CHAPTER L
Deep silence reigned in the Monte-Cristo palace--the silence of death.Everything was draped in mourning, and on a catafalque rested the bodiesof Spero and Jane.
They were all dead--Danglars, Villefort, Mondego, Caderousse andBenedetto--but Monte-Cristo was alive to close the eyes of his dearlybeloved son.
Mockery of fate! The two men who watched the corpses waited with anxietyfor the moment when the Count of Monte-Cristo should enter.
Before the vision of the older man rose the atrocious scenes at Uargla.He saw Spero, a bold, brave boy, scaling the towers--he heard his firmwords, "Papa, let us die"--and felt the soft, childish arms wind abouthis neck. This was Fanfaro.
The other watcher was Gontram. Coucou, Bobichel and Madame Caraman wereparalyzed with grief. The Zouave would willingly have died a thousanddeaths if he only could have saved the life of his young master.
The third day dawned, and Gontram and Fanfaro looked anxiously at eachother. To-day the count must come.
Toward evening the door was suddenly opened. Slowly, with a heavytread, a tall man approached the catafalque, and, sinking on his kneesbeside it, hid his pale face in the folds of the burial cloth. The countlooked neither to the right nor to the left; he saw only his son. Not asound issued from his troubled breast; but with a cold shiver Fanfaroand Gontram noticed that the count's black hair was slowly becomingsnow-white, and with profound pity the friends gazed upon thegrief-stricken man, who had become old in an hour.
Monte-Cristo now bent over his son and clasped the dear corpse in hispowerful arms. He went slowly and noiselessly to the door. Fanfaro andGontram stood as if in a daze; and not until the door had closed behindthe count did they recover their self-possession. They hurried afterhim, they tried to follow his track; but it was useless. The count haddisappeared together with his son's body.
EPILOGUE
THE ABBE DANTES
Fifty years ago a solitary man stood on a lonely rock.
The night was horrible! The storm drove the snow and rain into the faceof the solitary man and whipped the black hair around his temples; buthe paid no attention to this--he dug into the hard, rocky soil withpickaxe and spade.
Suddenly he uttered an ejaculation of joy. The brittle rock had revealedits secret to him. Unexpected treasures, incalculable fortunes, laybefore his eager gaze.
Then the man stood erect; he glanced wildly around him toward all thefour quarters of the globe, and cried aloud:
"All you, who have kept me imprisoned for fourteen long years in asubterranean vault into which neither sun nor moon could penetrate, whowould have condemned my body to eternal decline, and enshrouded my mindwith the night of insanity--you whose names I do not yet know, beware! Iswear to be revenged--revenged! Edmond Dantes has risen from his grave,he has risen to chastise his torturers, and as sure as there is a God inheaven you shall learn to know me."
About whom was this solitary man speaking? He did not yet know, but hewas soon to discover it.
Fourteen years before, Edmond Dantes, the young sailor, was joyouslyreturning to the harbor of Marseilles on board the Pharaon, belonging toMonsieur Morrel. His captain had died on the trip and he was promisedthe vacant place. As soon as he had landed he hastened to his bride, theCatalan Mercedes, to announce to her that he could now lead her to thealtar.
Then he was suddenly arrested. He was accused of transmitting letters tothe Emperor Napoleon, then a prisoner on the Island of Elba.
He did not deny the fact. It was his captain's dying wish. He wasignorant of the contents of the missive, and of the one he had in hispossession given him by the captive emperor to deliver to a MonsieurNoirtier in Paris.
Monsieur Noirtier's full name was Noirtier de Villefort, and his sonMonsieur de Villefort was the deputy procureur du roi to whom EdmondDantes handed the letter to prove his innocence.
The son suppressed the letter, in order not to be compromised by theacts of his father, and had the young man torn from the arms of hisbetrothed and incarcerated in the subterranean dungeon of the Chateaud'If.
Here he remained fourteen long years, his only companion the Abbe Faria,who was deemed to be insane. The abbe on his deathbed intrusted to himthe secret that an enormous fortune was concealed in a grotto on theisland of Monte-Cristo in the Mediterranean Sea. Edmond Dantes escapedfrom his dungeon and discovered the buried treasure.
He then left the island to accomplish the revenge he had sworn.
He found that his father had died of starvation and that Mercedes hadmarried another. Who was this other one?
Fernand Mondego, now the Count de Morcerf, had become the husband of thebeautiful Catalan. Formerly a simple fisherman, he had risen to become amember of the French Chamber of Deputies.
