006 - The Count of Monte Cristo - The Deputy Procureur Du Roi

Episode Transcript

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Chapter six of the Count of MonteCristo by Alexandre Dumont. This LibriVox recording
is in the public domain. Chaptersix the Deputy Procureur du ROI, in
one of the aristocratic mansions built byPugier in Rue du grand Cours, opposite

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the Medusa Fountain, a second marriagefeast was being celebrated, almost at the
same hour with the nuptial repast givenby Dante. In this case, however,
although the occasion of the entertainment wassimilar, the company was strikingly dissimilar.
Instead of a rude mixture of sailors, soldiers and those belonging to the
humblest grade of life, the presentassembly was composed of the very flower of

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Marseilles society, magistrates who had resignedtheir office during the Usurper's reign, officers
who had deserted from the Imperial armyand joined forces with Conde, and younger
members of families brought up to hateand exit crate the man whom five years
of exile would convert into a martyrand fifteen of restoration elevate to the rank

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of a god. The guests werestill at table and the heated and energetic
conversation that prevailed betrayed the violent andvindictive passions that then agitated each dweller of
the South, where, unhappily,for five centuries, religious strife had long
given increased bitterness to the violence ofparty feeling. The Emperor, now king

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of the petty island of Elba,after having held sovereign sway over one half
of the world, counting as hissubjects a small population of five or six
thousand souls, after having been accustomedto hear the vive Napoleon of one hundred
and twenty millions of human beings utteredin ten different languages, was looked upon

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here as a ruined man, separatedforever from any fresh connection with France or
claim to her throne. The magistratesfreely discussed their political views. The military
part of the company talked unreservedly ofMoscow and Leipzic, while the women commented
on the divorce of Josephine. Itwas not over the downfall of the man,

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but over the defeat of the Napoleonicidea that they rejoiced, and this
they foresaw for themselves the bright andcheering prospect of a revivified political existence.
An old man decorated with the crossof Saint Louis now rose and proposed the
health of King Louis the eighteenth.It was the Marquis de Saint Meran.

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This toast, recalling at once thepatient exile of Heartwell and the peace loving
King of France, excited a universalenthusiasm. Glasses were elevated in the air
a longley, and the ladies,snatching their bouquet from their fair bosoms,
strewed the table with their floral treasures. In a word, an almost poetic

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fervor prevailed, Ah, said theMartis de Saint Meran, a woman with
a stern forbidding eye, though stillnoble and distinguished in appearance, despite her
fifty years. Ah, these revolutionists, who have driven us from those very
positions they afterwards purchased for a meretrifle during the reign of terror, would

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be compelled to own ore. Theyear that all true devotion was on our
side, since we were content tofollow the fortunes of a falling monarch,
while they, on the contrary,made their fortune by worshiping the rising sun.
Yes, yes, they could nothelp admitting that the king for whom

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we sacrificed rank with and station.Was truly our lewis the well beloved,
while their wretched disurper his being,and ever will be to them their evil
genius. Then Napoleon di a Casaid, am I not right? Villefort?
I beg your pardon, Madame.I really must pray to you to

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excuse me. But in truth Iwas not attending to the conversation, Marquise.
Marquise interposed the old nobleman who hadproposed the toast. Let the young
people alone. Let me tell you, on one's wedding day, there are
more agreeable subjects of conversation than drypolitics. Never mind, dearest mother,

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said a young and lovely girl witha profusion of light brown hair and eyes
seem to float in liquid crystal.Tis all my fault for seizing upon Monsieur
de Villefort so as to prevent hislistening to what you said. But there
now take him. He is yourown for as long as you like,

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Monsieur Villefort, I beg to remindyou my mother speaks you. You.
If the Marquise will deign to repeatthe words I but imperfectly caught, I
shall be delighted to answer, saidMonsieur Villefort. Never mind, Renee,
replied the Marquise with a look oftenderness that seemed out of keeping with her

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harsh, dry features. But however, all other feelings may be withered in
a woman's nature, there is alwaysone bright, smiling spot in the desert
of her heart, and that isthe shrine of maternal love. I forgive
you. What I was saying,Villefort, was that the Bonapartist had not
our sincerity, enthusiasm, or devotion. They had. However, what supplied

