Monte Cristo, Part II
Drama in five Acts
by Alexandre Dumas père, 1848
Translated and adapted by Frank J. Morlock
Translation is Copyright © 2000 by Frank J. Morlock. Reproduction in any form is prohibited without explicit consent of Frank J. Morlock. Please contact frankmorlock@msn.com for licensing information.
For more information on this play, click here.
To Conrad - Yet another project that would never have come to fruition without your encouragement and support.
Table of Contents
The island of Monte Cristo. The beach to the right, the sea and eastern coast of Corsica in the distance; to the left, the island rises mountainously.
BENEDETTO
You can come Papa Bertuccio, there's no one around.
BERTUCCIO
No one?
BENEDETTO
With the exception of goats. Oh, if I had a rifle. I saw one down there.
(pointing with his hand)
Boom!
JACOPO
Something good will break its neck.
BENEDETTO
Thanks, cousin.
BERTUCCIO
The child spoke the truth.
GAETANO
Oh! It's not the island that worries me.
BERTUCCIO
Who worries you, then?
GAETANO
Our new recruit.
BERTUCCIO
Bah! While we're waiting make a fire, Benedetto.
BENEDETTO
Fine! With what?
BERTUCCIO
By God! With wood. There's no lack of brush around here -- and the poor devil won't be sorry to warm up. He seems like a good companion.
GAETANO
Brother Bertuccio, you know better than to be deceived by that -- he seems.
BERTUCCIO
Eh! My dear friend. You helped to save him and now you want to toss him back in the water.
GAETANO
First of all, it wasn't I who saved him it was Jacopo.
BERTUCCIO
Weren't you in the first boat to get to him?
GAETANO
Yes, because I wanted to see who it was.
JACOPO
Well, you saw him. It was a man who was drowning, and who would have drowned, then and there, if we had arrived only five minutes later.
GAETANO
Perhaps we should have let him.
BERTUCCIO
And why's that?
GAETANO
Damn it, the customs officers are very clever.
BERTUCCIO
Customs officers are not so devoted as to let themselves be fished out of the sea 10 leagues from shore on a plank. Benedetto, tell them to bring him.
BENEDETTO
Hey, you guys bring the drowned man.
BERTUCCIO
Drowned? Not quite, thank God!
GAETANO
Never mind, I am of the opinion that he should be carefully questioned.
BERTUCCIO
Oh! As to that I am in no way opposed, on the contrary, assuming he can talk, I intend to do so myself. Ah -- here he is!
(Dantes is brought in.)
BERTUCCIO
Well -- how do you feel, my friend?
DANTES
Better, this cloak and the excellent rum you let me drink has given me a little strength.
BERTUCCIO
Would you like another swallow?
DANTES
My word, it's not to be refused.
BERTUCCIO
There -- now things are better, tell us about yourself -- if you want to explain how you found yourself hanging on this plank ten leagues from the coast?
DANTES
It's very simple. I was a sailor on a Maltese coming from Syracuse carrying wine and oil. The storm which had been raging for three days broke us on the rock of the island of Lemaire. All my companions perished. I had the luck to find a floating tackle and I clung to it. The wind and the sea tossed me about for forty-eight hours. My strength failed me when I saw you. I made signs, you saw me, you sent a punt to help me, and you saved my life. Thanks, friends, for I speak to sailors like myself, I presume?
JACOPO
Yes, yes, I believe that when I caught you by the hair, it was just in time.
DANTES
And yet, it seemed to me that you hesitated for a moment.
JACOPO
The truth, yes -- with your beard, your long hair, you looked more like a brigand than an honest man.
DANTES
Yes -- because of a vow I made to Notre Dame del pie dei Grotto, in a moment of danger -- I swore not to cut my beard or hair for three years.
BERTUCCIO
And now, my brave fellow, let's see, what are we to do with you?
DANTES
Alas, whatever you wish. The ship I was on is lost; the captain is probably dead -- I am the only one who has escaped death. But, as I'm a good enough sailor, let me go at the first port you come to -- and I will always find a berth on a merchant ship. You aren't going to Corsica?
BERTUCCIO
Tonight, we will go to Bastia.
DANTES
Well, so be it. You will leave me at Bastia.
BERTUCCIO
You know the Mediterranean?
DANTES
I've been sailing since I was a kid.
BERTUCCIO
You know the best ports?
DANTES
There are few ports, even the most difficult, which I cannot enter or leave with my eyes closed.
JACOPO
Well, tell us, boss, if this friend is speaking the truth -- why shouldn't he stay with us?
GAETANO
Yes -- if he's speaking the truth?
BERTUCCIO
The fact is that folks in the condition you are in, my friend, promise much and leave us holding the bag.
DANTES
I will always do more than I promise, be assured.
ATHOS
Ask him some more questions -- a bit --
BERTUCCIO
Well, let's see -- since you know so well all the ways of the Mediterranean -- where are we?
DANTES
We are on the island of Monte Cristo.
BERTUCCIO
Well -- not bad.
JACOPO
You know the island of Monte Cristo?
DANTES
I've often seen it, but I've never been ashore.
GAETANO
Never?
DANTES
No -- I wasn't a smuggler.
BERTUCCIO
Ah! Ah! You suspect we are -- since we are ashore?
DANTES
You are my saviors.
BERTUCCIO
Well answered, by God -- to the health of brave people in all conditions.
DANTES
I hadn't guessed yours, except for the rum which accused you.
BERTUCCIO
Has this rum given you enough strength to go with us?
DANTES
Where?
BERTUCCIO
To hunt for goats. Whenever we come here, we like to get fresh provisions.
DANTES
Thanks -- I don't think I have the strength to go ten paces; I will stay here near the fire.
BERTUCCIO
Fine -- only don't wander off, for we must warn you of one thing.
DANTES
Of what? Speak!
BERTUCCIO
It's that in an hour, we are leaving -- the wind is good and we have business tonight on the island of Corsica.
DANTES
Oh! Rest easy!
BERTUCCIO
Would you like Benedetto to stay with you?
BENEDETTO
(low)
Thanks a lot; I prefer to go on the hunt.
DANTES
No, it would be a punishment for him, I can see that. Is he your son?
BERTUCCIO
He's a child that heaven sent me.
DANTES
Good luck! By the way what's the date?
BERTUCCIO
March 3rd.
DANTES
Of what year?
BERTUCCIO
What do you mean, what year? You ask what year?
DANTES
Yes.
BERTUCCIO
You've forgotten what year it is?
DANTES
(smiling)
I was so frightened in seeing the ship break up that I've lost some of my memory. We are then on the 3rd of March, you say -- and the year is --
BERTUCCIO
The year is 1829.
DANTES
1829. Thanks. Goodbye my friends.
(The smugglers go out.)
Fourteen years! Fourteen years! Fourteen years of prison! And what a prison, my God. Oh Fernand! O Villefort! O Danglars! I took a terrible oath. Watch out! Watch out! Here I am at the end. The lord has saved me like a miracle, like a miracle he has taken my companions off. In two hours these men will reappear richer by fifty pistoles, ready to try earning fifty more by risking their lives. Then they will return double rich, to waste their treasure in some town, with the pride of sultans and the confidence of nabobs; today hope makes me scorn their riches, which appear to me profoundly wretched. Tomorrow, perhaps, deception will force me to regard this wretchedness as the height of fortune. Oh no, no -- that will not be.
The wise man, the infallible Faria would not be deceived by such a thing. I am on the island of Monte Cristo, and the island conceals a treasure. Let's see. First of all, let's recall the terms of the testament that the ocean has devoured. I read it only once. My God! My Lord! Could I have forgotten it? No, no, it's coming back. "My universal heir -- whom I have hidden in a place which he knows from having visited the place with me -- meaning in the grottos of the island of Monte Cristo -- all that I possess of ingots, of gold, of money, diamonds, jewels; that I alone know the existence of this treasure -- which amounts to five million Roman shillings which he will find before leaving there -- "
My God -- ah, yes -- "The twentieth rock, to split the little creek on the west on a straight line". That's it, that's it. I have not forgotten. The little creek on the west -- here it is. The rocks -- let them believe my dying and leave me alone!
(gunshot)
Oh, they are already far off -- let's have a look -- the rocks. Oh, oh, would this notch be an indication? On this here a similar notch. The same on this one.
(counting)
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve -- at the twelfth the notches disappear. Here it is! Under this rock are the cave. But how can one climb up such a rock? Impossible!
Ah, I understand -- instead of climbing up one must go down -- the treasure is there. But can I raise the rock by myself? This rock ought not to be lifted, it ought to turn on its base. This rock must obey the hand of a single man for one cannot confide to others such a secret. Let's see, these stones have been added, moss has been pushed over it, but these stones are not part of the rock. Oh! Pickaxes, a pliers. Perhaps, this little tree will do it.
(he hits the tree and clears away the base of the rock)
Oh, I understand that all the stones are not stuck together, now there must be near this rock some deep hole to introduce the lever. Here it is! Here it is! Then in leaning heavily this way, the stone should turn. It's turning, it's turning. Ah!
(looking)
A stairway.
(pause)
If I had a light, a torch.
(he comes forward)
This sapling, if I light it, will serve me. Let's see. Be a man! Accustomed to adversity. Let's not allow ourselves to be beaten by a deception -- or, without this, can it be for nothing all I've suffered. The heart breaks when after having expanded with hope it returns and shuts itself up in cold reality.
Come, come. Faria was only dreaming. Cardinal Spada hid nothing in this grotto -- or if he did, Caesar Borgia, intrepid adventurer, came after him, discovered his track and followed the one taken by me, like me, he uncovered this stone and descending before me, has left me nothing to take after him. Yes, it's an adventure to find one's place in life mixed in shadow and light with this royal bandit. Yes, Borgia came here one night, a torch in one hand, a sword in the other. At twenty paces from him, at the foot of this rock, perhaps two spies, menacing and threatening waited, questioning the air, the sea and the earth while their master entered as I am going to do, parting the shadows with his redoubtable and flamboyant arm.
(pause)
Or, now that I no longer count on anything, now that I've convinced myself that it would be senseless to retain any hope the rest of this adventure is for me a thing of curiosity, that's all. Now, if Borgia came -- he came to take the treasure, and he knew too well how to employ his time than to waste it returning to replace the rock on its base. Ah, I hear my companions coming. God protect me, let's go down.
(With the help of an iron ring fixed in the stone, he raises it -- and replaces it over his head and he disappears.)
(After a pause, Bertuccio and the smugglers return.)
BERTUCCIO
Come on, hey Jacopo! Gaetano! Night's coming on. It's time to go. Hey, shipmates -- start to work. Where is the Maltese? He's probably going to the ship already.
BENEDETTO
Hey Papa Bertuccio, what do you say to this?
(pointing to a dead goat on his shoulders)
BERTUCCIO
Who killed it?
