World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 108 Wills
As Barroy left the room, Noirquier looked at Valentine with a sly and meaningful expression.The girl understood the meaning of this look, and Villefort knew it well too, for his face was now dark and his brows were drawn into a frown.He pulled up a chair and sat down in the room of the paralyzed old man to wait for the notary.Noirquier watched him find a chair to sit down expressionlessly, but told Valentine not to be afraid from the corner of his eyes, telling her to stay too.Three quarters of an hour later, the old servant brought the notary into the room.

"Monsieur," said Villefort, after the courtesies, "it is this M. Noirquier Villefort who invites you, who is paralyzed, unable to move his limbs, unable to speak, and whom we only understand in fragments." some meaning."

Noirquier gave Valentine a look so serious and urgent that Valentine had to say at once: "I myself, Monsieur, quite understand my grandfather."

"Exactly," continued Barois, "perfectly intelligible and absolutely correct, as I have told you to the gentleman just now on the way."

"Excuse me, Monsieur, and you, Madame," said the notary to Villefort and Valentine. "The circumstances of this case are such that a public official must not act lightly without risking his responsibility. In order for a notarial to be effective, it must first be so that the notary is satisfied that he has faithfully interpreted the will of the client. Now, as the client is unable to speak, I am not sure of his admissibility, and given his inability to speak, neither his will nor the cause of his abomination can be presented to me Clearly prove that, therefore, my service is not only worthless, but also illegal." The notary took a step to leave.There was an almost imperceptible smug smile on the prosecutor's mouth.Noirquier looked at Valentine with the utmost sadness, and Valentine stepped forward and stopped the notary.

"Sir," she said, "my grandfather and I speak in a language that is easy to grasp, and since I understand it, I can help you master it in a few minutes. Please, sir, how can you make your work ethic clear?" What about flawless?"

"In order for the notarization to be valid, madam," replied the notary, "it is necessary to be sure of the client's admissibility. A person who is ill can make a notarization, but he must be sound and healthy."

"Very well, sir! By two gestures, you can be sure that my grandfather's sanity has never been so sound as it is now. Although M. Noirquier has lost the ability to speak and move, he can close his eyes." Agree, and disagree by blinking several times in succession. You have enough information to talk to M. Noirquier, please try."

The eyes of the old man, already wet, looked at Valentine with such tenderness and gratitude that the notary himself could have seen it.

"Have you heard and understood what your granddaughter just said, sir?" asked the notary.

Noirquier slowly closed his eyes and opened them again after a while.

"Do you agree with what she said? That is to say, the gesture she said is indeed your way of expressing your thoughts?"

"Yes." The old man signaled.

"Do you want to see me?"

"Yes."

"Do you notarize your will?"

"Yes."

"If I don't make a probate certificate for you, I will leave. You don't agree?"

The paralyzed man blinked hastily.

"Well, sir, do you understand now?" asked the girl, "you can feel at ease?"

But before the notary could answer, Villefort took him aside. "Monsieur," said Villefort, "do you think that a man who has undergone such a terrible blow to the body as M. Noirquier Villefort can do without any serious damage to his mind?"

"I am not worried about that, sir," replied the notary, "but I am thinking of how to understand his mind, and to carry out the necessary examination."

"You see, too, that it is impossible," said Villefort.

Both Valentine and the old man heard this, and Noirquier looked at Valentine closely, his eyes fixed and firm, obviously, this was asking Valentine to come out and refute.

"Monsieur," said Valentine, "don't worry about it. However difficult it may be to understand my grandfather's thinking, or rather, however difficult it may seem to you, I can explain it to you and remove all your doubts. Noirquier and I have been in this relationship for six years, and you may ask him himself, has he ever had a thought in his mind during these six years that I did not understand?"

"No." The old man motioned.

"We can try," said the notary. "Do you agree to the lady as your messenger?"

The paralyzed man agreed. "Well, then, sir, what do you want me to do? What documents are you going to notarize?"

Valentine began to read the alphabet up to T.At this letter, Noirquier's expressive eyes immediately stopped the girl.

"Mr. means the letter T. It is clear."

"Just a moment, please," said Valentine, and then, turning to her grandfather, "Ta... 猼e..."

The old man told the girl to stop when he heard the second set of letters.Then Valentine took up the dictionary, and under the watchful eyes of the notary, she opened it and turned it over, page by page.

"Testament." Nouakier's gaze indicated the girl's finger to stop on the word, thus explaining the meaning.

"A will!" cried the notary. "The matter is very clear. Monsieur will make a will."

"Yes." Nuwakiye gestured one after another.

