The Count of Monte Cristo

Andrea and the Major Expose Their Scam

After receiving the documents, Andrea reads them with practiced ease and, in excellent Tuscan, drops the pretense by asking whether the galleys still exist in Italy—a pointed reference to forgery. He seizes the major’s arm and, speaking in Italian to ensure privacy, reveals that he himself is paid 50,000 francs a year to play the son. The major, after a moment of alarm, acknowledges he was paid 50,000 francs down for the same role. The two conspirators recognize each other as fellow mercenaries, and the major produces a handful of gold as proof of his reward, sealing their mutual exposure of the scam.

第五十六章 Andrea Cavalcanti

In this chapter, Andrea Cavalcanti and his supposed father, the Major, compare notes on the mysterious letters they each received—one from Abbé Busoni and the other from Sinbad the Sailor (Lord Wilmore)—both directing Andrea to appear in Paris on May 26th at seven in the evening to claim the inheritance of the Marquis Cavalcanti from the Count of Monte Cristo, unaware that Monte Cristo himself engineered both letters. The two impostors then perform their rehearsed reunion for the Count, who plays along with the deception, discreetly slipping Andrea a packet of bank-notes under the pretense that the Major is providing for him, and finally inviting the pair to dinner at his country house in Auteuil on Saturday, complete with precise instructions on their attire and where to purchase horses and a phaeton. After the Cavalcantis depart arm in arm, Monte Cristo watches them from his window and remarks that it is a pity two such villains are not truly father and son, before turning his thoughts toward visiting the Morrels, finding disgust even more sickening than hatred.