The Count of Monte Cristo

Fruit Offer and Rejection

When Mercédès asks if he refuses the grapes, Monte Cristo explains that he never eats Muscatel grapes. She lets them fall and sighs. She then approaches a magnificent peach ripening on an adjoining wall and offers it instead. The count refuses again, prompting Mercédès to exclaim with such plaintive emotion that it nearly stifles a sob—declaring that he pains her deeply. A long silence follows as the peach, like the grapes, falls to the ground.

Bread and Salt Friendship Custom Reference

Mercédès places herself before Monte Cristo and invokes an Arabian custom: that those who have eaten bread and salt together under the same roof become eternal friends. Monte Cristo acknowledges knowing this custom but observes they are in France, not Arabia, where such eternal friendships are as rare as the custom itself.

Exchange on Their Friendship

Mercédès breathlessly presses both hands against the count’s arm, fixing her eyes upon him as she asks if they are friends. The count turns pale as death, his blood rushing to his heart before rising to crimson his cheeks. His eyes swim with the expression of a suddenly dazzled man. He replies that certainly they are friends and asks why they would not be. The answer disappoints Mercédès, who turns away to release what sounds more like a groan than a sigh. She thanks him, and they walk the entire garden length in silence.

Mercédès Questions Monte Cristo’s Past

After ten minutes of silence, the countess suddenly asks if it is true that Monte Cristo has seen so much, traveled so far, and suffered so deeply. He confirms he has suffered deeply. When she asks if he is now happy, he replies that no one hears him complain, then elaborates that his present happiness equals his past misery. She asks if he is married, and he shudders at the question, explaining that the young woman seen with him at the Opera is a slave he purchased at Constantinople—the daughter of a prince whom he has adopted as his daughter. She presses him further about family, and he reveals he has no one. When she asks how he exists without attachment, he recounts the story of loving a young girl in Malta, being carried away by war, and returning to find her married. He admits his heart was perhaps weaker than most, causing him greater suffering. Mercédès asks if he has forgiven this woman and whether he still hates those who separated them. He confirms he has forgiven the woman but harbors no hatred toward those responsible. She then offers grapes again, and when he repeats that he never eats Muscatel grapes, she dashes them into the thicket with a gesture of despair, murmuring “Inflexible man!” The count remains unmoved.