"That is wonderful, sir, you must admit," said the notary to the astonished Villefort.

"Yes," said Villefort, "the will is perhaps even better, since, at any rate, it seems to me that it could not have been written down, point by point, without my daughter's ingenious prompting. Tina may be too intimately connected with the contents of the will to explain the vague wishes of Noirquier Villefort in a proper way."

"No, no!" the paralyzed man beckoned.

"What!" said M. de Villefort, "Valentine has nothing to do with your will?"

"It doesn't matter." Mr. Noirquier gestured.

"Sir," said the notary, who was so interested in the matter that he intended to show off in society every detail of this wonderful story, "sir, what I had thought impossible just now, I now I think it is very easy to do. This will is purely a secret testament. According to the law, as long as it is read in front of seven witnesses, and in front of all witnesses, the testator expresses his approval and the notary seals it. As for the time required to make a will, it is only a little longer than the general will. The format of the beginning of the will is fixed, always a few sentences, as for the specific content, most of them can be according to the testator’s The status of the property is determined, and you can also provide the information, because you have managed these properties, of course you understand. However, in order to avoid objections to the will, we should make it complete and notarized. We might as well break the rules. I would like to ask you A colleague came to assist me, and the will will be drawn up by the testator. Do you think this is okay, sir?" The notary then asked the old man.

"Yes." Nouakier signaled that his meaning had been understood and he seemed very happy.

"What does he want?" asked Villefort to himself, for he was obliged to restrain himself by his eminence, and he could not guess what his father's purpose was.He turned around and ordered to invite the colleague recommended by the current notary, but Baluwa had already heard that he was going to invite someone, and guessed what the master was thinking, so he had already gone to invite someone.So the prosecutor ordered his wife to come over.A quarter of an hour later, all the people came to the room of the paralyzed old man, and the second notary had also arrived.The two notaries only exchanged a few words to reach an agreement.The notary first read to Noirquier a general, non-specific will format, and then, so to speak, to test the sanity of the testator, the first notary turned to Noirquier. She turned to him and said, "When you make a will, sir, you must state who the beneficiary is."

"Yes." Nouakiye gestured.

"Do you know how much your property is in total?"

"know."

"I'll give you a few gradually increasing numbers. When you think the number I read matches the total amount of your property, you signal me to stop."

"Ok."

The question and answer was solemn, and perhaps never before has the struggle between mind and matter been more visible than it is now.This sight is certainly not majestic because we want to say majestic, but it is at least very strange.Everyone gathered around the old Villefort, the second notary sat down at a table and prepared to take notes, while the first notary stood before the old man and asked questions.

"Your fortune exceeds three hundred thousand francs, is it not?" he asked.

Nouakier indicated so.

"You have 40 francs?" asked the notary.

Nouakier showed no expression.

"50?"

"Still no expression.

"60? 70? 80? 90?"

Noirquier indicated yes.

"You have 90 francs?"

"Yes."

"Is it real estate?" asked the notary.

Nowaquier said no.

"Is it securities?"

Noirquier indicated yes.

"Are all the securities in your own hands?"

Noirquier glanced at Barois, and the old servant went out immediately, and returned in a short while with a small box.

"Will you allow this box to be opened?" asked the notary.

Nouakie said it could be opened.

So the box was opened, and it really contained 90 francs of national bonds.The first notary handed over to his colleague the bonds, one by one, in the same amount as Noirquier had indicated.

"Very well," said the notary, "it is evident that his mind is perfectly sound and unaffected." Then he turned to the paralyzed man. "So," said he, "the nine hundred thousand francs will give you an income of about forty thousand livres a year, in the manner in which you invest them?"

"Yes." Noirquier indicated.

"To whom do you intend to leave this fortune?"

"Oh!" said Madame de Villefort, "do you need to ask? M. Noirquier loves only his granddaughter, Mademoiselle Valentine de Villefort, who has been serving the old man for six years. , she exchanged her grandfather's love, I can almost say that I am grateful to her, what she got was a reward for her filial piety, which is very fair."

There was a gleam in Noirquier's eye, which seemed to express her total disbelief that Madame de Villefort would agree to these considerations, which, moreover, were all her own wild guesses.

"Then you intend to bequeath these several hundred thousand francs to Mademoiselle Valentine Villefort?" asked the notary, who thought that this could already be written, but insisted on first assuring Noirquier. Definitely assent, and let all witnesses to this singular scene see the testator assenting.

Valentine took a step back, her tearful eyes drooping.The old man looked at her for a moment with great tenderness, then, looking at the notary, blinked very noticeably.