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the place of those fine qualities,replied the young man, And that was
fanaticism. Napoleon is the Mohammed ofthe West, and is worshiped by his
commonplace but ambitious followers, not onlyas a leader and a law giver,
but also as theersonification of equality.He cried the Marquise Napoleon the type of

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equality. For Messy's sake, thenwhat would you call Robespierre capcom Do not
strip the latter of his just rightsto bestow them on the Corsican, who,
to my mind, has usurped quiteenough. Nay, madam, I
would place each of these heroes onhis right pedestal, that of Robespierre on

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his scaffold. In the place leuiscandsthat of Napoleon on the column of the
Place Vondome. The only difference consistsin the opposite character of the equality advocated
by these two men. One isthe equality that elevates, the other is
the equality that degrades. One bringsa king within reach of the guillotine,

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the other elevates the people to alevel with the throne, observe, said
Villefort, smiling, I do notmean to deny that both these men were
revolutionary scoundrels, and that the ninthThermidore and the fourth of April in the
year eighteen fourteen were lucky days forFrance, worthy of being gratefully remembered by

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every friend to monarchy and civil order. And that explains how it comes to
pass that Fallen, as I trusthe is forever, Napoleon is still retained,
a train of parasitical satellites still marquise. It has been so with other
usurpers, a Cromwell, for instance, who was not half so bad as

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Napoleon had his. But partisans andadvocates, do you know, Villefort,
that you are talking in the mostdreadfully revolutionary strain. But I excuse it.
It is impossible to expect the sonof a Girondin to be free from
a small spice of the old leavena deep crimson. Suffuse the countenance of

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Villefort tis true, Madame, answeredhe that my father was Agirondin, but
he was not among the number ofthose who avoted for the king's death.
He was an equal sufferer with yourselfduring the reign of terror, and had
well nigh lost his head on thesame scaffold on which your father perished,

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True, replied the Marquise, withoutwincing in the slightest degree at the tragic
remembrance thus called up. But bearin mind, if you please, that
our respective parents underwent persecution and proscriptionfrom diametrically oppose principles, in proof of
which I may remark that while myfamily remained among the stanchest adherents of the

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exiled princes, your father lost notime in joining the new government, and
that while the citizen Noirtier was Argirondin, the count Noirtier became a senator.
Dear mother, interposed, Renee,you know very well it was agreed that

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all these disagreeable reminiscences should forever belaid aside. Suffer me also, Madame
replied Villefort, to add my earnestrequest to Mademoiselle de Saint Marans, that
you will kindly allow the veil ofoblivion to cover and conceal the past.
What a veil's recrimination over Marter's holypast. Recall for my own part,

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I have laid aside even the nameof my father and altogether disown his political
principles. He was anee, probablymay still be a bonapartist, and is
called noirtier. I, on thecontrary, am a staunch royalist and style
myself. The Villefort let what mayremain of revolutionaries up exhausted itself and die

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away with the old trunk, andcondescend only to regard the young chute,
which has started up at a distancefrom the parent tree, without having the
power any more than the wish toseparate entirely from the stock from which it
sprung. Bravo Villefort, cried theMarquis excellently well said, Come now,

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I have hopes of obtaining what Ihave been for years, endeavoring to persuade
the Marquise to promise, namely aperfect amnesty and forgetfulness of the past.
With all my heart, replied theMarquise. Let the past be forever forgotten.
I promise you it affords me aslittle pleasure to revive it as it

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does you. All I ask isthat the Villefort will be firm and inflexible
for the future in his political principles. Remember also, Villefort, that we
have pledged ourselves to his Majesty foryour feilty and strict loyalty, and that
at our recommendation the King consented toforget the past as I do. And

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here she extended to him her handas I now do at your entrety.
But bear in mind that should therefall in your way any one guilty of
conspiring against the government, you willbe so much the more bound to visit
the offense with rigorous punishment, asit is known you belong to a suspected

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family. Also, Madam, returnedVillefort, My profession, as well as
the times in which we live,compels me to be severe. I have
already successfully conducted several public prosecutions andbrought the offenders to merited punishment. But
we have not done with the thingyet. Do you indeed think so,

