Chapter 60 The Telegraph
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M.
AND MADAME de Villefort found on their return that the Count of Monte
Cristo, who had come to visit them in their absence, had been ushered into
the drawing-room, and was still awaiting them there. Madame de Villefort,
who had not yet sufficiently recovered from her late emotion to allow of
her entertaining visitors so immediately, retired to her bedroom, while
the procureur, who could better depend upon himself, proceeded at once to
the salon. Although M. de Villefort flattered himself that, to all outward
view, he had completely masked the feelings which were passing in his
mind, he did not know that the cloud was still lowering on his brow, so
much so that the count, whose smile was radiant, immediately noticed his
sombre and thoughtful air. "Ma foi," said Monte Cristo, after
the first compliments were over, "what is the matter with you, M. de
Villefort? Have I arrived at the moment when you were drawing up an
indictment for a capital crime?" Villefort tried to smile. "No,
count," he replied, "I am the only victim in this case. It is I
who lose my cause, and it is ill-luck, obstinacy, and folly which have
caused it to be decided against me." "To
what do you refer?" said Monte Cristo with well-feigned interest.
"Have you really met with some great misfortune?" "Oh,
no, monsieur," said Villefort with a bitter smile; "it is only a
loss of money which I have sustained--nothing worth mentioning, I assure
you." "True,"
said Monte Cristo, "the loss of a sum of money becomes almost
immaterial with a fortune such as you possess, and to one of your
philosophic spirit." "It
is not so much the loss of the money that vexes me," said Villefort,
"though, after all, 900,000 francs are worth regretting; but I am the
more annoyed with this fate, chance, or whatever you please to call the
power which has destroyed my hopes and my fortune, and may blast the
prospects of my child also, as it is all occasioned by an old man relapsed
into second childhood." "What
do you say?" said the count; "900,000 francs? It is indeed a sum
which might be regretted even by a philosopher. And who is the cause of
all this annoyance?" "My
father, as I told you." "M.
Noirtier? But I thought you told me he had become entirely paralyzed, and
that all his faculties were completely destroyed?" "Yes,
his bodily faculties, for he can neither move nor speak, nevertheless he
thinks, acts, and wills in the manner I have described. I left him about
five minutes ago, and he is now occupied in dictating his will to two
notaries." "But
to do this he must have spoken?" "He
has done better than that--he has made himself understood." "How
was such a thing possible?" "By
the help of his eyes, which are still full of life, and, as you perceive,
possess the power of inflicting mortal injury." "My
dear," said Madame de Villefort, who had just entered the room,
"perhaps you exaggerate the evil." "Good-morning,
madame," said the count, bowing. Madame de Villefort acknowledged the
salutation with one of her most gracious smiles. "What is this that
M. de Villefort has been telling me?" demanded Monte Cristo "and
what incomprehensible misfortune"-- "Incomprehensible
is not the word," interrupted the procureur, shrugging his shoulders.
"It is an old man's caprice." "And
is there no means of making him revoke his decision?" "Yes,"
said Madame de Villefort; "and it is still entirely in the power of
my husband to cause the will, which is now in prejudice of Valentine, to
be altered in her favor." The count, who perceived that M. and Madame
de Villefort were beginning to speak in parables, appeared to pay no
attention to the conversation, and feigned to be busily engaged in
watching Edward, who was mischievously pouring some ink into the bird's
water-glass. "My dear," said Villefort, in answer to his wife,
"you know I have never been accustomed to play the patriarch in my
family, nor have I ever considered that the fate of a universe was to be
decided by my nod. Nevertheless, it is necessary that my will should be
respected in my family, and that the folly of an old man and the caprice
of a child should not be allowed to overturn a project which I have
entertained for so many years. The Baron d'Epinay was my friend, as you
know, and an alliance with his son is the most suitable thing that could
possibly be arranged." "Do
you think," said Madame de Villefort, "that Valentine is in
league with him? She has always been opposed to this marriage, and I
should not be at all surprised if what we have just seen and heard is
nothing but the execution of a plan concerted between them." "Madame,"
said Villefort, "believe me, a fortune of 900,000 francs is not so
easily renounced." "She
could, nevertheless, make up her mind to renounce the world, sir, since it
is only about a year ago that she herself proposed entering a
convent." "Never
mind," replied Villefort; "I say that this marriage shall be
consummated." "Notwithstanding
your father's wishes to the contrary?" said Madame de Villefort,
selecting a new point of attack. "That is a serious thing."
