo

Bertuccio Narrates the Child’s Return and Linen Markings

Bertuccio narrates his sister Assunta’s response upon learning that he avenged their brother Israel’s death. Assunta laments that Giovanni should have brought the abandoned child back, suggesting they would have raised him as “Benedetto” and earned Heaven’s blessing. Bertuccio explains that he kept half of the linen on which the child was marked in order to reclaim him if they became rich.

Monte Cristo’s Questions About the Child and Bertuccio’s Past

Monte Cristo questions Bertuccio about the letters marked on the linen, learning they were “an H and an N, surmounted by a baron’s coronet.” After a brief exchange in which Bertuccio credits his knowledge of heraldry to the count’s service, Monte Cristo declares his curiosity about two things: what became of the child (whom Bertuccio confirms was a boy), and the crime for which Bertuccio requested a confessor—the Abbé Busoni—in prison at Nîmes. Bertuccio prepares to tell the longer story, noting that the count takes little sleep.

Bertuccio Returns to Smuggling After Brother’s Assassination

To drown haunting memories and support the widow Assunta, Bertuccio eagerly resumed smuggling, exploiting the lax law enforcement following revolution in the southern districts of Avignon, Nîmes, and Uzès. Having vowed never to return to Nîmes after his brother’s assassination, he arranged that the connected innkeeper come to him instead, establishing a branch inn at the Pont du Gard on the road from Bellegarde to Beaucaire. With roughly a dozen safe-houses at Aigues-Mortes, Martigues, and Bouc, Bertuccio reflected philosophically that those who devote their lives to dangerous enterprises find their strength doubled, prompting Monte Cristo to wryly observe that philosophy at half-past ten is somewhat late.