The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (best book club books .TXT) π
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Edmond DantΓ¨s is a young man about to be made captain of a cargo vessel and marry his sweetheart. But he is arrested at his pre-wedding feast, having been falsely accused of being a Bonapartist. Thrown into the notorious ChΓ’teau dβIf prison, he eventually meets an ancient inmate who teaches him language, science, and passes hints of a hidden fortune. When Edmond makes his way out of prison, he plots to reward those who stood by him (his old employer, for one), and to seek revenge on the men who betrayed him: one who wrote the letter that denounced him, one that married his fiancΓ©e in his absence, and one who knew DantΓ¨s was innocent but stood idly by and did nothing.
The Count of Monte Cristo is another of Alexandre Dumasβ thrilling adventure stories, possibly more popular even than The Three Musketeers. Originally serialized in a French newspaper over the course of a year-and-a-half, it was enormously popular after its publication in book form, and has never been out of print since. Its timeless story of adventure, historical drama, romance, revenge, and Eastern mystery has been the source of over forty movies and TV series.
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- Author: Alexandre Dumas
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βAh, that is different; the house you purchase is at Auteuil.β
At these words Bertuccio turned pale.
βAnd where is Auteuil?β asked the count.
βClose by here, monsieur,β replied the notaryβ ββa little beyond Passy; a charming situation, in the heart of the Bois de Boulogne.β
βSo near as that?β said the Count; βbut that is not in the country. What made you choose a house at the gates of Paris, M. Bertuccio?β
βI,β cried the steward with a strange expression. βHis excellency did not charge me to purchase this house. If his excellency will recollectβ βif he will thinkβ ββ
βAh, true,β observed Monte Cristo; βI recollect now. I read the advertisement in one of the papers, and was tempted by the false title, βa country house.βββ
βIt is not yet too late,β cried Bertuccio, eagerly; βand if your excellency will entrust me with the commission, I will find you a better at Enghien, at Fontenay-aux-Roses, or at Bellevue.β
βOh, no,β returned Monte Cristo negligently; βsince I have this, I will keep it.β
βAnd you are quite right,β said the notary, who feared to lose his fee. βIt is a charming place, well supplied with spring-water and fine trees; a comfortable habitation, although abandoned for a long time, without reckoning the furniture, which, although old, is yet valuable, now that old things are so much sought after. I suppose the count has the tastes of the day?β
βTo be sure,β returned Monte Cristo; βit is very convenient, then?β
βIt is moreβ βit is magnificent.β
βPeste! let us not lose such an opportunity,β returned Monte Cristo. βThe deed, if you please, Mr. Notary.β
And he signed it rapidly, after having first run his eye over that part of the deed in which were specified the situation of the house and the names of the proprietors.
βBertuccio,β said he, βgive fifty-five thousand francs to monsieur.β
The steward left the room with a faltering step, and returned with a bundle of banknotes, which the notary counted like a man who never gives a receipt for money until after he is sure it is all there.
βAnd now,β demanded the count, βare all the forms complied with?β
βAll, sir.β
βHave you the keys?β
βThey are in the hands of the concierge, who takes care of the house, but here is the order I have given him to install the count in his new possessions.β
βVery wellβ; and Monte Cristo made a sign with his hand to the notary, which said, βI have no further need of you; you may go.β
βBut,β observed the honest notary, βthe count is, I think, mistaken; it is only fifty thousand francs, everything included.β
βAnd your fee?β
βIs included in this sum.β
βBut have you not come from Auteuil here?β
βYes, certainly.β
βWell, then, it is but fair that you should be paid for your loss of time and trouble,β said the count; and he made a gesture of polite dismissal.
The notary left the room backwards, and bowing down to the ground; it was the first time he had ever met a similar client.
βSee this gentleman out,β said the count to Bertuccio. And the steward followed the notary out of the room.
Scarcely was the count alone, when he drew from his pocket a book closed with a lock, and opened it with a key which he wore round his neck, and which never left him. After having sought for a few minutes, he stopped at a leaf which had several notes, and compared them with the deed of sale, which lay on the table, and recalling his souvenirsβ β
βββAuteuil, Rue de la Fontaine, No. 28β; it is indeed the same,β said he; βand now, am I to rely upon an avowal extorted by religious or physical terror? However, in an hour I shall know all. Bertuccio!β cried he, striking a light hammer with a pliant handle on a small gong. βBertuccio!β
The steward appeared at the door.
βMonsieur Bertuccio,β said the count, βdid you never tell me that you had travelled in France?β
βIn some parts of Franceβ βyes, excellency.β
βYou know the environs of Paris, then?β
βNo, excellency, no,β returned the steward, with a sort of nervous trembling, which Monte Cristo, a connoisseur in all emotions, rightly attributed to great disquietude.
βIt is unfortunate,β returned he, βthat you have never visited the environs, for I wish to see my new property this evening, and had you gone with me, you could have given me some useful information.β
βTo Auteuil!β cried Bertuccio, whose copper complexion became lividβ ββI go to Auteuil?β
βWell, what is there surprising in that? When I live at Auteuil, you must come there, as you belong to my service.β
Bertuccio hung down his head before the imperious look of his master, and remained motionless, without making any answer.
βWhy, what has happened to you?β βare you going to make me ring a second time for the carriage?β asked Monte Cristo, in the same tone that Louis XIV pronounced the famous, βI have been almost obliged to wait.β Bertuccio made but one bound to the antechamber, and cried in a hoarse voice:
βHis excellencyβs horses!β
Monte Cristo wrote two or three notes, and, as he sealed the last, the steward appeared.
βYour excellencyβs carriage is at the door,β said he.
βWell, take your hat and gloves,β returned Monte Cristo.
βAm I to accompany you, your excellency?β cried Bertuccio.
βCertainly, you must give the orders, for I intend residing at the house.β
It was unexampled for a servant of the countβs to dare to dispute an order of his, so the steward, without saying a word, followed his master, who got into the carriage, and signed to him to follow, which he did, taking his place respectfully on the front seat.
XLIII The House at AuteuilMonte Cristo noticed, as they descended the staircase, that Bertuccio signed himself in the Corsican manner; that is, had formed the sign of the cross in the air with his thumb, and as he seated himself in the carriage, muttered a short prayer. Anyone but a man of exhaustless thirst for knowledge would have had
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