Monte Cristo, who pretended not to be listening, heard however, every word
that was said. "Madame," replied Villefort "I can truly say
that I have always entertained a high respect for my father, because, to
the natural feeling of relationship was added the consciousness of his
moral superiority. The name of father is sacred in two senses; he should
be reverenced as the author of our being and as a master whom we ought to
obey. But, under the present circumstances, I am justified in doubting the
wisdom of an old man who, because he hated the father, vents his anger on
the son. It would be ridiculous in me to regulate my conduct by such
caprices. I shall still continue to preserve the same respect toward M.
Noirtier; I will suffer, without complaint, the pecuniary deprivation to
which he has subjected me; but I shall remain firm in my determination,
and the world shall see which party his reason on his side. Consequently I
shall marry my daughter to the Baron Franz d'Epinay, because I consider it
would be a proper and eligible match for her to make, and, in short,
because I choose to bestow my daughter's hand on whomever I please." "What?"
said the count, the approbation of whose eye Villefort had frequently
solicited during this speech. "What? Do you say that M. Noirtier
disinherits Mademoiselle de Villefort because she is going to marry M. le
Baron Franz d'Epinay?" "Yes,
sir, that is the reason," said Villefort, shrugging his shoulders. "The
apparent reason, at least," said Madame de Villefort. "The
real reason, madame, I can assure you; I know my father." "But
I want to know in what way M. d'Epinay can have displeased your father
more than any other person?" "I
believe I know M. Franz d'Epinay," said the count; "is he not
the son of General de Quesnel, who was created Baron d'Epinay by Charles
X.?" "The
same," said Villefort. "Well,
but he is a charming young man, according to my ideas." "He
is, which makes me believe that it is only an excuse of M. Noirtier to
prevent his granddaughter marrying; old men are always so selfish in their
affection," said Madame de Villefort. "But,"
said Monte Cristo "do you not know any cause for this hatred?" "Ah,
ma foi! who is to know?" "Perhaps
it is some political difference?" "My
father and the Baron d'Epinay lived in the stormy times of which I only
saw the ending," said Villefort. "Was
not your father a Bonapartist?" asked Monte Cristo; "I think I
remember that you told me something of that kind." "My
father has been a Jacobin more than anything else," said Villefort,
carried by his emotion beyond the bounds of prudence; "and the
senator's robe, which Napoleon cast on his shoulders, only served to
disguise the old man without in any degree changing him. When my father
conspired, it was not for the emperor, it was against the Bourbons; for M.
Noirtier possessed this peculiarity, he never projected any Utopian
schemes which could never be realized, but strove for possibilities, and
he applied to the realization of these possibilities the terrible theories
of The Mountain,--theories that never shrank from any means that were
deemed necessary to bring about the desired result." "Well,"
said Monte Cristo, "it is just as I thought; it was politics which
brought Noirtier and M. d'Epinay into personal contact. Although General
d'Epinay served under Napoleon, did he not still retain royalist
sentiments? And was he not the person who was assassinated one evening on
leaving a Bonapartist meeting to which he had been invited on the
supposition that he favored the cause of the emperor?" Villefort
looked at the count almost with terror. "Am I mistaken, then?"
said Monte Cristo. "No,
sir, the facts were precisely what you have stated," said Madame de
Villefort; "and it was to prevent the renewal of old feuds that M. de
Villefort formed the idea of uniting in the bonds of affection the two
children of these inveterate enemies." "It
was a sublime and charitable thought," said Monte Cristo, "and
the whole world should applaud it. It would be noble to see Mademoiselle
Noirtier de Villefort assuming the title of Madame Franz d'Epinay."
Villefort shuddered and looked at Monte Cristo as if he wished to read in
his countenance the real feelings which had dictated the words he had just
uttered. But the count completely baffled the procureur, and prevented him
from discovering anything beneath the never-varying smile he was so
constantly in the habit of assuming. "Although," said Villefort,
"it will be a serious thing for Valentine to lose her grandfather's
fortune, I do not think that M. d'Epinay will be frightened at this
pecuniary loss. He will, perhaps, hold me in greater esteem than the money
itself, seeing that I sacrifice everything in order to keep my word with
him. Besides, he knows that Valentine is rich in right of her mother, and
that she will, in all probability, inherit the fortune of M. and Madame de
Saint-Mижran,
her mother's parents, who both love her tenderly." "And
who are fully as well worth loving and tending as M. Noirtier," said
Madame de Villefort; "besides, they are to come to Paris in about a
month, and Valentine, after the affront she has received, need not
consider it necessary to continue to bury herself alive by being shut up
with M. Noirtier." The count listened with satisfaction to this tale
of wounded self-love and defeated ambition. "But it seems to
me," said Monte Cristo, "and I must begin by asking your pardon
for what I am about to say, that if M. Noirtier disinherits Mademoiselle
de Villefort because she is going to marry a man whose father he detested,
he cannot have the same cause of complaint against this dear Edward."