BENEDETTO
Me!
BERTUCCIO
And with what?
BENEDETTO
With cousin Jacopo's rifle.
JACOPO
Liar! Let's go, let's go, Gaetano.
GAETANO
The Devil. I don't know how to get down.
JACOPO
Let yourself slide, then.
GAETANO
Where is the Maltese?
JACOPO
I don't know.
BERTUCCIO
On the boat, doubtless.
SAILOR
We are ready.
BERTUCCIO
Fine, but we've got to find the poor devil, we cannot abandon him here.
GAETANO
Bah! A spy perhaps, a great misfortune.
BERTUCCIO
A spy perhaps. Perhaps also an honest man.
(to a sailor at the ship)
Is the Maltese with you?
SAILOR
What Maltese?
BERTUCCIO
The man we saved and who was drowning.
SAILOR
We haven't seen him.
GAETANO
Let's go, let's go! It's time.
BERTUCCIO
Are we going to abandon this wretch?
GAETANO
So much the worse for him. Besides we will return in two or three days.
BERTUCCIO
Let's leave him one or two biscuits, a rifle, and some powder. He will be able to signal the first passing boat and they will take him.
JACOPO
Still, he could wait, it seems to me.
GAETANO
Come on, come on, the biscuit, the rifle, the powder -- and let's get going.
JACOPO
(pulling four piastres from his pocket)
Let's leave it for me. God will return it to me.
(he puts the four piastres on the biscuit)
BENEDETTO
(aside)
Ah, cousin Jacopo, I asked you for them you wouldn't give them to me.
BERTUCCIO
Let's go, since he's not coming. Hey, Maltese!
ALL
Maltese!
BENEDETTO
(putting the four piastres in his pocket)
Hey, Maltese!
BERTUCCIO
Courage, children. In eight days the wind will change. While waiting, let's have a quick swim.
BENEDETTO
And I. And I --
SAILORS
(singing)
The moment comes
To leave the stream --
The ship drifts and slips far from the shore
But the gray sail
Which chases the breeze
Falls listlessly
The breeze sleeps
Oh!, Oh!
BENEDETTO
Hey -- Maltese!
(Bertuccio fires the gun.)
SAILORS
The sky is arid and
No wind blows
The limpid face
Of the great sea.
And the Captain
Who pulls an oar
Hardly breathes
Sleeping in his hammock.
Ah! Ah!
(At the end of the second couplet, the smugglers' ship disappears. One can still hear them shouting "Maltese!" then another shot in the distance, then nothing. Then the stone turns again, the opening of the grotto lights up. Dantes appears, torch in hand, his face exalted.)
DANTES
Faria spoke the truth. Spada's treasure is mine. The world is mine.
(curtain)
The Inn of the Pont du Gard
(Caderousse, his wife La Carconte, and Bertuccio are there.)
CADEROUSSE
Shut up, wife! I tell you that this is God's will.
LA CARCONTE
And I, I tell you that I won't shut up, I tell you that I want to speak out. It's the only solace remaining to me and no one can stop me.
BERTUCCIO
You are right, my good woman -- speak out!
LA CARCONTE
To do all one can to earn a living honestly and fairly and then to feel lost without resources, that there is no way to keep up the struggle, and all this because he submitted to an evil engineer for tracing a channel through which all the goods are disgorged into the sea in place of leaving this beautiful and fair road to do its duty in peace. Before, one couldn't do enough to please everybody; today it's luck to sell a bottle of wine for ten sous a day. To live together upstairs and a dog downstairs. I always said to Gaspard, "Your dog must be put to sleep" he never wanted to do it.
BERTUCCIO
And why kill him? Poor beast, if he bores you give him to me.
CADEROUSSE
I want to keep him. I love Margotin.
LA CARCONTE
A dog who eats more than anyone. It was good when we were rich. And what use is he? If they sold him with our furniture at least we would be free of him.
BERTUCCIO
And when are they selling your furniture?
LA CARCONTE
Sunday -- in other words, in three days.
CADEROUSSE
That's good; when they're sold they won't bother us anymore. We will be like friend Bertuccio, sleeping under the stars. Does he have a house there, then? No, he's a smuggler and he doesn't do bad business. If you had his money, you wouldn't be embarrassed on Sunday.
BERTUCCIO
Well then, that's exactly where you are wrong, Father Caderousse and the proof --
(he pulls out his purse)
Two pieces of five francs -- that's the remainder. It's true that if tonight's plan succeeds --
CADEROUSSE
It will succeed, you have luck.
BERTUCCIO
Well, Caderousse, if it succeeds.
CADEROUSSE
If it succeeds?
BERTUCCIO
Listen carefully to what I'm going to tell you.
CADEROUSSE
Oh, I'm listening, I have nothing to do.
BERTUCCIO
How much are they after you for?
LA CARCONTE
For a hundred shillings.
BERTUCCIO
Well, listen -- if tonight's plan succeeds, as true as there is a cup of wine in Cahors, no one will sell your furniture.
CADEROUSSE
Thanks, Bertuccio -- you are a brave man! But you see, we will have escaped again this time, but later it will start all over again.
BERTUCCIO
Bah! Bah! There's a God for courageous people.
(Caderousse shrugs his shoulders.)
LA CARCONTE
Thanks always, Mr. Bertuccio, the promise is made, right?
BERTUCCIO
I have sworn. Besides, there's no need of that. But I can always count on my hiding place?
CADEROUSSE
Yes, yes, your hiding place under the stairway. You come into the garden, you shut the door, you slide under the woodpile and you squat under the stairway. If you need to, go out by the main street, you pass by here, no one has seen you -- good night. And while they are looking for you on the side of the canal, you will have reached the countryside.
LA CARCONTE
And it's well done! What right have they to meddle in our business, these lousy customs officers? They are the ones who are ruining us with their taxes!
BERTUCCIO
Then give me the key to the garden. Which of you two has the key to the garden?
CADEROUSSE
(holding the key)
Me! Here it is.
LA CARCONTE
You cannot bring it to him, sluggard?
CADEROUSSE
Really! Let him come take it. I am in need of warming myself.
LA CARCONTE
You get warm and I shiver.
BERTUCCIO
(looking to the door)
Eh! Eh! Who's coming to us on horseback?
CADEROUSSE
By God! You see him quite well, it's a kind of pastor.
BERTUCCIO
Is he coming here?
CADEROUSSE
To do what?
BERTUCCIO
To refresh himself. Say it!
CADEROUSSE
What?
BERTUCCIO
I find he's an awfully good rider for a pious man.
CADEROUSSE
Well -- and so?
BERTUCCIO
Suppose he's some policeman in disguise.
CADEROUSSE
That would be funny.
BERTUCCIO
Never mind. I will use the key.
CADEROUSSE
At your leisure.
BERTUCCIO
This is it: tonight we will unload the goods, tomorrow morning we will see it and if all goes without a hitch tomorrow evening -- goodbye, mother --
(giving her his hand)
Tomorrow night, you know your hundred shillings.
LA CARCONTE
May the Good God hear you.
(Bertuccio leaves.)
CADEROUSSE
Yes, that will be a nice advantage for me. But Bertuccio is right, damn it. One would say he's coming here. He's looking at the sign. He's stopping. Are you looking for the Inn of the Pont de Gard, sir?
(Busoni enters with a cape, with large flaps, riding boots.)
BUSONI
(outside)
Yes, my friend.
CADEROUSSE
Then you have found it. This is it!
BUSONI
That's good.
(He gets off his horse.)
CADEROUSSE
Should I take your horse to the stable?
BUSONI
No, tie him to the shutter, that's good enough.
CADEROUSSE
Sir, what do you want? What do you seek? I am at your orders.
BUSONI
Aren't you in fact Caderousse?
CADEROUSSE
Gaspard Caderousse, to serve you, sir.
BUSONI
You used to live in Marseille, right?
CADEROUSSE
Yes.
BUSONI
Allees de Meillan?
CADEROUSSE
Yes.
BUSONI
At number four?
CADEROUSSE
Yes.
BUSONI
And you practiced the trade of tailor?
CADEROUSSE
Yes, that's so, but business went bad -- it gets so hot in this stupid Marseille, that I think it will end with people not wearing any clothes at all. Speaking of heat, won't you take some refreshment, sir?
BUSONI
Indeed. Give me a bottle of your best wine and we will return to our conversation where we left off.
BUSONI
Oh -- there's no need to break it off if you are all in a hurry. Come! Come!
(aside)
What they told me is true -- the house is poor?
CADEROUSSE
Ah, yes, you are looking about.
(continuing to speak as he goes to the cellar)
And you will find that the furnishings are not rich. It's true, but what do you want! It's not enough to be an honest man to prosper in this world.
(approaching with the wine bottle)
Yes, yes, to be an honest man -- of that I can boast, and the entire world cannot say otherwise.
BUSONI
So much the better if what you are telling me is true, Mr. Caderousse, sooner or later I am convinced the honest man is rewarded, the guilty punished.
CADEROUSSE
Perhaps it's your profession to speak that way -- and then, after all, people are free not to agree with you.
BUSONI
My friend, you are wrong to speak that way, for perhaps I will soon give you proof of what I am upholding.
CADEROUSSE
What do you mean to say?
BUSONI
You say you are indeed Gaspard Caderousse, and that it was indeed you who, in 1814, were practicing as a tailor in the Allees de Meillan in Marseille?
CADEROUSSE
It was really me! and if you need some proof --
BUSONI
Your word is enough for me! Did you know in 1814 or 1815 a sailor named Dantes?
CADEROUSSE
Dantes -- Edmond Dantes, right?
BUSONI
Indeed, I believe he was called Edmond.
CADEROUSSE
Was he called Edmond! I think so the little fellow -- he was one of my best friends. What became of this poor Edmond? Sir, have you heard of him? Is he still living? Is he free? Is he happy?
BUSONI
He is dead.
CADEROUSSE
Dead!
BUSONI
He died a prisoner! Died most wretchedly and more desperately than the forces training their cannons on the Fort of Toulon.
BUSONI
Poor little fellow! Well, still there's a proof of what I told you, sir. Ah! The world goes from bad to worse, sir! Let two days of powder and five minutes of powder fall from heaven, and let it all be said!
BUSONI
You seem to love this boy with all your heart, sir.
CADEROUSSE
Yes, I loved him well -- although I have to reproach myself for having for a short time envied his good fortune. What killed him, sir?
BUSONI
And what kills in prison, when one enters at twenty and one dies at thirty, if not the prison itself? But listen carefully -- something was strange about Dantes -- on his death bed, he always swore to me he was ignorant of the cause of his captivity.
CADEROUSSE
It's true, it's true, sir: he could not know it.
BUSONI
That's why he charged me with unraveling the cause of this mystery which he was never able to clear up himself -- if his memory had reserved some damage.
CADEROUSSE
He charged you with this?
