第七十二章 Madame de Saint-Méran
Chapter 72. Madame de Saint-Méran This chapter interweaves Villefort’s anxious introspection about Monte Cristo with the sudden arrival of Madame de Saint-Méran bearing news of her husband’s death, which sets in motion a series of grief-stricken family encounters and culminates in the marchioness’s feverish insistence on hastening Valentine’s marriage to Franz d’Épinay and her haunting vision of a white spectral figure.
Villefort’s Solitary Study Reflection
Villefort’s Solitary Study Reflection After declining to accompany the ladies to the ball, the procureur shuts himself in his study, ostensibly to work through a formidable pile of papers. In truth, he has retired not to study but to reflect, locking the door and instructing his servants not to disturb him. The memories of the past eight days have filled his mind with gloomy thoughts and bitter recollections, and he sinks into his armchair to ponder them.
Villefort Reviews His Enemy List
Villefort Reviews His Enemy List Instead of attending to the documents before him, Villefort opens a secret drawer and retrieves a carefully kept parcel of memoranda, inscribed in a private cipher. Within it he has catalogued every person who, in his political career, financial dealings, legal practice, or clandestine love affairs, has become his enemy. Though the list is formidable, it inspires in him the grim satisfaction of a traveller who has safely descended a treacherous mountain. After running through the names, he shakes his head and concludes that none of these foes would have waited so long and patiently to destroy him with such a secret.
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