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inquired the Marquis. I am atlast fearful of it Napoleon in the island
of elbas Is too near France,and his proximity keeps up the hopes of
his partisans. Novsey is filled withhalf pay of officers who are daily under
one frivolous pretext, or rather gettingup quarrels with the royalists. From hence

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arise continual and fatal duels among thehigher classes of persons, and assassinations in
the lower. Are you have heard, or perhaps said the Comte de Salvieux,
one of Monsieur de Saint Maran's oldestfriends and chamberlains of the Comte d'Artois,
that the Holy Alliance propose removing himfrom thence, yes, they were

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talking about it when we left Paris, said Monsieur de Saint Meran. And
where is it decided to transfer himto Saint Helena? For Heaven's sake,
where is that? Asked the marquiseAn island situated on the other side of
the equator. At least a twothousand leagues from here, replied the count.

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So much the better, As Villefortobserves, it is a great act
of folly to have left such aman between Corsica, where he was born
and Neples, of which his brotherin law is king, and face to
face with Italy, the sovereignty ofwhich he coveted for his son. Unfortunately,

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said Villefort, there are treaties ofeighteen fourteen, and we cannot molest
Napoleon without breaking these compacts. Ohwell, we shall find some way out
of it, responded Monsieur de Salvieux. There wasn't any trouble over treaties when
it was a question of shooting thepoor Duc Donguen. Well said the Marquise.

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It seems probable that by the aidof the Holy Alliance we shall be
read of Napoleon, and we musttrust to the vigilance of Monsieur de Villefort
to purify Marseilles of his practisans.The king is either a king or no
king. If he be acknowledged asa sovereign of France, he should be

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upheld in peace and tranquility, andthis can best be affected by employing the
most inflexible agents to put down everyattempt at conspiracy. Ti is the best
and surest means of preventing mischief.Unfortunately, Madame answered Villefort, the strong

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arm of the law is not calledupon to interfere until the evil has taken
place. Then all he has gotto do is to endeavor to repair it.
Nay, madame, the law isfrequently powerless to effect this. All
it can do is to avenge thewrong done. Oh, Monsieur de Villefort,

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cried a new, beautiful young creature, daughter to the Comte de Salvieux
and the cherished friend of Mademoiselle deSaint Meran, Do try and get up
some famous trial while we are't marsay I never was in a law court.
I am told it is so veryamusing. Amusing, certainly, replied

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the young man, inasmuch as,instead of shedding tears as at the fictitious
tale of woe produced at a theater, you behold in a law court a
case of real and genuine distress,a drama of life. The prisoner whom
you were their see, pale agitatedand alarmed, instead of, as is
the case when a curtain falls ona tragedy, going home to super peacefully

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with his family, and then retiringto rest that he may recommence his mimic
woes on the morrow, is removedfrom your sight, merely to be reconducted
to his prison and delivered up tothe executioner. I leave you to judge
how far your nerves are calculated tobear you through such a scene of this.

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However, be assured that should anyfavorable opportunity present itself, I will
not fail to offer you the choiceof being present for shame. Monsieur de
Villefort said, Renee, becoming quitepale. Don't you see how you are
frightening us? And yet you laugh? What would you have? Tis like

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a jewel. I have already recordedsentence of death five or six times against
the movers of political conspiracies, Andwho can say how many daggers may be
ready sharpened and only waiting a favorableopportunity to be buried in my heart,
gracious heavens, Monsieur de Villefort said, Renee, becoming more and more terrified.

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You surely are not in earnest.Indeed, I am, replied the
young magistrate with a smile. Andin the interesting trial that young lady is
anxious to witness, the case wouldonly be still more aggravated. Suppose,
for instance, the prisoner as ismore than probable to have served under Napoleon,

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Well, can you expect for aninstant that one accustomed, at the
word of his commander, to rushfearlessly on the very bayonets of his foe,
will scruple more to drive a stilettointo the art of one he knows
to be his personal enemy, thanto slaughter his fellow creatures, merely because
bidden to do so by one heis bound to obey. Besides, one

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requires the excitement of being hateful inthe eyes of the accused, in order
to lash one's self into a stateof sufficient vehemence and power. I would
not choose to see the man againstwhom I pleaded smile as though in mockery
of my words. No, mypride is to see the accused pale,