"True,"
said Madame de Villefort, with an intonation of voice which it is
impossible to describe; "is it not unjust--shamefully unjust? Poor
Edward is as much M. Noirtier's grandchild as Valentine, and yet, if she
had not been going to marry M. Franz, M. Noirtier would have left her all
his money; and supposing Valentine to be disinherited by her grandfather,
she will still be three times richer than he." The count listened and
said no more. "Count," said Villefort, "we will not
entertain you any longer with our family misfortunes. It is true that my
patrimony will go to endow charitable institutions, and my father will
have deprived me of my lawful inheritance without any reason for doing so,
but I shall have the satisfaction of knowing that I have acted like a man
of sense and feeling. M. d'Epinay, to whom I had promised the interest of
this sum, shall receive it, even if I endure the most cruel
privations." "However,"
said Madame de Villefort, returning to the one idea which incessantly
occupied her mind, "perhaps it would be better to explain this
unlucky affair to M. d'Epinay, in order to give him the opportunity of
himself renouncing his claim to the hand of Mademoiselle de Villefort."
"Ah,
that would be a great pity," said Villefort. "A
great pity," said Monte Cristo. "Undoubtedly,"
said Villefort, moderating the tones of his voice, "a marriage once
concerted and then broken off, throws a sort of discredit on a young lady;
then again, the old reports, which I was so anxious to put an end to, will
instantly gain ground. No, it will all go well; M. d'Epinay, if he is an
honorable man, will consider himself more than ever pledged to
Mademoiselle de Villefort, unless he were actuated by a decided feeling of
avarice, but that is impossible." "I
agree with M. de Villefort," said Monte Cristo, fixing his eyes on
Madame de Villefort; "and if I were sufficiently intimate with him to
allow of giving my advice, I would persuade him, since I have been told M.
d'Epinay is coming back, to settle this affair at once beyond all
possibility of revocation. I will answer for the success of a project
which will reflect so much honor on M. de Villefort." The procureur
arose, delighted with the proposition, but his wife slightly changed
color. "Well, that is all that I wanted, and I will be guided by a
counsellor such as you are," said he, extending his hand to Monte
Cristo. "Therefore let every one here look upon what has passed
to-day as if it had not happened, and as though we had never thought of
such a thing as a change in our original plans." "Sir,"
said the count, "the world, unjust as it is, will be pleased with
your resolution; your friends will be proud of you, and M. d'Epinay, even
if he took Mademoiselle de Villefort without any dowry, which he will not
do, would be delighted with the idea of entering a family which could make
such sacrifices in order to keep a promise and fulfil a duty." At the
conclusion of these words, the count rose to depart. "Are you going
to leave us, count?" said Madame de Villefort. "I
am sorry to say I must do so, madame, I only came to remind you of your
promise for Saturday." "Did
you fear that we should forget it?" "You
are very good, madame, but M. de Villefort has so many important and
urgent occupations." "My
husband has given me his word, sir," said Madame de Villefort;
"you have just seen him resolve to keep it when he has everything to
lose, and surely there is more reason for his doing so where he has
everything to gain." "And," said Villefort, "is it at
your house in the Champs-Elysижes
that you receive your visitors?" "No,"
said Monte Cristo, "which is precisely the reason which renders your
kindness more meritorious,--it is in the country." "In
the country?" "Yes."
"Where
is it, then? Near Paris, is it not?" "Very
near, only half a league from the Barriers,--it is at Auteuil." "At
Auteuil?" said Villefort; "true, Madame de Villefort told me you
lived at Auteuil, since it was to your house that she was taken. And in
what part of Auteuil do you reside?" "Rue
de la Fontaine." "Rue
de la Fontaine!" exclaimed Villefort in an agitated tone; "at
what number?" "No.