BUSONI
Yes, a rich Englishman, his companion in misfortune, who left the prison after the second restoration was the possessor of a diamond of great value, he wanted to leave it with Dantes who had cared for him like a brother during an illness he suffered, a testimony of his gratitude by giving this diamond. Dantes, instead of using it to seduce his jailers, kept it for the time when he would leave the prison, for his fortune was secured by the simple sale of this diamond.
CADEROUSSE
You say it was a diamond of great value?
BUSONI
Of great value, for Edmond: The diamond was appraised at fifty thousand francs.
CADEROUSSE
Fifty thousand francs? It is a big as a walnut.
BUSONI
No, not at all. You will judge besides.
(He pulls the diamond from his pocket and shows it to Caderousse.)
CADEROUSSE
And that's worth fifty thousand francs?
BUSONI
Without the setting, which is itself worth quite a bit.
(He puts the diamond back in his pocket.)
CADEROUSSE
But how do you find yourself in possession of this diamond. Dantes made you his heir?
BUSONI
No, but he made me executor of his will; "I had three good friends and a fiancee," Dantes told me. "I am sure all four regret me sincerely. One of these good friends was named Caderousse, the other Danglars, the third called Fernand. As for my fiancee --"
CADEROUSSE
Well?
BUSONI
I don't recall the name of Edmond's fiancee.
CADEROUSSE
I do. Her name was Mercedes.
BUSONI
Ah, yes, that's it. Give me a glass of water, my friend.
(He drinks several gulps and puts his cup on the table.)
BUSONI
Where were we?
CADEROUSSE
The fiancee named Mercedes.
BUSONI
That's it. "You will go to Marseille." It's always Dantes who speaks, you understand.
CADEROUSSE
Exactly.
BUSONI
"You will divide the price of this diamond in five parts and you will share it with these good friends -- the only beings who loved me on Earth."
CADEROUSSE
Why five parts? You've only named four persons to me.
BUSONI
Because the fifth one is dead; or so they tell me. The fifth was Dantes' father.
CADEROUSSE
Alas, yes, the poor dear man died --
BUSONI
I learned of this event in Marseille, but it happened so long ago that no one could give me any details about his death. Do you know something about the end of this old man, sir?
LA CARCONTE
Caderousse, Caderousse, be careful of what you are going to say.
(Busoni turns and sees la Carconte.)
CADEROUSSE
What are you interfering for, woman? This gentleman is staying with us -- and is asking me for information. Politeness dictates that I give it to him.
LA CARCONTE
Yes, but prudence dictates that you refuse him. How do you know for what purpose they want you to speak, old babbler?
BUSONI
With an excellent intention, Madame, I assure you; your husband has nothing to fear, especially if he responds frankly.
LA CARCONTE
Nothing to fear? Yes, that's it. They begin with fine promises then they get what they want; later, saying one has nothing to fear. Then they go with nothing to hold them to their promises. One fine day the evil descends on the world without anyone knowing where it comes from.
BUSONI
Rest assured, my good woman, no evil will come from my side, I assure you.
CADEROUSSE
Pay no attention to her. She never finds anything good because she is ill. She has fevers, you understand, that waste her away, poor creature.
BUSONI
(looking at her with pity)
Yes, I understand.
CADEROUSSE
What do you want to know? Speak!
BUSONI
I want to know first of all, how this poor old man died.
CADEROUSSE
Oh! The story is indeed sad, sir.
BUSONI
Yes, Edmond told me things up to the moment of his arrest in a little cabaret in the environs of Marseille in the midst of his engagement supper.
CADEROUSSE
That's right. And the meal which had a gay beginning had a sad ending. A police commissioner, followed by four soldiers, entered and Dantes was arrested.
BUSONI
And then?
CADEROUSSE
While Mr. Morrel ran to get information, the old man returned along to his house, drenched his wedding clothes with tears, spent the day going and coming in his room and the evening, he couldn't go to bed, for I who lived beneath him, heard him walking all night. And I must say it, each of his steps crushed my heart as if he had really put his foot on my chest.
BUSONI
And then?
CADEROUSSE
The next day, Mercedes went to Marseille to beg protection from M. de Villefort. She obtained nothing. But at the same time, she went to pay a visit to the old man. When she saw he was so downcast, when she learned he couldn't sleep, that he had not eaten since dawn, she wanted to bring him to stay with her -- but the old man did not want to consent. "No, no", he said, "I won't ever leave this house for since my child loved me more than anything -- if he gets out of prison he will come to me first."
BUSONI
And then?
CADEROUSSE
I heard all this by the stairway for I wanted Mercedes to get the old man to follow her. His steps, which went on night and day, left me not an instant to rest.
BUSONI
But you must have gone up to see the old man?
CADEROUSSE
To do what?
BUSONI
To console him.
CADEROUSSE
Eh, sir, one can only console those who wish to be consoled and he didn't wish it. One night I heard his tears, I could not resist, I went up -- but when I got to the door, he was no longer crying but praying -- that he used eloquent words and pitiable supplications -- I don't know how to tell you, sir. It was more than pitiful, it was more than sorrow.
BUSONI
Poor father!
CADEROUSSE
Also, I said to myself that day -- "It's indeed happy that I am alone and that heaven has not sent me children, for if I was a father and they took away my son, not being able to find in my heart nor in my memory all that he said to God, I would go straight to the sea and hurl myself in so as not to suffer any more."
BUSONI
And then?
CADEROUSSE
From day to day, he lived more alone and more isolated. Often, Mr. Morrel and Mercedes came to see him, but although I made certain he was home, his door remained closed nonetheless. Also, the old Dantes ended by living completely alone. I no longer saw anyone go up to see him except strangers who came down almost immediately with some poorly disguised package -- the poor good man, little by little, sold all he had to live.
BUSONI
My God.
CADEROUSSE
Finally, he reached the end of his poor trials. He owed three months -- they threatened to evict him. He asked for eight days. The owner gave it to him. I heard him pacing as was his custom, but on the fourth day I heard nothing. Then I went up and looked through the keyhole. He was so pale and so defeated that I ran to warn Mercedes and Mr. Morrel. They both came running. Mr. Morrel brought a doctor who diagnosed a stomach illness and put him on a diet. I was there, sir, and I will never forget the smile of the old man at this prescription. After that, he opened his door. He had an excuse not to eat. The doctor had put him on a diet.
BUSONI
Continue, continue.
CADEROUSSE
Mercedes found him so changed, that, like the first time she wanted to take him to stay with her. It was also the opinion of Mr. Morrel, who wanted to take him by force, but the old man screamed so much that they were afraid. Mercedes stayed at the side of his bed, and Mr. Morrel went away indicating he'd left a purse on the chimney. But armed with the doctor's order, the old man refused to take anything with the result that after nine days of despair and abstinence, the old man expired cursing those who had caused his misfortune, and saying to Mercedes, "If you see my Edmond again, tell him that I die blessing him."
(Busoni rises and walks about the room, then returns to a point near Caderousse.)
BUSONI
And you think he died of hunger?
CADEROUSSE
Of hunger! Yes, sir, I say he died of hunger.
BUSONI
(shouting)
Of hunger! Of hunger! But the vilest animals don't die of hunger. The dogs who run in the streets find a kind hand that throws them a scrap of bread, and a man, a Christian, dies in the midst of other men who say they are Christians like him. Impossible! Oh, it is impossible!
CADEROUSSE
I said what I said.
LA CARCONTE
And you were wrong to.
BUSONI
Oh -- you admit this was a great misfortune!
CADEROUSSE
No greater than God, who does nothing about it and men alone are cause of it.
BUSONI
So you say it was Fernand, you say it was Danglars?
CADEROUSSE
(frightened)
I haven't said anything yet.
BUSONI
Who made the son die of despair and the father of hunger?
LA CARCONTE
You see! You see!
CADEROUSSE
Sir, if you won't tell me for what purpose you come, I will tell you nothing more.
BUSONI
Useless, useless -- now I know everything.
CADEROUSSE
You know everything?
BUSONI
Yes! Wasn't there a denunciation written by Danglars, thrown in the mail by Fernand? Don't say it isn't true -- you were there.
CADEROUSSE
Alas, alas, yes, I was there!
LA CARCONTE
I warned you, wretch!
BUSONI
You were there and you did nothing to oppose this infamy? Faria! Faria! You knew men and things very well! But then, you were their accomplice!
LA CARCONTE
Do you hear? Do you hear?
CADEROUSSE
Sir, they got me drunk to the point where I had lost my reason. I said everything one could say in that condition. Then they told me it was a joke that they wanted to play and that this joke would have no consequence.
BUSONI
I understand. You let them do it, that's all.
CADEROUSSE
Yes, and that's my remorse for night and day.
BUSONI
Fine, sir -- to accuse oneself so is to deserve his pardon.
CADEROUSSE
Unfortunately, Edmond is dead and has not forgiven me.
(Busoni rises, takes two or three steps, then sits back down.)
BUSONI
You mentioned a certain Mr. Morrel two or three times, who was this man?
CADEROUSSE
He was the owner of the Pharaoh, he was Dante's patron.
BUSONI
And I believe I understand, after what you have told me, the role he played in this sad affair.
CADEROUSSE
The soul of a courageous and honest man. Twenty times he interceded for Edmond. When the Emperor returned, he wrote, prayed, threatened, so successfully that after the 2nd Restoration he was much persecuted as a Bonapartist. Often he went to Edmond's father to offer to keep him with him, and the day of his death, I told you he left a purse with which to pay the debts of the old man and undertook at his own expense his burial with the result that the old man died as he had lived, without doing wrong to anyone. I still have the purse -- a large purse with a red border.
BUSONI
And this Morrel is still living?
CADEROUSSE
Yes, sir.
BUSONI
In that case, he must be a rich man, happy -- blessed by the Lord.
CADEROUSSE
Yes -- happy -- like me.
BUSONI
This Morrel has had misfortunes?
CADEROUSSE
He's touched by misery, sir. He's touched by dishonor.
BUSONI
Impossible.
CADEROUSSE
Indeed it is so. After twenty-five years of work, after having acquired the most honorable place in the commercial life of Marseille, Mr. Morrel was ruined completely. He lost five ships in two years and is facing a frightful bankruptcy. He has no more hope except in this same Pharaoh once commanded by poor Dantes and which should have returned from the Indies with a cargo of cochineal and indigo. If this ship fails to come in like the others, he is lost.
BUSONI
He has a wife and children, I believe.
CADEROUSSE
Yes, he has a wife, who is the model of wives -- a daughter, a saint; a son, lieutenant in the army for twenty years -- but all this increases his despair -- instead of calming him -- if he was alone -- he'd blow out his brains and all would be said and done.
BUSONI
This is horrible!
CADEROUSSE
And that's how God rewards virtue! Consider me, who has never performed a bad act, aside from the one I told you of. Me -- I am in misery, while this Fernand and Danglars roll in gold -- for you know.