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agitated, and as though beaten outof all composure by the fire of my
eloquence. Renee uttered a smothered exclamation. Bravo, cried one of the guests.
That is what I call talking tosome purpose, just the person we
require at a time like the present. Said a second, What a splendid

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business that last case of yours was, My dear Villefort remarked the third,
I mean the trial of the manfor murdering his father. Upon my word,
you kill him here, the executionerhad laid his hand upon him.
Oh as for parricides and such dreadfulpeople as that interposed, Renee, it

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matters very little what is done tothem. But as regards poor unfortunate creatures
whose only crime consists in having mixedthemselves up in political intrigues, why that
is the very worst offense they couldpossibly commit. For don't you see,
Renee, the king is the fatherof his people, and he who shall

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plot or contrive aught against the lifeand safety of the parent of thirty two
millions of souls is a parricide upona fearfully great scale. I don't know
anything about that, replied Renee.But Monsieur de Villefort, you have promised
me, have you not always toshow mercy to those I plead for?

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Make yourself quite easy on that point, answered Villefort, with one of his
sweetest smiles. You and I whowill always consult upon our verdicts, My
love, said the Marquise. Attendto your doves, you laptops and the
embroidery, but do not meddle withwhat you do not understand. Nowadays,

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the military profession is in abeyance,and the magisterial robe is the badge of
honor. There is a wise Latinproverb that is very much in point,
said aunt Arma Togai, said Villefortwith a bow. I cannot speak Latin,
responded the Marquise, well, saidRenee, I cannot help regretting that

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you had not chosen some other professionthan your own, a physician, for
instance. Do you know I alwaysfelt a shudder at the idea of even
a destroying angel. Dear good Renee, whispered Villefort, as he gazed with
unutterable tenderness on the lovely speaker.Let us hope my child, cried the

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Marquis, that Monsieur de Villefort mayprove the moral and political thing decision of
this providence. If so, hewill have achieved a noble work, and
one which will go far do efacethe recollection of his father's conduct, added
the incorrigible Marquise. Madame replied Villefortwith a mournful smile. I have already

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had the honor to observe that myfather has, at least I hope so
abdured his past errors, and thathe is, at the present moment affirm
an zealous friend to religion and order, a better royalist, possibly than his
son, for he has to atonefor past dereliction, while I have no

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other impulse than a warm, decidedpreference and conviction. Having made his well
turned speech, Villefort looked carefully aroundto mark the effect of his oratory,
much as he would have done hadhe been addressing the bench in open court.
Do you know, my dear Villefort, cried the Comte de Salvieux.

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That is exactly what I myself saidthe other day at the Twillery, when
the questioned by His Majesty's principal chamberlaintouching the singularity of an alliance between the
son of Ar Girondin and the daughterof an officer of the Duc de Conde.
And I assure you he seemed fullyto comprehend that this mode of reconciling

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political differences was based upon sound andexcellent principles. Then the King, who,
without our suspecting it, had overheardour conversation, interrupted us by saying.
Villefort observed that the King did notpronounce the word noirtier, but on

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the contrary, placed considerable emphasis onthat of Villefort. Villefort said, his
Majesty is a young of great judgmentand discretion, who will be sure to
make a figure in his profession.I like him much, and it gave
me great pleasure to hear that hewas about to become the son in law

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of the Marquis and Marquise de SaintMeran. I should myself have recommended the
match, had not the noble Marquisanticipated my wishes by requesting my consent to
it? Is it possible the kingcould have condescended so far as to express
himself so favorably of me, askedthe enraptured Villefort. I give you his

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very words, and if the Marquischose to be candid, he will confess
that they perfectly agree with what hisMajesty said to him when he went six
months ago to consult him upon thesubject of your espousing his daughter. That
is true, answered the Marquis.How much do I owe this gracious prince?