The second in whose way Edmond Dantes had stood was a man namedDanglars. An officer on board the Pharaon, he had hoped to obtain theposition of captain. Now he had become one of the principal bankers ofthe capital.
The third, Caderousse, an envious tailor, had allowed himself to be madea tool of to bring to the notice of the authorities the denunciationagainst the young sailor which Danglars had dictated and Mondego writtendown.
His worst enemy was Villefort, who had now become the procureur du roiat Paris.
Was Edmond Dantes to be blamed if he, after he had discovered all this,took the law in his own hands and began to execute his vengeance?
Danglars was his first victim. He ruined him and made him suffer thepangs of hunger which Edmond's father had suffered.
Fernand Mondego, Count de Morcerf, was the second. At first Dantes, whonow called himself the Count of Monte-Cristo, wanted to kill Fernand'sson, Albert de Morcerf, but he spared the young man for Mercedes' sake.
He looked up Mondego's past history. The latter had risen to powerthrough crime and treachery. He had betrayed Ali Tebelen, Pasha ofYanina, and sold the latter's wife Vassiliki and daughter Haydee intoslavery. Haydee herself denounced De Morcerf's infamy in the Chamber ofDeputies. De Morcerf, forever dishonored, and knowing the blow came fromMonte-Cristo, sought to pick a quarrel with the latter. But the count,glancing him full in the face, said:
"Look at me well, Fernand, and you will understand it all. I am EdmondDantes."
Then De Morcerf fled, and an hour afterward blew out his brains.
De Villefort's turn was next. Monte-Cristo discovered that he had buriedalive a child of Madame Danglars and himself. Bertuccio the Corsican hadsaved the child and reared it to manhood. The boy had become the banditBenedetto.
Monte-Cristo found him in the galleys at Toulon. He aided in his escape,and Benedetto assassinated Caderousse. Tried for this murder, Benedettofound himself confronted with his father, the procureur du roi. Heboldly announced his relationship, and de Villefort fled from thecourtroom only to find on reaching home that his wife had poisonedherself and her son. In that moment of agony Monte-Cristo appearedbefore him and told him that he was Edmond Dantes. The blow struck home.De Villefort went mad.
His work of vengeance was now accomplished. Monte-Cristo was rich andall-powerful. He married Haydee, and they had a son, Spero. Now, alas!Haydee was dead! Spero was dead!
* * * * *
It was ten years since Monte-Cristo, on that fearful night, bore offthe corpse of his only son.
Again he stood alone on the rock on the island of Monte-Cristo. He hadlived on this rock for ten years. He saw no one, heard no one, exceptwhen occasionally men came ashore for water. Then he concealed himself,watching them and hearing their gay laughter.
But the rumor that the island was haunted spread around, and thesuperstitious Italians claimed that it was inhabited by a spirit whomthey called the Abbe of Monte-Cristo.
All these years Monte-Cristo had lived on herbs and roots. He had swornnever to touch money again while he lived.
One night Monte-Cristo entered the subterranean cave where the marblesarcophagus of his son was:
"Spero," he earnestly said, "is it time?"
A long silence ensued. Then--was it a reality?--Spero's lips appeared tomove and utter the word:
"Come."
"I thought so," muttered the Count. "I shall come, my child, as soon asmy affairs are settled."
He took a package from his pocket, and unfolding it read it aloud:
"MY LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
"The person who signed this paper, and who is about to die, has been more powerful than the greatest ruler on earth. He has loved and hated strongly. All is forgotten, all is dead to him except the souvenir of the son who was dear to him. This man possessed millions, but dies of hunger. He desired to domineer over every one, made a judge of himself and rewarded the just and punished the guilty. He has no heir, but he thinks it would be wrong for him to destroy the wealth he possesses. It is in existence, though hid away. He bequeaths it to Providence. It will bear this paper together with these mysterious signs.
"Will the money be found?
"Whoever reads this paper will do a wise act if he annihilates it. May he who finds this paper listen and heed to the words of a dying man.
"THE ABBE DANTES."
"February 25th, 1865."
Below this signature was a curious design. Monte-Cristo examined it.
"Ah, Faria!" he exclaimed, "may your money fall into better hands thanmine!"
He felt singularly feeble and laid his hand on his heart. He entered thetomb of Spero and reclined beside him. His arms were crossed on hisbreast. His eyes shut. He was dead.
* * * * *
All those who ever knew him never speak of him or hear his name utteredwithout being deeply affected. One thing has remained a secret for themup to this day. Where did Edmond Dantes, Count of Monte-Cristo, perish?
THE END
The Son of Monte-Cristo, Volume II Page 51
