The Count of Monte Cristo

The Cavalcantis

Major Bartolomeo Cavalcanti and Count Andrea Cavalcanti arrive, the father distinguished by a black satin stock, gray moustaches, bold eye, and a major’s uniform with three medals and five crosses. The son, dressed in entirely new clothes, advances smilingly. The young men observe them critically, Château-Renaud noting they are well named but badly dressed, while Debray defends the quality of their new attire. Monte Cristo explains the Cavalcanti are descended from Italian princes, possess an enormous fortune, and have business with Danglars.

The Villeforts

M. and Madame de Villefort arrive, and despite his self-control, Villefort appears visibly affected. When Monte Cristo touches his hand, he feels it tremble. The count observes Madame Danglars smiling on the procureur and embracing his wife, musing that women alone know how to dissimulate.

Bertuccio’s Terror

Bertuccio, occupied on the other side of the house, glides into an adjoining room where the count follows. When the count asks what Bertuccio wants, the steward is unable to answer until he sees through the ajar door the guests assembled. He exclaims in horror at recognizing a woman—Madame Danglars—whom he identifies as the one from the garden who was pregnant. Bertuccio’s hair stands on end and his eyes start from his head as he points toward Villefort, muttering that he believed he had killed him. The count dismisses this as nightmare and imagination, directing Bertuccio to count the guests: two Villeforts, four Danglars, three others, plus Major Cavalcanti and young Andrea Cavalcanti, making eight.