BUSONI
I know it -- the one is a count, the other a banker -- but no matter how high they are placed, believe, the justice of God will reach them. Now, I have only to ask of you news of a single person. They told me, when I as in Marseille -- they told me that Mercedes has disappeared.
CADEROUSSE
Yes, disappeared as the sun disappears -- only to reappear more brilliantly.
BUSONI
Mercedes has made her fortune, too?
CADEROUSSE
She is married to Fernand and calls herself the Countess of Morcerf!
BUSONI
And how long after the marriage of Edmond did Mercedes marry Fernand?
CADEROUSSE
Eighteen months.
BUSONI
Eighteen months! Eighteen months of fidelity. In fact, who can ask more of the most adored lover? And she married Fernand -- where exactly?
CADEROUSSE
At the church in Accoules.
BUSONI
(rising)
It was the same church where she should have married Edmond; only the fiancee was changed. Now, yet one more word -- the last, and Mr. de Villefort?
CADEROUSSE
I didn't know him. I only know that he is dead.
BUSONI
Oh! Misfortune.
CADEROUSSE
Yes -- a great misfortune -- he was indeed a worthy man.
BUSONI
And how did he die?
CADEROUSSE
He had a poor Corsican executed who had turned over a new leaf, and this Corsican's brother --
BUSONI
Well?
CADEROUSSE
Well? He killed him without a duel.
BUSONI
(aside)
Ah, that one has escaped me. I don't accuse you, God! But death is too little for the crime he committed.
(to Caderousse)
And you know the assassin?
CADEROUSSE
He's one of my friends.
BUSONI
What's his name?
CADEROUSSE
Oh! You intend for me to tell you his name?
BUSONI
Yes -- I wish it.
CADEROUSSE
He's named Bertuccio.
LA CARCONTE
Will you denounce everyone today?
BUSONI
Bertuccio! Isn't he a boss who smuggles between Livorna and Marseille?
CADEROUSSE
Yes, and between Marseille and Nimes.
LA CARCONTE
When they say you can't shut your mouth.
CADEROUSSE
For the rest, he has not done wrong -- he earned money in his profession. I am the only one who is ruined. I am the only one who is poor, wretched and forgotten by God.
BUSONI
(pulling the diamond from his pocket)
You are deceived, my friend. Sometimes God appears to forget -- when justice sleeps, but eventually a moment comes when he remembers and here is the proof.
(he gives the diamond to Caderousse)
This diamond -- it is yours.
CADEROUSSE
For me alone? Oh, sir. Don't play games with me.
BUSONI
I know what happiness and despair is. I will never play with a man's happiness or despair. Take this then -- but in exchange.
CADEROUSSE
Ah! You want something.
BUSONI
Yes, I want this red silk purse that Mr. Morrel left on old Dantes' chimney.
LA CARCONTE
(approaching him while Caderousse goes to the armoire)
And the diamond is ours?
BUSONI
Yes, yours.
CADEROUSSE
Here's the purse.
BUSONI
Here's the diamond.
CADEROUSSE
Oh, you are truly a brave man, sir, for truly no one knew Edmond had given you this diamond and you could have kept it for yourself.
BUSONI
Oh, yes! All that you have told me is true and I can believe it in every particular?
CADEROUSSE
Wait, sir, come -- here in the corner is a chest made of blessed wood -- here on this chest is the book of the Evangelists that belongs to my wife. Open the book -- and hand extended to Christ, I am going to swear on the health of my son, on my oath as a Christian, that I have told you everything as it happened -- and as the angel of men will tell it in God's ear on judgement day.
BUSONI
Fine. May this diamond profit you! Be happy. I am leaving. Goodbye.
(Busoni leaves.)
LA CARCONTE
Tell me, Gaspard, are we dreaming?
CADEROUSSE
No, by God, we are really awake and the proof is that the diamond is here.
LA CARCONTE
(in a heavy voice)
And if it's a fake?
CADEROUSSE
(paling)
Fake! Fake! And why would this man have given me a fake diamond?
LA CARCONTE
To have your secret without paying you, simpleton?
CADEROUSSE
Oh! I will know it in a minute.
LA CARCONTE
What?
CADEROUSSE
The fair at Beaucaire -- there's a big jeweler from Paris -- you know -- Mr. Joannes who comes every year and is so rich.
LA CARCONTE
Well?
CADEROUSSE
Well, I am going to show it to him -- I can be back in an hour.
(He leaves.)
LA CARCONTE
Fifty thousand francs. It's a lot of money, but it's not a fortune! Now, things are going better for us. We will return to Marseille -- I will look out for myself and perhaps I will get rid of these wretched fevers. Oh, I'm cold, I am cold.
(she pokes up the fire, there's a knock)
Another traveler. It seems this is the day. Come in, come in!
(A patrol of customs officers enters.)
LA CARCONTE
Now -- they are customs officers.
THE CHIEF OFFICER
Good evening, mother, good evening.
LA CARCONTE
Good evening.
CHIEF
Let's see -- put yourselves out a little, and give us a bottle of your best to refresh us. We won't ask if it has paid its duty -- don't worry.
LA CARCONTE
Go into the cellar, while I stir up the fire.
CHIEF
Do you want us to go there ourselves?
LA CARCONTE
No -- I am going.
(She goes into the cellar.)
CHIEF
(unrolling a paper)
Here's the map of the canal with all the boats on it. See -- it's this one here. The closest to the shore -- in a straight line with this house. Five of our men will go up -- five will go down. Then when they get to the edge of the canal at five hundred paces from each other, we will regroup. Even if the man escapes us, the boat will not.
A CUSTOMS OFFICER
And what's he charged with?
CHIEF
With rum and tobacco.
LA CARCONTE
What are they saying?
CHIEF
Hush! Here's La Carconte. Well, it's hot this evening, Madame Carconte.
LA CARCONTE
I don't know.
CHIEF
Do you have some rum here?
LA CARCONTE
Rum here! To do what? That's only to be had in the city.
AN OFFICER
If you only had a little twist about this much.
LA CARCONTE
I don't make contraband.
CHIEF
Where is Caderousse?
LA CARCONTE
He want walking.
CHIEF
Which side of the canal?
LA CARCONTE
I have no idea.
OFFICER
Here's one who gives the lie to the proverb.
CHIEF
The fact is she is not talkative -- to your health, mother!
LA CARCONTE
Thanks.
(Caderousse enters.)
CADEROUSSE
Wife.
LA CARCONTE
Ah, it's you.
CADEROUSSE
Yes.
LA CARCONTE
You didn't go to Beaucaire?
CADEROUSSE
No, I met him on the way.
LA CARCONTE
Who?
CADEROUSSE
Mr. Joannes.
LA CARCONTE
By what chance?
CADEROUSSE
He was coming to make a payment in Montpelier.
LA CARCONTE
And you showed it to him?
CADEROUSSE
Yes.
LA CARCONTE
Well?
CADEROUSSE
It's good.
LA CARCONTE
What's it worth?
CADEROUSSE
Fifty thousand francs.
LA CARCONTE
My God!
CHIEF
Hey! Friend?
CADEROUSSE
Here I am.
CHIEF
How much for two bottles?
CADEROUSSE
Whatever you like.
CHIEF
What? Whatever we like?
CADEROUSSE
Ah, pardon -- I didn't know what I was saying. Ten sous.
LA CARCONTE
Gaspard! Gaspard!
CADEROUSSE
Huh?
LA CARCONTE
Where is he?
CADEROUSSE
He's putting his horse in the stable.
LA CARCONTE
And he has the money on him?
CADEROUSSE
Yes.
LA CARCONTE
Such a large sum?
CADEROUSSE
Enough to pay us right away, so it appears.
CHIEF
Here -- there's your ten sous. Goodbye!
CADEROUSSE
Thanks --
(The customs patrol goes out.)
CADEROUSSE
Come in, Mr. Joannes, come on.
(Joannes enters.)
JOANNES
Who were those guys?
CADEROUSSE
They are customs officers, don't worry.
LA CARCONTE
Ah, sir, that brave man did not deceive us and the diamond is good.
CADEROUSSE
Yes, yes -- it's real -- and the proof is that Mr. Joannes is ready to give us fifty thousand francs for it.
JOANNES
Actually, I offered forty thousand francs for it.
CADEROUSSE
Forty thousand! We certainly won't give it away for such a price! The traveler told us it was worth fifty thousand francs without the setting, which is more still.
JOANNES
Let me see it one more time. Often you judge stones badly on first sight.
CADEROUSSE
Here --
JOANNES
I said forty-five thousand francs and I don't change -- besides, it is the very amount that I was taking to Montpelier and which I find I have on me.
CADEROUSSE
Oh, that's no problem! I will return with you to Beaucaire to get the other five thousand francs.
JOANNES
No, that wouldn't help anyway -- and yet, I am upset to have offered this amount because there's a fault in the stone that I hadn't noticed at first.
CADEROUSSE
(putting the diamond in his pocket)
Good, good, good. We will see the diamond to someone else.
JOANNES
Yes -- but someone else won't be as easy as I am, someone else won't be satisfied with the information that you gave me. It's not natural for a man like you to possess a fifty thousand franc diamond. He will inform the police. It will be necessary to find this traveler. You don't even know his name.
And travelers who give away valuable diamonds worth fifty thousand francs are rare. Justice will begin by seizing it, they will commit you to prison, and if you are shown to be innocent, they may release you after three or four months of captivity, the ring could be lost in the police station, or they will return to you a stone worth three francs in place of a diamond worth fifty thousand perhaps -- but which you must agree, my brave man, one is running certain risks to purchase.
(Caderousse and his wife exchange a questioning look.)
CADEROUSSE
No, decidedly -- we are not rich enough to lose five thousand francs.
JOANNES
As you wish, my dear friend. I was going to pay you in cash.
(he pulls from his pocket on gold purse which he spreads on the table)
CADEROUSSE
What do you think of it, wife?
LA CARCONTE
Give in, give in -- if he return to Beaucaire, he will denounce as -- eh! Who knows if we could ever find our donator of diamonds?
CADEROUSSE
Well, so be it! Take the diamond. But Madame Caderousse wants a gold necklace, and I ask for a pair of gold buckles.
JOANNES
I am fair in business. Here's my box of samples take what you wish.
(La Carconte takes a necklace, Caderousse a pair of buckles.)
JOANNES
I hope that you don't complain any more.
CADEROUSSE
The traveler said it was worth fifty thousand francs.
JOANNES
(taking the diamond from his hands)
Come on, come on, give it here. What a terrible man, by God. I have given him forty-five thousand francs, twenty-five hundred pounds cash and he still is not satisfied.
CADEROUSSE
And the forty-five thousand francs -- where are they? Let's have a look!
JOANNES
Here they are.