"Not she!" said the notary. "Why is it not Mademoiselle Valentine Villefort who you wish to appoint as sole bequest?"

Noirquier indicated that it was not her.

"You are not mistaken, are you?" cried the notary in astonishment. "You do not mean her?"

"It's not her," Noirquier gestured, "it's not her!"

Valentine raised her head, she was stupefied, not because she had lost her inheritance, but because she could not imagine what emotion caused such a decision.However, Noirquier still looked at her with deep tenderness, and the girl immediately shouted: "Ah, dear grandpa, I fully understand that what you don't want to give me is only your property, but your heart will always be left to me." ,yes?"

"Oh, yes, of course it is," said the eyes of the paralyzed old man, closed in such a way that Valentine could not have mistaken them.

"Thank you! Thank you!" whispered the girl.

Madame de Villefort felt an unexpected hope in her heart, and she went to the old man. "So you must have left your fortune to your grandson, Édouard Villefort, my dear Monsieur Noirquier?" asked the mother.

The answer was a ghastly wink in which almost hatred was expressed.

"No," said the notary, "but to your son, M. de Villefort here?"

"No." The old man motioned.

The two notaries looked at each other in astonishment, the Villeforts were ashamed, the other was angry, and both blushed.

"But, grandfather, we are sorry for you?" said Valentine. "Don't you love us?"

The old man's eyes quickly passed over his son and daughter-in-law, and finally rested on Valentine with deep love.

"Oh," said Valentine, "if you love me, then, dear grandpapa, you should connect that love with what you are doing. You know me and know that I never tried to quarrel with you." My mother's estate, they say, has made me rich, too rich. What do you think?"

Noirquier looked at Valentine's hand with burning eyes.

"My hand?" said Valentine.

"Yes." Nouakiye gestured.

"Her hand!" everyone said.

"Ah, gentlemen, you see clearly that all this is meaningless, and that my poor father has lost his mind," said Villefort.

"Ah," exclaimed Valentine suddenly, "I understand! It's my marriage, isn't it, Grandfather?"

"Yes, yes, yes." The paralyzed old man gestured three times in succession, and each time his eyelids were raised, a light flashed in his eyes.

"You blame us for the marriage, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Nonsense," said Villefort.

"Excuse me, sir," said the notary, "but, on the contrary, it is all very logical, and I think it is consistent."

"You don't agree with me marrying M. Franz d'Epinet?"

"I don't agree." The old man's eyes signaled.

"And the reason why you did not leave your property to your granddaughter," cried the notary, "is that her marriage was contrary to your wishes?"

"Yes." Nouakier replied with a gesture.

"So, without this marriage, she is your heir?"

"Yes."

There was a sudden silence around the old man.The two notaries were discussing in low voices.Valentina clasped her hands, and with a grateful smile on her lips, she looked at her grandfather.Villefort bit his thin lips, and Mrs. Villefort couldn't restrain the joy in her heart, and her eyebrows beamed involuntarily.

"But," said Villefort at last, breaking the silence, "I alone have the right to judge whether the marriage is worthy or not. My daughter's affairs must be decided by me, since I propose that she marry M. Franz d'Epinet." , she must marry M. d'Epinet."

Valentine threw herself down on a chair, weeping.

"Sir," said the notary to the old man, "what do you intend to do with your property in the event of Mademoiselle Valentine's marriage to M. Franz?"

The old man was expressionless.

"But do you have an idea of ​​what to do with it?"

"Yes." Nouakiye gestured.

"Bequeathed to a member of your family?"

"No."

"Donate to the poor?"

"Yes."

"But," said the notary, "you know that it is against the law for you to disinherit your son entirely?"

"know."

"So you only dispose of that part of the property that the law allows you to transfer?"

Noirquier was expressionless.

"You insist on disposing of all property?"

"Yes."

"But after a hundred years of your life, others can raise objections to the will."

"Will not."

"My father knew me very well, monsieur," said Villefort; "he knew that his will was sacred to me, and he knew that I could not, from my position, offer it to the poor. Sue."

There was a look of victory in Nouakier's eyes.

"What do you intend, monsieur?" asked the notary to Villefort.

"No, sir, this decision is in line with my father's consistent thinking. I know that my father's decision will not be changed, so I follow his wishes. The 90 francs are going to be lost from my family to benefit the poorhouse. But, I I will never give in to the waywardness of the old man, I will act according to my conscience."

Then Villefort and his wife withdrew from the room, leaving his father to make his will.The will was drawn up on the same day, and then people were invited to testify, the old man agreed, and finally it was sealed in public and handed over to the family lawyer, Mr. Deschamps, for preservation.

(End of this chapter)