The Count of Monte Cristo

Hundred Days Onset, Villefort’s Retained Status, and Marseilles Unrest

The onset of the Hundred Days shifts regional power dynamics in ways that create a narrow opening for Dantès’ release: shipowner Morrel, though personally moderate, gains enough influence among Bonapartists to formally advocate for his former employee. Villefort retains his post as deputy procureur but deliberately delays his upcoming marriage to Mademoiselle de Saint-Méran, calculating that aligning with whichever regime ultimately prevails will better advance his career. He remains Marseilles’ highest-ranking magistrate when Morrel arrives at his office to make his appeal.

Morrel’s Formal Appeal to Villefort for Dantès’ Release

Morrel formally petitions Villefort for Edmond Dantès’ release, arguing that Dantès’ previously condemned Bonapartist ties are now a mark of loyalty to the restored Napoleon. Villefort initially feigns ignorance of Dantès’ case, then claims the young man has been transferred to a remote prison, before finally offering to draft and sign a formal petition to the minister exaggerating Dantès’ patriotic service to the emperor, which he claims will guarantee his release. In reality, Villefort hides the signed petition, hoping for a second Bourbon restoration that will let him permanently eliminate Dantès and the dangerous secret he carries.

Dantès’ Continued Imprisonment and Fates of Supporting Characters

Dantès remains imprisoned and unaware of the political upheavals unfolding outside his dungeon: Morrel makes two additional appeals for his release during the Hundred Days, but ceases all efforts after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo. When Louis XVIII retakes the throne, Villefort secures a new post as king’s procureur in Toulouse and marries Mademoiselle de Saint-Méran shortly thereafter. Danglars, terrified of Dantès’ potential vengeance after Napoleon’s return, abandons his position in Marseilles and relocates to Madrid to work for a Spanish merchant. Fernand, who had resolved to kill Dantès and then himself if his rival returned, is conscripted into the army; his show of devotion to Mercédès as he departs earns her gratitude, giving him hope Dantès will never come back. Mercédès is left isolated and grieving, nearly driven to suicide but held back by her religious faith, while Dantès’ elderly father dies of grief five months after his son’s arrest, with Morrel covering his funeral costs and small debts at great personal risk in the pro-Bonapartist south.