LA CARCONTE
Wait while I light the lamp. It's not very bright and one could be deceived.
JOANNES
Oh, count it, count it, it's worth the trouble.
LA CARCONTE
What are these papers here?
CADEROUSSE
Bank notes. You know very well they are bank notes.
LA CARCONTE
I've heard of them, but I've never seen any.
JOANNES
Well? Is it all there, by your count?
CADEROUSSE
Yes -- bring the portfolio, Carconte and find a bag. Now, Mr. Joannes, although you've beaten us out of five thousand francs, would you have supper with us?
JOANNES
No -- it's getting late, and although I am not going to Montpelier, I need to return to Beaucaire. Nine o'clock, my God. Goodbye my little children. And if you return again with other voyagers with some rings -- you understand.
(A clap of thunder is heard.)
CADEROUSSE
Oh! Oh! Are you going to leave in weather like this?
JOANNES
Bah! I'm not afraid of thunder.
LA CARCONTE
And thieves? The road is never safe, Mr. Joannes.
JOANNES
(pulling from his pocket a pair of pistols)
As for thieves -- this is for them -- dogs who bark and who bite at the same time. This is for the first ones who want your diamonds, Papa Caderousse.
(La Carconte and Caderousse exchange a look.)
CADEROUSSE
Then bon voyage!
JOANNES
Thanks.
(he opens the door -- rain, wind, flashes of lightning)
We are going to have some pretty weather. And two leagues to do in weather like that.
CADEROUSSE
Stay -- you can sleep here.
LA CARCONTE
Yes, stay -- we will take good care of you.
JOANNES
Can't do it. I must return to Beaucaire this evening. Goodbye. My word of honor, nothing will happen on heaven or earth!
CADEROUSSE
Your horse is there.
JOANNES
Yes -- do I go left? Do I go right?
CADEROUSSE
To the right -- you can't miss it. The road is bordered by trees on either side.
JOANNES
(already far away)
Good!
(Joannes is gone.)
LA CARCONTE
Close the door. I don't like open doors when it thunders.
CADEROUSSE
(closing the door and putting on a double lock)
And when there is money in the house, right?
LA CARCONTE
Why did you ask him to sleep here?
CADEROUSSE
(shaking)
Me? But to -- so he wouldn't have the need to return to Beaucaire.
LA CARCONTE
I thought it was for another thing.
CADEROUSSE
Wife! Wife! Where do you get such ideas? And why, having them, don't you keep them to yourself?
LA CARCONTE
It's all the same. You are not a man.
CADEROUSSE
Why's that?
LA CARCONTE
If you were a man, he would not have left here.
CADEROUSSE
Wife!
LA CARCONTE
The road turns and he has to follow the road, while someone who knows the way --
CADEROUSSE
Well?
LA CARCONTE
There's a way that runs the length of the canal.
CADEROUSSE
Wife -- you offend God -- wait, listen --!
(Lightning clap. A moment's silence. A knocking on the door.)
LA CARCONTE
Someone is knocking.
CADEROUSSE
(hand on the gold and the bank notes)
Who is there?
JOANNES
Me!
CADEROUSSE
Who are you?
JOANNES
By God, Joannes, the jeweler.
LA CARCONTE
Well, what do you say about that? He is returning!
JOANNES
Open up, quickly!
CADEROUSSE
(falling in a chair)
Oh! Lord.
LA CARCONTE
(going to the door)
Coming! Coming! Come in, dear Mr. Joannes.
JOANNES
(entering)
My word, it seems the devil doesn't want me to return to Beaucaire this evening. The shortest distractions are the best, my dear Mr. Caderousse. You offered me hospitality, I accept it. And I return to sleep with you.
LA CARCONTE
And you do right, sir.
JOANNES
You have some travelers in your inn?
CADEROUSSE
No -- we don't have beds, we are near the town and no one stays with us.
JOANNES
Then I am going to horribly inconvenience you.
LA CARCONTE
You inconvenience, us? Not the least bit, I swear to you.
JOANNES
Let's see, where will you put me?
LA CARCONTE
In the room above.
JOANNES
But it's your room?
LA CARCONTE
Oh -- never mind -- we have another bed in the next room.
CADEROUSSE
Wife!
LA CARCONTE
Be quiet!
JOANNES
Then it's fine.
LA CARCONTE
(who has put the table cloths on during the time)
Then -- when you want supper, everything is ready.
CADEROUSSE
(shutting his gold and his bank notes in the armoire)
I won't have any supper.
LA CARCONTE
We dined very late.
JOANNES
Then I am going to eat alone.
LA CARCONTE
Yes, we will serve you.
(the noise of rain and thunder is heard)
You see! You did well to return, Mr. Joannes.
JOANNES
Which won't prevent me, if the storm abates from starting on my way again.
CADEROUSSE
Oh! It's the Mistral, the Mistral. We'll have it until morning.
JOANNES
My word -- so much the worse for those outside.
LA CARCONTE
Yes -- they'll have a bad night of it. And not like you, Mr. Joannes. You won't have an elegant room or a good bed -- but you will at least be covered and you will have white sheets.
CADEROUSSE
Now --
JOANNES
What?
CADEROUSSE
(going to the door)
I believe the storm is calming, sir.
LA CARCONTE
Are you mad? Wait --
(The door opens violently pushed by the wind.)
JOANNES
Come! Come! I see quite well that I must reconcile myself to staying. You were saying, mother, that my room -- ?
LA CARCONTE
Is ready, take the stairway -- this lamp.
JOANNES
And you?
LA CARCONTE
Oh! We will be lighted by another.
JOANNES
Let's go. Good night!
CADEROUSSE
Oh -- Mr. Joannes.
LA CARCONTE
Shut up, you wretch.
JOANNES
What?
LA CARCONTE
Nothing -- good night, Mr. Joannes, good night.
CADEROUSSE
(falls on the stone beside the chimney)
Ah!
(Joannes goes out. La Carconte goes to Caderousse.)
LA CARCONTE
Well?
CADEROUSSE
What?
LA CARCONTE
He is there.
CADEROUSSE
I know it; it wasn't I that brought him here, thank God.
LA CARCONTE
Imbecile! Forty-five thousand francs, that we have and the diamond that he has adds to ninety-five thousand francs. And there is a fortune.
CADEROUSSE
Wife, wife, don't tempt me.
LA CARCONTE
Oh! You are afraid?
CADEROUSSE
Shut up, I tell you, shut up -- it's not fear.
LA CARCONTE
What is it, then? No one saw him come in.
CADEROUSSE
Are you a demon?
LA CARCONTE
No one will see him leave. He can be buried in the cellar or thrown in the canal. We will sell our furniture as if we had not a penny and we will quietly leave ninety thousand francs in our pocket.
CADEROUSSE
Oh! Aren't you suffering from your fever now?
LA CARCONTE
No, it seems to me that I am cured.
(She takes a knife hanging from the wall.)
CADEROUSSE
What are you doing?
LA CARCONTE
I thought it was decided.
CADEROUSSE
He has his pistols.
LA CARCONTE
Ah, bah! Can one see clearly at night? -- and besides, he's already asleep.
JOANNES
(from his room)
Good night, Papa Caderousse! Good night, Mama Madeline!
LA CARCONTE
He's putting out his lamp, you see?
CADEROUSSE
But we cannot see without it.
LA CARCONTE
As if we didn't know the room!
CADEROUSSE
My God! My God!
LA CARCONTE
When one thinks this creature boasts of being a man!
CADEROUSSE
(grabbing an axe)
Well then, since you wish it.
LA CARCONTE
Come on then!
(They climb the stairs -- heavy music, they open the door. There is a shout. The noise of a struggle. A pistol shot. La Carconte appears covered with blood and falls down the stairs.)
BERTUCCIO
(coming in the door from the little hovel)
My God -- ! What is happening here?
(curtain)
The home of Mr. de Baville.
DE BAVILLE
Well, miss, tell Mr. Morrel that I am waiting for him.
JULIE
Thanks sir, in my father's name.
SERVANT
Sir, there's that Englishman waiting, sent by the firm of Thompson and French.
DE BAVILLE
Let him come in.
SERVANT
Come in, sir.
(In the doorway, Julie and the English agent meet.)
AGENT
Pardon, miss.
(He makes room, Julie leaves. The agent follows her with his eyes.)
DE BAVILLE
My I learn, sir, what brings me the honor of your visit?
AGENT
Sir, I am the head clerk in the firm of Thompson and French from Rome. For ten years we have had dealings with the firm of Morrel and Son. We have a hundred thousand francs invested in this business and we have learned that the firm is threatened with ruin. I have come express from Rome to ask you for information.
DE BAVILLE
Alas, sir, your fears are only too well founded and you see in me a desperate man. I had two hundred thousand francs invested with the firm; these two hundred thousand francs were my daughter's dowry, who I intended to marry in two weeks. They were payable in two installments of a hundred thousand francs on the 15th of this month and a similar payment the next month. I had given notice to Mr. Morrel of my desire that this repayment be made promptly and now he has just sent his daughter, whom you just saw, to ask me for a meeting -- so, I am quite concerned.
AGENT
This seems a crushing loss.
DE BAVILLE
Better than that -- a bankruptcy.
AGENT
Thus, sir, this belief gives you fear?
DE BAVILLE
In fact, I regard the money as lost.
AGENT
Oh! A purchase sir.
DE BAVILLE
What?
AGENT
I will buy it from you.
DE BAVILLE
What will you buy from me?
AGENT
This claim.
DE BAVILLE
You?
AGENT
Yes, I.
DE BAVILLE
But at an enormous discount, without doubt.
AGENT
Oh, our firm doesn't engage in that sort of thing. In consideration of two hundred thousand francs.
DE BAVILLE
And you can pay -- ?
AGENT
Counting.
(after a moment's hesitation)
Sir, my duty as an honest man forces me to tell you that you won't get twenty percent of this claim.
AGENT
That doesn't concern me, sir -- it is a concern of the firm of Thompson and French in whose name I am acting. Perhaps it has an interest in hastening the ruin of a rival house. But, as for me, I am ready to count this money out to you. In consideration of a transfer.
DE BAVILLE
So be it; it's very fair. Now, now, do you wish to tell me what commission you wish? Ordinarily we pay one and a half. Do you want two? Do you want three? Do you want five?
AGENT
I want something else.
DE BAVILLE
Speak, sir, I am listening.
AGENT
You are inspector of prisons.
DE BAVILLE
For more than fifteen years.
AGENT
You keep the registry books?
DE BAVILLE
For entry and departure -- without a doubt.
AGENT
And in these registers there are notes?
DE BAVILLE
Some notes about the prisoners, yes. Each one has his dossier.
AGENT
(pulls out a roll of banknotes)
Well, sir, I knew in England an abbot very well -- he suddenly disappeared in 1811. I learned he had been detained at the Chateau d'If and I would like some details.
