THE SULTAN OF MONTE CRISTO FINDS HIMSELF STRUGGLING to reconcile the differences between the Holy Bible and the Holy Koran.
He notices there is agreement on Christ Jesus being “the messiah born of a virgin,” but he is concerned that the Bible has been retold in a way to create a revised bible and religion that elevates Mohammed and his subjects above the more authentic and ancient holy writ. He is struck by the Koran's depiction of God as most merciful, oft forging, patient, and full of loving-kindness. In the Old Testament of the Bible that Dantes was raised upon, God was a vengeful and angry entity. He begins to wonder which is the true God, or if they are aspects of the same. Can he embrace both religions?
Regardless of his struggles with accepting which is the true god, Dantes finds edicts commanding forgiveness of others’ wrongs in both texts and, after consultation with Haydee, decides it is time to forgive Villefort. He prepares for his journey to 28 Rue de la Fontaine, the House of Auteuil, where Villefort is being rehabilitated. Dantes spends the journey to Paris poring over the Bible and the Koran, making notes and charts on the texts to pass the time. When he reaches Paris once more, the smells, sights, and sounds of the city assault him — he has thought he was ready to move on and forgive those who wronged him, but now he is not so sure.
Unsure if Villefort will recognize him, Dantes disguises himself as a doctor, darkening his face and donning a curly white wig. The Sultan of Monte Cristo enters patient room number one, after being let in by his faithful servant, Monsieur Bertuccio. Villefort is at a battered desk, scribbling frantically. Looking up at his visitor, he asks, “Who let you in? Can't you see I am preparing an indictment and am not to be disturbed?”
“I am sorry to disturb you, Excellency,” Dantes says smoothly. “My name is Dr. Maurice Adelmonte. May I ask whom the crown prosecutor has named as the defendant?"
“Myself,” Villefort responds.
“What are the crimes brought against you?”
“My first crime was to send an innocent man to prison for life; and his ghosts have risen to haunt me. My second and most hideous crime was to bury my newly-born son alive in the garden downstairs; his ghost grew into a young man to haunt me at trial. I dig every day in that cursed garden, but I cannot find his remains. My crimes beyond that are more than I can count — they have been of both soul and body,” concludes Villefort.
“As your doctor, Monsieur Le Comte,” says Dr. Adelmonte, “it is my responsibility to restore your mental health, so that you can stand trial. Otherwise, you will spend the rest of your life digging up the garden in the courtyard and scribbling out your crimes in these imaginary indictments. Do I have your attention? Will you let me help you?”
Edmond Dantes fights off the pleasure running through his veins — to be in a position of so much power over the man who had destroyed his youth and happiness. He plays with the idea of making Villefort’s life even more miserable, as he awaits his former enemy’s answer. Villefort breaks down in tears, his sobs so raw that they touch Dantes’ heart. Seeing that the man both needs and wants help, Dantes goes on to say, “Monsieur, I think the best way to restore your health is to tell you the truth — to shed light into the dark corners of your mind.
“As to your crime against Edmond Dantes, I can assure you that he has forgiven you and that he did not rise from the dead as a specter. Instead, he accidently faked his death when he escaped from his dungeon on Chateau D’If. That is a very long story; but you can read the entire account in the biography entitled The Count of Monte Cristo, by investigative reporter Alexandre Dumas. Here, take the book about him and read it before my next visit in a fortnight — it will set your mind at ease, I do believe.
“You need not dig anymore in the garden, because the illegitimate son you sired with the baroness Danglars did not die, as you thought. In fact, a Corsican, Monsieur Bertuccio, was hiding in the shadows and waiting to take his revenge against you for your refusal to seek justice against those who murdered his brother. He witnessed you bury the baby, thinking it only a bundle, and then stabbed you, thinking he killed you. He dug up what he expected to be buried treasure; but instead, he found an umbilically-strangled infant, who began to move as he was held in the Corsican’s warm arms.
“Monsieur Bertuccio saved the baby’s life. So, that was not your son’s grown ghost you indicted and faced at trial, but your lost-and-found son who had merely been raised by another. Read Chapter XLIV, entitled ‘The Vendetta,’ to completely refresh your memory and learn the details.
