The Fifth of September (The Count of Monte Cristo — Chapter 30, Part 10)

While Julie rushes to carry out Sinbad’s mysterious instructions, Madame Morrel explains the full extent of their ruin to Maximilian. Though he knew the family had suffered financially, he had no idea how desperate the situation had become. The revelation leaves him stunned.

He runs upstairs to find his father, knocking at the study door with no response. Then he hears the bedroom door open behind him. Morrel emerges — startled to see his son, unaware he had arrived — and holding something hidden beneath his coat. Maximilian embraces him but recoils in horror when he feels the shape of pistols.

The worst fear becomes clear: Morrel has decided to end his life rather than face the disgrace of bankruptcy. Maximilian pleads with him, desperate to understand, and Morrel, moved by his son’s honor and anguish, agrees to explain.

He leads Maximilian into the study, sets the pistols on the desk, and shows him the open ledger: within thirty minutes, he must pay 287,500 francs. He has only 15,257. The numbers spell out the truth he believes is inescapable — ruin, dishonor, and a fate he cannot bear to survive.

 

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