DE BAVILLE
(after a moment's hesitation)
What was his name?
AGENT
Faria.
DE BAVILLE
Oh -- I recall him perfectly -- he was mad.
AGENT
They said that.
DE BAVILLE
Oh -- he really was.
AGENT
Is it possible? What was his folly?
DE BAVILLE
He pretended to have knowledge of an immense treasure and promised fabulous sums to the government if they would release him.
AGENT
And he's dead?
DE BAVILLE
Yes, sir -- six months ago, last February.
AGENT
You have a fine memory, sir, to recall dates so well.
DE BAVILLE
I recall it because the poor devil's death was accompanied by a singular circumstance.
AGENT
Can you speak about it?
DE BAVILLE
Oh, my God, yes, sir. His cell was separated by fourteen steps or a little less, from that of an old Bonapartist agent, one of the men who had most contributed to the return of the Emperor in 1815, a very resolute man -- very dangerous.
AGENT
Oh, really! Very resolute and very dangerous.
DE BAVILLE
Oh! There was a terrible dossier on him.
AGENT
Who made the notes?
DE BAVILLE
The man who had studied the affair.
AGENT
And who was the man who had studied the affair?
DE BAVILLE
Mr. de Villefort.
AGENT
Oh -- the poor Mr. de Villefort who was killed, murdered?
DE BAVILLE
Killed? Murdered!
AGENT
Yes -- and who is dead?
DE BAVILLE
Dead? Eh, sir, who told you this nonsense? Mr. de Villefort is living just like you and me.
DE BAVILLE
Yes.
AGENT
You are sure of that?
DE BAVILLE
Thanks to heaven! And the proof is that he wrote me not a week ago.
AGENT
Thank heaven! You are right! But to return to the prisoner, since he had so effectively contributed to the return of the usurper how is it that after his return --
DE BAVILLE
Yes, you want to know, how it happened, during the Hundred Days that he remained in prison? Oh, as to that, sir, the poor devil had bad luck. I imagine that Mr. Morrel, his patron, had taken all possible steps for him, even addressing a petition to the Emperor but why this petition was delayed no one knows and didn't arrive in Paris until after Waterloo with the result that falling in the hands of the Bourbons rather than the Emperor it ruined Dantes instead of saving him.
AGENT
In fact, it was fate. But you, sir, as inspector, did you know this prisoner?
DE BAVILLE
Yes, yes. I had the occasion myself to see this man in 1818 or 1819. You only went to his cell with a guard of soldiers. This man made a tremendous impression on me. I will never forget his face.
AGENT
(smiling)
You will never forget him.
DE BAVILLE
Never, sir.
AGENT
And what's the name of this dangerous conspirator?
AGENT
Edmond Dantes.
AGENT
With the result that Dantes escaped?
DE BAVILLE
Was effected by some tools which had been made -- for we found a passageway with the aid of which the prisoners communicated.
AGENT
To escape?
DE BAVILLE
Exactly -- but unfortunately for the prisoners, Faria was struck down by an attack of catalepsy and died.
AGENT
I understand -- the flight was no longer possible?
DE BAVILLE
For the deceased, yes, but not for the living. Imagine, on the contrary, that this mad Dantes saw in this a way to hasten his escape. He undoubtedly thought that the prisoners of the Chateau d'If were interred in an ordinary cemetery. He put the corpse in this cell and took his place in the body sack and waited.
AGENT
That was the chancy thing.
DE BAVILLE
Oh, I told you he was a very resolute man. And who happily has relieved the government of the fears they had about him.
AGENT
How's that?
DE BAVILLE
Don't you understand?
AGENT
No -- I have a limited understanding.
DE BAVILLE
The Chateau d'If has no cemetery -- they simply throw the dead into the sea, after having attached to their feet a thirty-six pound cannon ball.
AGENT
Well?
DE BAVILLE
Well -- they put a thirty-six pounder on him and threw him into the sea.
AGENT
Truly?
DE BAVILLE
You can imagine the astonishment of the fugitive where he felt himself thrown from the heights to the base of the rocks. I wish I could have seen his face at that moment.
AGENT
It would have been difficult.
DE BAVILLE
No matter; I can picture it to myself.
AGENT
Aye, with the result that he drowned?
DE BAVILLE
Pure and simple. And at the same time the Warden of the Chateau d'If was relieved of a terrorist and a madman.
AGENT
But this event was verified?
DE BAVILLE
Doubtless. By a death certificate you understand that Dantes' relatives might have an interest in being sure if he was dead or alive.
AGENT
So that today, his friends and relatives --
DE BAVILLE
Can be at peace; he is dead and quite dead -- and they will receive the certificates whenever they wish it.
AGENT
But the registers?
DE BAVILLE
Ah! Yes -- it's true. You say this sir, that you would like to see what was reported against this poor abbot who was the sweetest of men?
AGENT
That would please me.
DE BAVILLE
Wait, sir, here is the box -- but as you have no right to examine these registers, and which I allow you to do in favor of your concession (I really ought not to) please pass into my study --
AGENT
Is the dossier of this Dantes there also?
DE BAVILLE
Yes, sir, they are together.
AGENT
Well, during the time --
DE BAVILLE
I will prepare the transfer -- rest easy.
(Agent goes into the study.)
DE BAVILLE
(writing)
"Today, the 5th of June, 1829, I have by these presents, ceded and transferred --" what the devil can be the interest of the firm of Thompson and French in buying this claim from me? My word, it's no matter -- it's not my affair -- and since I get back my two hundred thousand francs --
VALET
Mr. Morrel.
DE BAVILLE
He's just in time; let him come in.
VALET
Come in, sir.
(Morrel enters. Valet leaves.)
DE BAVILLE
Ah, it's you, my dear Mr. Morrel. Good day, good day. And your son Maximilian, is he still garrisoned at Nimes?
MORREL
Yes, sir, still. I had the honor to ask you for an interview.
DE BAVILLE
Yes, through your daughter. A charming child -- well, when are marrying her to Mr. Emmanuel?
MORREL
Alas, sir, man proposes and God disposes.
DE BAVILLE
You don't seem to me very gay, dear Mr. Morrel.
MORREL
Sir, I came to speak to you about the hundred thousand francs I have to pay you on the 15th.
DE BAVILLE
My dear, Mr. Morrel, you no longer deal with me about that.
MORREL
How's that?
DE BAVILLE
I have sold my claim.
MORREL
You have sold your claim! And to whom, my God?
AGENT
(entering)
To me, sir.
MORREL
To you.
DE BAVILLE
You understand. It's with this gentleman that you have business. So if you had something to ask -- your very humble servant, Mr. Morrel it no longer concerns me
(to Agent)
Here's the transfer.
AGENT
Here's twenty bank notes of five thousand francs each. Is that correct?
DE BAVILLE
Yes, sir.
(De Baville leaves.)
MORREL
Excuse me, sir, but who are you?
AGENT
I am the head clerk in the firm of Thompson and French from Rome to serve you, sir.
MORREL
I learn, sir, from you and from Mr. de Baville, strange news which cannot be agreeable to me, after the relations I have always had with the firm to which you belong.
AGENT
Yes, sir, here's the fact: the firm of Thompson and French has over the course of this month and some months past, three or four hundred thousand francs to pay in France, then, knowing of your rigorous scrupulosity had gathered up all the paper bearing your signature that it has been able to find, and has ordered me, as they gradually fall due to place these funds with you, for you to use them.
MORREL
(with a sigh)
So, sir, you have some bills signed by me?
AGENT
For a considerable amount.
MORREL
What is the sum?
AGENT
And here, first of a transfer of two hundred thousand francs to our firm by Mr. de Baville who I think has just informed you of this transfer. Do you recognize the obligation for this amount?
MORREL
Certainly!
AGENT
Then there are thirty-two thousand francs at the end of the present month. These are bills signed by you and signed to our order by couriers -- is this indeed your signature?
MORREL
I recognize it. Is this all, sir?
AGENT
No, I have still, due at the end of the month, these notes which have come to me through the firm of Pascal and the house of Turner and Wild of Marseille, fifty or fifty-five thousand francs.
MORREL
Well, sir.
AGENT
Well, sir, I won't hide from you that, although your probity is without reproach -- the rumor in Marseille -- pardon if I say this -- the rumor in Marseille is that you are not in a position to meet your obligations.
MORREL
Sir, up to this moment, and soon almost twenty-four years since I took over the firm of my father, who himself had managed it for thirty-five years, not a bill signed by Morrel has ever been presented to the cashier without being paid.
AGENT
Yes, I know, sir, but speak to me frankly, honestly -- will you be able to pay these with the same exactitude?
MORREL
Frank questions deserve a frank reply. Yes, sir, I will pay, if my ship arrives safe in the harbor -- for its arrival will give me back credit that successive accidents have deprived me of -- but if by misfortune the Pharaoh, which is the last of my resources and on whose arrival I must count -- should fail me --
AGENT
Well?
MORREL
Well, sir, it's cruel to say, but already accustomed to misfortune, I must accustom myself to shame -- well, I believe I will be forced to suspend my payments.
AGENT
Don't you have any friends who can help you under these circumstances?
MORREL
In business, sir, there are no friends, only associates.
AGENT
Then you have only a single hope?
MORREL
A single?
AGENT
The last?
MORREL
The last.
AGENT
With the result that if this hope failed you?
MORREL
I am lost, sir, completely lost!
AGENT
As I was passing on the Cannibiere a ship was entering the harbor.
MORREL
I know it.
AGENT
And it is not yours?
MORREL
No -- it's a ship from Bordelais -- the Girondist. It just returned from India, also, but it is not mine.
AGENT
Perhaps it has information about the Pharaoh and will bring you news.
MORREL
Should I say it, sir? I'm almost afraid to learn news of my three-master that remains in uncertainty.
(in a sad voice)
Its delay is not natural, sir. The Pharaoh left Calcutta on February 5th -- it should have been here for more than a month.
AGENT
What is this, and what does this noise mean?
MORREL
Oh, my God -- what is it now?
JULIE
(outside)
My father -- where is my father?
MORREL
It's my daughter. Why has she come here?
(Julie enters and throws herself at Morrel's feet.)
JULIE
Father, father, forgive me for being the bearer of bad news.
MORREL
(joining his hands)
Lord! Lord!
JULIE
Have courage, father, I have courage.
MORREL
Then the Pharaoh has sunk?
JULIE
Yes, father.
MORREL
And the crew?
JULIE
Saved.
MORREL
(rising, hands toward heaven)
Thanks, my God! At least you only strike me.
(Penelon sticks his head in the door)
Come in, children, for I presume you are all by the door.
PENELON
Yes, Mr. Morrel, here we are.
EMMANUEL
Come on, my friends.
MORREL
How did this happen, my God?
EMMANUEL
Come forward, Penelon and tell the event.
PENELON
Good day, Mr. Morrel -- well, you see --
MORREL
Where is the captain?