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What is there I would not doto evince my earnest gratitude? That
is right, cried the Marquise.I love to see you thus now,
then, with a conspirator to fallinto your hands, he would be most
welcome for my part, dear mother, interposed Renee, I trust your wishes

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will not prosper and that providence willonly permit petty offenders, poor debtors,
and miserable cheats to fall into Monsieurle Villefort's hands. Then I shall be
contented, just as the same astho you prayed that a physician might only
be called upon to prescribe for headaches, measles, and the stings of wasps,

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or any other slight affection of theepidermis. If you wish to see
me, the King's attorney, youmust desire for me some of those violent
and dangerous diseases, from the cureof which so much honor rebounds to the
physician. At this moment, andas though the utterance of Villefort's wish had
suffered to effect its accomplishment, aservant entered the room and whispered a few

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words in his ear. Villefort immediatelyrose from table and quitted the room upon
the plea of urgent business. Hesoon, however, returned, his whole
face beaming with delight. Renee regardedhim with fond affection, and certainly his
handsome features lit up as they thenwere, with more than usual fire and

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animation seemed formed to excite the innocentadmiration with which she gazed on her,
graceful and intelligent lover, you arewishing just now, said Villefort, addressing
her that I were a doctor insteadof a lawyer. Well, at least
resemble the disciples of Esculapius in wantingthat of not being able to call a

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day on my own, not eventhat of my betrothal. And wherefore were
you called away just now? AskedMademoiselle de Saint Meran, with an air
of deep interest, for a veryserious matter which bids fair to make work
for the executioner. How dreadful,exclaimed Renee, turning pale. Is it

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possible burst simultaneously from all who werenear enough to the magistrate to hear his
words? Why, if my informationproved correct, a sort of Bonaparte conspiracy
has just been discovered. Can Ibelieve my ears? Cried the Marquise.
I will read you the letter containingthe acquisition, at least, said Villefort.

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The King's attorney is informed by afriend to the throne and the religious
institutions of his country, that onenamed Edmond Dante, mate of the ship
Feroon, this day arrived from Smilla, after having touched at Naples and Portouso,
has been the bearer of a letterfrom Murat to the Usurper, and

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again taking charge of another letter fromthe Usurper to the Bonapartist club in Paris.
Ample corroboration of this statement may beobtained by arresting the above mentioned Edmond
Dante, who either carries a letterfor Paris about with him, or as
it at his father's abode. Shouldit not be found in the possession of

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father or son, then it willbe assuredly be discovered in the cabin belonging
to the said Dante on board thepharaohen but Renee. This letter, which
after all is but an anonymous scrawl, is not even addressed to you,
but to the King's attorney. True, but the gentleman, being absent his

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secretary by his orders, opened hisletters, thinking this one of importance,
he sent for me, but notfinding me, took upon himself to give
the necessary orders for arresting the accusedparty. Then the guilty person is absolutely
in custody, said the Marquise.Nay, dear mother, say the accused

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person, you know, we cannotyet pronounce him guilty. He is in
safe custody, answered Villefort, andrely upon it. If the letter is
found he will not be likely tobe trusted abroad again unless he goes forth
under the especial protection of the headsman. And where is the unfortunate being,

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asked Renee, he is at myhouse. Come come, my dear friend,
interrupted the Marquise. Do not neglectyour duty to linger with us.
You are the King's servant, andthe must go wherever that service calls you.
Ou Villefort, cried Renee, claspingher hands and looking towards her lover

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with piteous earnestness, be merciful onthis day of our betrothal. The young
man passed round to the side ofthe table where the fair pleader sat,
and leaning over her chair, saidtenderly, to give you pleasure, my
sweet Renee. I promise to showall the lenity in my power. But

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if the charges brought against this bonapartistshero prove correct, why then you really
must give me leave to order hishead to be cut off. Renee shuddered.
Never mind that foolish girl, Villefort, said the Marquise. She will
soon get over these things. So, saying Madame de Saint Meran, extended

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her dry bony hand to Villefort,who, while imprinting a son in law's
respectful salute on it looked at Reneeas much as to say, I must
try and fancy tis your dear hand, I kiss as it should have been.
These are mournful auspices to accompany abetrothal. Sighed, poor Renee upon

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my word, child, exclaimed theangry marquise. You fully exceeds all bounds.
I should be glad to know whatconnection there can possibly be between your
sickly sentimentality and the affairs of thestate, Oh mother, murmured Renee.
Nay, madam, I pray youpardon this little traitor. I promise you

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that to make up for her wantof loyalty, I will be most inflexible
severe, then casting an expressive glanceat his betrothed which seemed to say,
fear not for your dear sake,my justice shall be tempered with mercy,
and receiving a sweet and approving smilein return, Villefort quitted the room end

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of chapter six