The Count of Monte Cristo

第八十一章 The Room of the Retired Baker

This chapter contains two parallel but intertwined plot developments set in motion by Andrea Cavalcanti’s rising fortunes. In the first half, Andrea formally proposes marriage to Danglars’ daughter, negotiates the financial terms of the union, secures the banker’s conditional approval, and walks away with 80,000 francs. In the second half, the narrative shifts to the seedy lodging of Caderousse (now disguised as “Monsieur Pailletin, retired baker”), where Caderousse refuses his modest monthly stipend, summons Andrea through a threatening letter, and the young man—disguised in his servant’s livery—arrives to discover that his old accomplice is plotting to extort far more money from him. The chapter’s climactic revelation is Caderousse’s explicit knowledge of Andrea’s true background as Benedetto and his plan to blackmail the young man into securing a much larger sum than the meager 200-franc allowance he currently receives.

Andrea Cavalcanti Proposes Marriage to Danglars’ Daughter

On the evening after Count Morcerf’s rejected proposal, Andrea Cavalcanti, immaculately groomed with curled hair, well-kept moustaches, and white gloves, arrives at Danglars’ mansion on Rue de la Chaussée d’Antin. Within ten minutes he draws Danglars aside into a bow-window recess and, after an artful preamble, confesses the anxieties that have troubled him since his “noble father’s” departure. He effusively acknowledges the banker’s family kindness in receiving him as a son and declares that his warmest affections have found their object in Mademoiselle Danglars. Danglars, who has anticipated this declaration for two or three days, listens with profound attention; his eyes glisten with barely concealed satisfaction at the prospect of recouping the alliance lost to Morcerf.