PENELON
Recuperating from an illness at Palma -- but that is nothing. He has hope and one of these days you will see him arrive in just as good shape as you or me.
MORREL
That's well, Penelon. Now speak, my friend.
PENELON
Well then, Mr. Morrel, we were at the time somewhere between Cape Blanc and Cape Moyador -- running with a fine wind south-southeast, when the captain came to me -- I must tell you, I was at the helm and said to me "Penelon, what do you think of the waves which are growing on the horizon?" What I thought was they were growing faster than they should and that they were darker than waves having good intentions. "It's my opinion, too" said the Captain, "but I am going to catch them a little Ho! Hey! Get ready to tighten the royal sail and bring down the flying jib." "Good", said the captain, "we still have plenty of sail. Get ready to haul up the big sail." Five minutes later the big sail was up and we were marching with the foresail, the topsail and the topgallants.
AGENT
That was much too much in these parts. I would have taken four reefsails and relieved myself of the foresail.
PENELON
We did better than that, sir -- we lowered the topsail, we raised the brigantine and took the helm to the wind to run before the storm. Five minutes later, we were going to dry sails.
AGENT
I saw your Pharaoh in the port of Civita Vecchia. The boat was much too old to risk that.
PENELON
For an Englishman, people say, he knows his business. Well, Mr. Englishman, you are right. At the end of several hours we were tossed about as if the devil had taken us in his arms. We sprang a leak -- in twenty-four hours we had taken on five feet of it -- when a boat has five feet of water in the hold -- you, ask the gentleman who seems to know about these things he could pass for having dropsy. "Come," said the captain "enough of this, children, we have done all we can do to save the ship -- now let's try to save the men. To the sloop, children, as fast as you can." In a handshake the sloop is on the sea. The captain was the last to get on -- or
rather, he didn't get on -- I took him in my arms and threw him to my comrades after which I leapt aboard in my turn. It was just in time. Right after I jumped, the deck broke with a noise which was that of a vessel of forty-eight guns broadside. Ten minutes later, it plunged from the front then to the rear, then it turned on itself like a dog chasing its tail -- and then good night Irene! Brr! There was no more Pharaoh -- ! That's how it happened, Mr. Morrel, word of honor -- in God's truth -- word of a sailor -- Isn't that right, everybody?
MORREL
But you, my children?
PENELON
Oh, as to us, we stayed three days without drinking or eating -- so well that we were already speaking of drawing lots as to who would supply food to the others, when we spotted the Girondist. We signaled; she saw us, steered for us and we were rescued.
MORREL
Fine, my friends, you are brave people and I know in advance that the misfortune which strikes me is due to no other party's guilt -- only my own fate. It's the will of God and not the fault of men. Now, how much are you owed for your wages?
PENELON
Oh! Let's not speak of that, Mr. Morrel.
MORREL
On the contrary, let's speak of it, my friends.
PENELON
Well, they owe us three months.
MORREL
Emmanuel, you will pay two hundred francs to each of these brave men. Anther time I would have been able to add two hundred francs gratuity as well, but the times are bad, my friends, and the little money which remains to me no longer belongs to me -- excuse me then, and don't think less of me for this --
PENELON
(after having consulted with his comrades)
For whom is this money, Mr. Morrel?
MORREL
Well?
PENELON
Well, sir, the comrades say that for the moment fifty francs will be enough and they will wait for the rest.
MORREL
Thanks, thanks my friends. You are all true hearts! But take it, and if you find a good service, enter it. You are free.
PENELON
What? Mr. Morrel -- you dismiss us. You are unhappy with us?
MORREL
No, my children, quite the contrary, but no longer having ships, I have no more need of sailors.
PENELON
What do you mean, you have no more ships? You will build others -- we will wait -- God be thanked, we know what it is to sail in heavy seas.
MORREL
But I have no more money to construct ships. My friends, I cannot accept.
PENELON
Well, if you have no more money then you don't need to pay us. We will do as the poor Pharaoh did, we will sink that's all.
MORREL
Enough, enough, my friends. Emmanuel take these brave fellows along. I am choking. Go, my friends, go! We will meet again in better times.
PENELON
At least we can dream, right, Mr. Morrel?
MORREL
Yes, yes, I hope so. Go! Go! Leave me as well, Julie. I have to speak with this gentleman.
(Julie, Penelon and the sailors leave.)
MORREL
Well, sir, you've seen everything, understood everything -- I have nothing more to tell you.
AGENT
I have seen, sir, that you have had an undeserved misfortune and that strengthens me in the wish I already have to be agreeable to you.
MORREL
Oh! Sir --
AGENT
You see, I am one of your principal creditors, correct?
MORREL
You are at least, the one who possesses those notes which are due on the shortest notice.
AGENT
You wish a delay to pay me.
MORREL
A delay would save my honor and consequently my life.
AGENT
How much time do you want?
MORREL
Two months.
AGENT
I will give you three.
MORREL
And you think the firm of Thompson and French --
AGENT
Rest easy, sir, I am taking this on myself. Today's the 5th of June.
MORREL
Yes.
AGENT
Well, give me a note for two hundred eighty seven thousand francs for September 5th and on the 5th of September at 11 a.m. I will present myself to you.
(He tears up the notes.)
MORREL
Sir!
AGENT
Well?
MORREL
What are you doing?
AGENT
I don't need all this waste paper -- since you are giving me a single bill.
MORREL
But you haven't got it yet.
AGENT
I have something better than that. I have your word.
MORREL
(writing)
Here's the note, sir.
AGENT
The 5th of September at 11 o'clock.
MORREL
I will be waiting for you. You will be paid or I will be dead.
(Morrel leaves, De Baville returns.)
DE BAVILLE
Well, sir?
AGENT
Well, sir, you were right, this poor Mr. Morrel is truly in a wretched situation.
DE BAVILLE
Does that change your deposition?
AGENT
No, sir, it's always the same.
A SERVANT
(entering)
Can you receive anyone at the moment, sir?
DE BAVILLE
That depends. Who wants to be received?
SERVANT
A traveler who is come in a post chaise and who pretends to be your friend.
DE BAVILLE
Did you give his name?
SERVANT
He sent his card.
DE BAVILLE
Let me have it --
(reading)
Mr. de Villefort. Have him in.
(The lackey leaves.)
AGENT
(aside)
Villefort! Villefort at Nimes! Bertuccio his assassin in the Nimes prison. Oh, reason the more to see this Bertuccio.
DE BAVILLE
Well! This is exactly the man we were speaking of and you were saying was dead. Would you like to be presented to him?
AGENT
Oh yes, willingly, I would like to see myself that he's indeed among the living.
VILLEFORT
(entering)
Good day, my dear de Baville!
DE BAVILLE
Good day my dear Mr. Villefort.
(pointing to the Agent)
The agent of the house of Thompson and French of Rome.
(to Agent)
You see, sir, one of the most eloquent, honest and intrepid men of our time.
AGENT
I am charmed to meet the most eloquent, honest and intrepid man of our time but I cannot stay any longer today. Much later, I will have the honor of meeting the gentleman again, sir, much later.
(He leaves.)
VILLEFORT
(aside)
In truth, these English are singularly polite.
(aloud)
Ah, indeed I inconvenience you, dear friend.
DE BAVILLE
Not at all, not at all -- on the contrary, in truth it's wonderful to see you in our poor provincial city. And what brings you to us?
VILLEFORT
An inspection that I am making of prisons in the Midi. But tell me, I saw in the newspaper, then I was later officially informed that a prisoner in the Chateau d'If named Edmond Dantes, had perished trying to escape?
DE BAVILLE
That's true.
VILLEFORT
I am the man who worked his case.
DE BAVILLE
I know it.
VILLEFORT
Is he really dead?
DE BAVILLE
Oh! Absolutely!
VILLEFORT
You have kept his dossier?
DE BAVILLE
With the greatest care!
VILLEFORT
You have it?
DE BAVILLE
Here!
VILLEFORT
I would like to glance over this old case.
DE BAVILLE
(aside)
Him too!
(aloud)
Nothing could be easier. The box is in the next room -- I will bring it to you right now.
VILLEFORT
Meanwhile my dear friend, if you have something to do, don't put yourself out, only tell them not to disturb me.
DE BAVILLE
Wait, here's your dossiers. Look, read, peruse. I am going to tell Madame de Baville some news.
VILLEFORT
Good news from the look on your face!
DE BAVILLE
My word, yes! Two hundred thousand francs that we thought was lost has just been returned to us in the most unhoped for manner.
VILLEFORT
I congratulate you.
DE BAVILLE
(leaving)
Thanks! You are at home.
VILLEFORT
(alone)
As long as he lived, I never dared to look backward; now he is dead all that is connected with this terrible business can be destroyed with him. I have already enough of one ghost without fearing another. And this Bertuccio who has just been thrown in prison at Nimes! My God, if he were to speak! Oh, but here I am. Let's see. This was the dossier of Faria who was in prison with this Dantes. Ah -- here is his -- yes, yes, I remember this interrogation interrupted by the apparition of my father. Here it is all in my hand. This interrogation can stay. But what is important is to remove from this dossier all of my notes -- these notes which kept this poor wretch in prison for fourteen years and which he only left to perish in a frightful manner! Ah, Father! Father! It's a terrible responsibility you laid on my conscience. Well, it's strange I don't see the denunciation where I put it. The denunciation was there. My notes, my notes, are absent also. There were, I am very certain, notes written in my hand against this man. There was a petition addressed by Mr. Morrel to the Usurper. These three items are missing. Let's see perhaps I didn't look carefully. But no -- no -- no. This is the entire file. These items are not there. Oh -- I have come too late. I have come too late. My God! My God!
(calling)
Baville! Baville! He must have gone through all these files and taken the notes out. Baville!
DE BAVILLE
(entering)
What is wrong? You called me, my guest?
VILLEFORT
Yes, you know the dossier of this Dantes right?
DE BAVILLE
Without doubt. I have perused it ten times. The poor devil inspired my interest. I wanted to do something for him and without your notes depicting him as a Bonapartist terrorist.
VILLEFORT
Those notes were in accord with the denunciation and the petition submitted by Mr. Morrel to the Usurper. But tell me, these notes, this denunciation, this petition -- ?
DE BAVILLE
Well?
VILLEFORT
You undoubtedly put them aside?
DE BAVILLE
Me? No! They are with the other items in the dossier.
VILLEFORT
You are in error, my dear friend, they are not there any more.
DE BAVILLE
They are no longer there?
VILLEFORT
See for yourself!
DE BAVILLE
How's that? At the time of the death of this man, and because of his death, I reviewed them, handled them, pursued them -- where are they, then?
VILLEFORT
Baville!
DE BAVILLE
What?
VILLEFORT
This dossier has never left your hands?
DE BAVILLE
No.