“Before you read the book I have given you, take this medicine I have brought you. It will calm you and help you sort out these facts. Don’t ask for it again, however — it is a dangerous and strong drug, and many men have fallen prey to its hold. You would be no different, and I will not have your life wasted. After you have taken the medicine and read the book, your mind should be healed. I will arrange for Baroness Danglars to see you to help with your recovery.”
Villefort seems to have been hypnotized by these revelations, making no sound as Dantes speaks, and obediently takes the dosage of hashish and morphine. A cloud of puzzled doubt forms on his face. “I seem to remember Madame Heloise Villefort speak of you as a great doctor. Did you not meet her in Italia?”
“Yes indeed, I did have the delightful pleasure of making the acquaintance of your lovely, dearly-departed wife,” Dantes says, smiling at the memory. “It was in Perugia, on the day of Corpus Christi, in the garden of hostery of the Post, that chance brought us together; your wife, your daughter Mademoiselle Valentine, and your dearly departed son, Édouard. It was on a burning hot day and your family was waiting for some horses that were delayed in arriving, because of the festival. Your wife was sitting on a stone bench under the arbor, while Édouard chased a peacock, happily extracting three long, beautiful feathers from its tail. I recall that Mademoiselle Valentine needed Neapolitan air to benefit her lungs, according to your family doctor’s suggestions.
“We spoke for a long time, Monsieur, of various things: of Perugino, of Raphael, of the manners and customs of the place, and about the celebrated aqua tofana, the secret of which, I believe, Madame had been told was still kept by some people in Perugia.
“Madame de Villefort was keenly interested in the good health of your daughter, and consulted with me for her benefit.”
“So why,” asks Villefort, “did she poison the helpless girl?”
“This evil idea was planted in her mind by a very skilled and determined Machiavelli,” replies Dantes. “Yet I have some good news for you: that same Machiavelli saved her life.”
“But, how?!” Villefort cries. “I interred her myself in our family mausoleum in the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, and I recall reciting the elegiac Poem written by Francois de Malherbe to memorialize the death of du Perier’s daughter.”
“The poison was replaced by powerful drugs that put Valentine in a deep sleep, making her appear dead,” says Dantes.
“Who is this Machiavelli that planted the diabolical seed, then uprooted it,” asks Villefort, “and how can you know?”
“Ah,” says Dantes. “Before I studied medicine, I received the ecclesiastical title of ‘Abbe.’ Since I received this information under confessional sanctity, I must not divulge the Machiavelli’s real name; yet, I am permitted to say that you were the intended target of the vengeful plot. When the Machiavelli realized the beautiful, chaste, sweet young woman, his next victim, was coincidentally the love of his good friend, Maximillien Morrel, the Machiavelli was compelled to intervene.”
“But how did he reach her to exchange the fatal dose?” asks Villefort.
“Your Machiavelli's arms reach far and wide,” says Dantes, “yet, in this case, he rented your neighbor’s property and stealthily entered your home, remaining vigilantly awake for three days, hiding behind the bookcase to replace each tainted lemonade. Your brilliant father, Noirtier de Villefort, realized the pending danger after the deaths of Valentine’s grandparents, Monsieur and Madame de Saint-Meran, and immuniz
ed her by having her swallow minute doses of his own poisonous medicine, doubling some every day, also helping to save his precious angel.
“The good news is that two of the children you thought lost are now alive and well, one living in marital bliss and caring for your father, while the other is in a hell, called prison, needing your expert help and the father he never had. I think we can make a good case for his defense — extenuating circumstances. These two surviving children should give you great motivation to recover your mental faculties.”
“Yes,” says Villefort, “motivation indeed. Yet I find it hard to believe, without seeing and holding my dear daughter, Valentine, in my arms and hearing her voice.”
“This will be arranged,” Dantes says, “so please rest assured, and when you awake from the purgative dream you will now experience, focus on saving your son, Andrea; and pray with me for the salvation of your dearly departed wife and son, Édouard.
“Thank you, Abbe,” says Villefort, “I thank you from the bottom of my once-empty, yet now full heart.”
After the nurses tuck Villefort into bed, he begins to think that Dr. Adelmonte reminds him of someone he has met before, but he can’t quite place the face or the voice.
Dantes heads out on horseback to meet Julie and Emmanuel at the theater in Paris. He feels carefree, as the spring air blows his hair back.
Book II Count VI:
COUNTESS G
The Sultan of Monte Cristo: First Sequel to The Count of Monte Cristo Page 6