28." "Then,"
cried Villefort, "was it you who bought M. de Saint-Mижran's house!" "Did
it belong to M. de Saint-Mижran?"
demanded Monte Cristo. "Yes,"
replied Madame de Villefort; "and, would you believe it,
count"-- "Believe
what?" "You
think this house pretty, do you not?" "I
think it charming." "Well,
my husband would never live in it." "Indeed?"
returned Monte Cristo, "that is a prejudice on your part, M. de
Villefort, for which I am quite at a loss to account." "I
do not like Auteuil, sir," said the procureur, making an evident
effort to appear calm. "But I hope you will not carry your antipathy
so far as to deprive me of the pleasure of your company, sir," said
Monte Cristo. "No,
count,--I hope--I assure you I shall do my best," stammered Villefort.
"Oh,"
said Monte Cristo, "I allow of no excuse. On Saturday, at six
o'clock. I shall be expecting you, and if you fail to come, I shall
think--for how do I know to the contrary?--that this house, which his
remained uninhabited for twenty years, must have some gloomy tradition or
dreadful legend connected with it." "I
will come, count,--I will be sure to come," said Villefort eagerly. "Thank
you," said Monte Cristo; "now you must permit me to take my
leave of you." "You
said before that you were obliged to leave us, monsieur," said Madame
de Villefort, "and you were about to tell us why when your attention
was called to some other subject." "Indeed
madame," said Monte Cristo: "I scarcely know if I dare tell you
where I am going." "Nonsense;
say on." "Well,
then, it is to see a thing on which I have sometimes mused for hours
together." "What
is it?" "A
telegraph. So now I have told my secret." "A
telegraph?" repeated Madame de Villefort. "Yes,
a telegraph. I had often seen one placed at the end of a road on a
hillock, and in the light of the sun its black arms, bending in every
direction, always reminded me of the claws of an immense beetle, and I
assure you it was never without emotion that I gazed on it, for I could
not help thinking how wonderful it was that these various signs should be
made to cleave the air with such precision as to convey to the distance of
three hundred leagues the ideas and wishes of a man sitting at a table at
one end of the line to another man similarly placed at the opposite
extremity, and all this effected by a simple act of volition on the part
of the sender of the message. I began to think of genii, sylphs, gnomes,
in short, of all the ministers of the occult sciences, until I laughed
aloud at the freaks of my own imagination. Now, it never occurred to me to
wish for a nearer inspection of these large insects, with their long black
claws, for I always feared to find under their stone wings some little
human genius fagged to death with cabals, factions, and government
intrigues. But one fine day I learned that the mover of this telegraph was
only a poor wretch, hired for twelve hundred francs a year, and employed
all day, not in studying the heavens like an astronomer, or in gazing on
the water like an angler, or even in enjoying the privilege of observing
the country around him, but all his monotonous life was passed in watching
his white-bellied, black-clawed fellow insect, four or five leagues
distant from him. At length I felt a desire to study this living chrysalis
more closely, and to endeavor to understand the secret part played by
these insect-actors when they occupy themselves simply with pulling
different pieces of string." "And
are you going there?" "I
am." "What
telegraph do you intend visiting? that of the home department, or of the
observatory?" "Oh,
no; I should find there people who would force me to understand things of
which I would prefer to remain ignorant, and who would try to explain to
me, in spite of myself, a mystery which even they do not understand. Ma
foi, I should wish to keep my illusions concerning insects unimpaired; it
is quite enough to have those dissipated which I had formed of my
fellow-creatures. I shall, therefore, not visit either of these
telegraphs, but one in the open country where I shall find a good-natured
simpleton, who knows no more than the machine he is employed to
work." "You
are a singular man," said Villefort. "What
line would you advise me to study?" "The
one that is most in use just at this time." "The
Spanish one, you mean, I suppose?" "Yes;
should you like a letter to the minister that they might explain to
you"-- "No,"
said Monte Cristo; "since, as I told you before, I do not wish to
comprehend it. The moment I understand it there will no longer exist a
telegraph for me; it will he nothing more than a sign from M. Duchatel, or
from M. Montalivet, transmitted to the prefect of Bayonne, mystified by
two Greek words, tele, graphein. It is the insect with black claws, and
the awful word which I wish to retain in my imagination in all its purity
and all its importance." "Go
then; for in the course of two hours it will be dark, and you will not be
able to see anything." "Ma
foi! you frighten me. Which is the nearest way? Bayonne?" "Yes;
the road to Bayonne." "And
afterwards the road to Chatillon?" "Yes."
"By
the tower of Montlhижry,
you mean?" "Yes."
"Thank
you. Good-by. On Saturday I will tell you my impressions concerning the
telegraph." At the door the count was met by the two notaries, who
had just completed the act which was to disinherit Valentine, and who were
leaving under the conviction of having done a thing which could not fail
of redounding considerably to their credit. |
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