VILLEFORT
No one has been here to question you about it?
DE BAVILLE
About this dossier? I don't think so. I --
VILLEFORT
Baville, these items must be found and I've got to hold you responsible for them.
(aside)
My God, if I have also arrived too late for this Bertuccio -- if he's already made revelations --
(aloud)
Baville, I'll be back at five p.m. Until then, empty your files, search your office, go through your papers - but find those three papers -- they are necessary to me. See you! See you!
(Villefort goes out.)
DE BAVILLE
(alone)
Oh! This Englishman is making me pay for his commission more dearly then I believed.
(curtain)
The prison of Nimes.
CLERK
And you persist in your denials.
BERTUCCIO
I persist in telling the truth.
CLERK
So you affirm that it was not you who killed the Jew, Joannes --
BERTUCCIO
Not only do I affirm it, but again I point out to you the true murderer.
CLERK
Then, according to you, the jeweler was murdered by one named Caderousse and by his wife.
BERTUCCIO
Yes, but it is just to say that Caderousse only yielded to the instigations of his wife -- also God has taken care to punish the true murderer.
CLERK
Yes, but what you look on as a manifestation of God's justice is a great misfortune for you, my friend. La Carconte is dead, Caderousse has escaped, the pretended Busoni who supposedly gave the diamond cannot be found -- whereas you, you have been found -- and found in the very room where the victim was still lying.
BERTUCCIO
Oh my God! My God! It is necessary to tell you again for the hundredth time -- and don't you understand that I was only a simple spectator? I am a smuggler -- I told you that -- well -- we did business with Caderousse.
CLERK
Yes, meaning that he received your rum and tobacco?
BERTUCCIO
I don't deny it. Punish me for smuggling on this point I have nothing to say -- and deserve punishment, but as for who is the murderer --
CLERK
It seems to me that Corsicans are not bashful to play with guns and knives.
BERTUCCIO
To wage a vendetta, but not to accomplish a theft.
CLERK
Then you pretend that Caderousse and his wife murdered the jeweler to steal from him?
BERTUCCIO
I don't pretend. I affirm I was in my hiding place under the stairway. I was sleeping after having seen Mr. Busoni give the innkeeper and his wife a handsome diamond and the jeweler counted out forty-five thousand good francs to them, when suddenly I was wakened by a pistol shot and by a kind of rain which filtered through cracks in the stairs. The pistol shot -- was fired by the jeweler. The rain was the blood of Carconte which fell drop by drop on me. Then I had hardly left my hiding place when I heard the steps of a man walking over my head -- his step made the stairs crack. The man came down -- went to the chimney and lit a candle -- it was Caderousse! I saw him as I see you. His face was pale -- his shirt all bloody -- he went up -- I heard him again above my head -- his steps rapid and uncertain. Then he came down. He held the jewel case in his hand; he made sure the diamond was in it, he rolled it in his red handkerchief which he tied around his neck, then he ran to the armoire where he had locked up his gold and bank notes, put them in his pockets and disappeared through the door leading to the garden.
Then everything became clear to me. At that moment, I thought I heard shiverings. The wretched jeweler must not be dead, perhaps it was in my power to bring him some help. I seized the candle, I rushed upstairs. I jumped over the cadaver of La Carconte and went into the room. I will never forget what I saw. Two or three pieces of furniture were overturned, lying about the room, to which the wretched jeweler was clinging, his head against the wall, drowned in a sea of blood which escaped from three large wounds to the chest. In the fourth rested a long knife. I approached the jeweler, he was not dead. In fact, at the noise that I made, shaking the floor, he rolled his haggard eyes -- moved his lips as if he wished to speak -- and expired. This frightful spectacle rendered me almost senseless. From the moment I could no longer bring aid to this wretch I felt only a single desire, that of fleeing. I ran down the stairway thrusting my hands in my hair and uttering a roar of terror.
CLERK
Fine, fine -- go on!
BERTUCCIO
In the smaller room there were five or six customs officers, three or four policeman, all armed. They grabbed me -- I didn't even try to put up any resistance; I was not the master of my senses. I tried to speak; I uttered inarticulate screams, that's all! Now I understand that they have taken me for the murderer. I got away from the hands of the man who held me, yelling, "It wasn't me -- it wasn't me." Two policemen trained their rifles on me. "If you move," they said, "you are dead." "But," I cried, "I repeat to you it wasn't me." "You will tell this story to the judges at Nimes," they replied to me, "and we are waiting for them and if we have any advice to give you, it is not to resist." You know the rest.
CLERK
Yes, you understand -- you planned the job with the innkeeper, but more adroit than you, the innkeeper escaped carrying off the loot, then you accuse him, you denounce him -- it's very simple.
BERTUCCIO
Oh, I swear to you -- my God! my God! But hasn't any search been made for Mr. Busoni?
CLERK
On the contrary -- but no one has seen him; no one knows him, you Corsicans have great imaginations and you invented Mr. Busoni as you invented the rest of this story.
BERTUCCIO
God who understands me and who sees me, God knows if I lie. Do what you wish, sir, I have told the truth.
(Busoni enters.)
BUSONI
Will you leave me alone with this man?
BERTUCCIO
Oh! My God! This is a miracle.
CLERK
Alone with this man?
BUSONI
Yes -- I came at full gallop. I heard he desired to speak to me.
BERTUCCIO
Oh! Yes! Yes! Since I've been arrested, I've waited for you. I call you.
CLERK
But such a thing is forbidden, sir.
BUSONI
Here's an order from the examining Magistrate.
CLERK
(reading)
Let Mr. Busoni interview prisoner #15 -- you are -- ?
BUSONI
Mr. Busoni -- yes, sir.
CLERK
The permission is in order, do you want us to be present during the interview?
BUSONI
I wish to speak to him alone.
(The Clerk goes out.)
BERTUCCIO
Sir, if you are truly Mr. Busoni, you know the story of this diamond is true?
BUSONI
I know it.
BERTUCCIO
And although they found me all bloody in the dead man's room, it was not I who am guilty?
BUSONI
I know it.
BERTUCCIO
Then you will tell the truth to my judges?
BUSONI
Yes.
BERTUCCIO
Oh -- what good fortune.
BUSONI
But there is one condition.
BERTUCCIO
Which is?
BUSONI
That you will tell me something -- the truth.
BERTUCCIO
Tell you? What truth do you want me to tell you -- since I am not guilty?
BUSONI
You had a brother?
BERTUCCIO
Yes.
BUSONI
How did he die?
BERTUCCIO
Why this question?
BERTUCCIO
I am asking you how he died.
BUSONI
But --
BUSONI
You promised to speak the truth.
BERTUCCIO
You are asking me how my brother died?
BUSONI
I am asking you --
BERTUCCIO
He died on the scaffold!
BUSONI
Ah! And what crime had he committed?
BERTUCCIO
He had not committed any crime, he had taken vengeance on his enemy.
BUSONI
By killing him?
BERTUCCIO
By killing him, yes!
BUSONI
And in your eyes it is not a crime to take vengeance on one's enemy?
BERTUCCIO
No -- if the vengeance takes place after the vendetta has been published.
BUSONI
And why isn't it a crime?
BERTUCCIO
Because he's been warned and it is his duty to protect himself.
BUSONI
And what did the judges of your brother say of this fine reasoning, Master Bertuccio?
BERTUCCIO
They condemned him.
BUSONI
Wrongly, according to you?
BERTUCCIO
Wrongly.
BUSONI
Then according to you, the death of your brother was an assassination?
BERTUCCIO
Yes!
BUSONI
And in consequence, his judges are his assassins?
BERTUCCIO
Yes.
BUSONI
In that case, why didn't you kill them?
BERTUCCIO
I could not kill them all.
BUSONI
What you mean is you made a choice?
BERTUCCIO
Yes!
BUSONI
And one of them paid for the others?
BERTUCCIO
One of them paid for the others.
BUSONI
Which one?
BERTUCCIO
Mr. de Villefort.
BUSONI
Ah! And you said you killed him.
BERTUCCIO
Yes.
BUSONI
You are sure of it?
BERTUCCIO
I felt the knife go in right up to the handle.
BUSONI
That's not a reason.
BERTUCCIO
I saw him fall.
BUSONI
That's not a reason yet.
BERTUCCIO
I heard his last scream -- it was a supreme shout of death.
BUSONI
Fine, fine! You understand, my friend, it doesn't matter much to me whether he is dead or living. It's your opinion that I am asking -- that's all.
BERTUCCIO
My opinion is that he is dead.
BUSONI
But now if he was alive, wouldn't you be afraid of some pursuit?
BERTUCCIO
No!
BUSONI
Why, not? You murder a man whose job it is to punish murderers and when you attack him in his own person, you think he will have less care for his own vengeance than that of others?
BERTUCCIO
If he wanted to pursue me, he wouldn't dare!
BUSONI
Oh -- Citizen Bertuccio -- you mustn't be too proud.
BERTUCCIO
He wouldn't dare to tell you.
BUSONI
Explain yourself.
BERTUCCIO
It's a secret.
BUSONI
You promised not to have any secrets from me.
BERTUCCIO
But it's a terrible secret.
BUSONI
The more reason to confide it to me.
BERTUCCIO
To you -- but who are you?
BUSONI
Now, what does it matter to you who I am since I can save you?
BERTUCCIO
You wish it?
BUSONI
It's a condition for me to proceed. Why wouldn't he dare to pursue you? Come on.
BERTUCCIO
When I struck him --
BUSONI
Well -- ?
BERTUCCIO
Well -- he was committing a crime.
BUSONI
A crime! Are you very sure, my dear Mr. Bertuccio? It doesn't seem very likely to me.
BERTUCCIO
I have the proof.
BUSONI
And what crime was he committing?
BERTUCCIO
He was burying a baby.
BUSONI
That doesn't seem to me to be a very great crime.
BERTUCCIO
Not if the infant were dead.
BUSONI
What! The infant wasn't dead?
BERTUCCIO
No, I tell you, no. He was living.
BUSONI
Ah, that's another matter, then. And what became of this baby?
BERTUCCIO
I carried it off.
BUSONI
Why do that?
BERTUCCIO
As a penance.
BUSONI
With the result that you raised this child?
BERTUCCIO
Yes.
BUSONI
Under what name?
BERTUCCIO
Under the name Benedetto Bertuccio. I had no child and I thought providence had sent him to me.
BUSONI
And he doubtless prospered.
BERTUCCIO
Let's not speak of him.
BUSONI
On the contrary, let's talk about him. He is in Corsica?
BERTUCCIO
I don't know where he is.
BUSONI
You lost him?
BERTUCCIO
He ran away.
BUSONI
Why's that?
BERTUCCIO
To obey his bad instincts without doubt.
BUSONI
But if you looked for him, you could find him, it seems to me?
BERTUCCIO
I have no desire to find him.
BUSONI
Well -- so b