World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 110 The Telegraph Room (2)
The voice of this speech, because of the hurt of self-esteem and the infringement of interests, seemed very uncoordinated, and the earl was secretly happy when he heard it. "But it seems to me," said Monte Cristo, after a moment's silence, "that, if I ask your pardon before I say this, it seems to me that M. Noirquier thinks that Valentine should not, because her fiancé's The father was the very man whom the old man hated, but though Monsieur Noirquier did not bequeath Valentine the estate for this reason, he would not have blamed the lovely Edward on the same grounds."

"Is it not, monsieur!" cried Madame de Villefort, in an indescribable tone, "is it not very unfair, utterly unfair? Poor Edward, like Valentine, is a laborer." Grandchildren of Monsieur Vaquier, but if Valentine does not marry Monsieur Franz, Monsieur Noirquier will leave her all the property. In addition, Edward is the direct heir of the family, but Valentine Even if it is true that Na will not inherit her grandfather's property, she is still three times richer than Edward."

The count dismissed the conversation at once, so he just listened quietly and said nothing more.

"Well," said Villefort, "well, Monsieur Comte, I don't think I shall speak of the unpleasantness of our family. Yes, it is true that my property will benefit the poor, who are today Is a real rich man. Yes, my father has taken away the legal property that I can hope for without reason, but I still have to act according to my reason and my conscience. I have promised Mr. d'Epinet Transfer the interest of this sum to him, and the money will definitely be transferred to him, even if I have poor clothes and poor food, I should take it for granted."

"But," said Madame de Villefort, always trying to draw the words to the thoughts that haunted her heart, "shall I speak this unpleasant incident to M. d'Epinay, and let him take back what he had said? , that might be better."

"Oh, what a disaster!" exclaimed Villefort.

"Wouldn't it hurt?" asked Monte Cristo.

"Of course i!" went on Malford, softening his tone. "A marriage break-up, even if only for money reasons, is always very bad for a girl.Moreover, rumors that I had hoped to silence would be fueled under the circumstances.No, it is absolutely impossible.If M. d'Epinet had been a man of honor, he would have been more loyal after Valentine's loss of inheritance than he had been before;No, this is not possible. "

"I am of the same mind as M. de Villefort," said Monte Cristo, looking at Madame de Villefort. "M. d'Epinay will be back soon, at least so I hear, and if I am friendly enough to give him advice, I will." I will persuade him to settle the marriage properly so as not to change his mind in the future. I will play this card, and M. de Villefort will end with dignity in the end."

M. de Villefort, beaming with joy, rose to his feet, while his wife grew slightly paler.

"Very well," said Villefort, "that is what I want to know, and I will take the advice of a counselor like you." He said, holding out his hand to Monte Cristo, "so you may as well make today's Act as if nothing happened and our plans have not changed in any way."

"Monsieur," said the count, "the world is very unfair, but I can assure you that the world will be grateful to you for such a decision, and your friends will be proud of you, and Epinet Monsieur, even if he had married Mademoiselle de Villefort without a dowry, which he would never have, he would have enjoyed himself in such a family, whose members were virtuous, and would have made sacrifices to keep their promises and fulfill their obligations." The count said, Standing up while speaking, ready to say goodbye.

"Are you going, Monsieur the Count?" asked Madame de Villefort.

"I have to take my leave, ma'am, I'm only here to remind you of our appointment on Saturday."

"Are you afraid we will forget?"

"You are very kind, Madame, but M. de Villefort's business is so important and sometimes so urgent..."

"My husband has promised, monsieur," said Madame de Villefort. "As you have just seen, my husband will never renege on his promise, even if he knows that he will do harm and gain nothing, and now there is nothing to gain but nothing to lose."

"Well," asked Villefort, "this meeting is at your apartment on the Champs-Elysées?"

"No," said Monte Cristo, "that makes your honor all the more remarkable. It is in the country."

"in countryside?"

"Yes."

"Where? Not far from Paris, is it?"

"Just at the gates of Paris, half an hour's walk out of the city, in Auteuil."

"At Auteuil!" exclaimed Villefort. "Ah, indeed, Madame told me that you lived at Auteuil, and she was at your apartment after the accident. Where is Auteuil?" ?”

"Rue La Fontaine."

"Rue La Fontaine!" said Villefort, his voice choking. "What date?"

"number 28."

"Ah," exclaimed Villefort, "so you have bought M. Saint-Méran's house?"

"Monsieur de Saint-Meran?" asked Monte Cristo. "Is this house M. de Saint-Meran's?"

"Yes," said Madame de Villefort, "I don't know whether you believe it or not, Monsieur de Comtesse."

"what's up?"

"You think the house is beautiful, don't you?"

"Extremely Beautiful."

"But my husband never wants to live there."

"Oh!" said Monte Cristo, "in truth, monsieur, it is a prejudice, for what reason I cannot say."

"I don't like Auteuil, sir," said the prosecutor, trying to control himself.

"I hope I don't disappoint too much," said Monte Cristo anxiously. "You don't like the place, but you don't refuse to appreciate it?"

"No, Monsieur Count... I would rather... Believe me, I will go if I can," stammered Villefort.

"Oh," said Monte Cristo, "I don't like any more excuses. I'll be waiting for you at six o'clock on Saturday afternoon. If you don't come, I think, what do I know? I think, this house No one lived in it for 6 years, so there's some kind of gruesome legend, some kind of gory story."

"I will, Monsieur Comte, I will," said Villefort hastily.

"Thank you," said Monte Cristo, "and now you will allow me to take my leave."

"Well, you said just now that you must go, Monsieur de Villefort," said Madame de Villefort; "I thought you were going to tell us what we had to do, but then interrupted you by talking about something else." gone."

"To tell you the truth, Madame," said Monte Cristo, "I do not know whether I have the courage to tell you where I am going."

"Ah, go ahead and talk."

"I'm going to see something, as I usually do, just to see what's going on, but it's something that keeps me thinking about it for hours at a time."

"what?"

"The telegraph room. Hey, that's too bad, it's still missing."

"The telegraph room!" said Madame de Villefort.

"Oh, my God, yes, the telegraph house. Sometimes I see the black folded arm rising high in the bright sun on the hill at the end of the road, like a huge beetle stretching out its Claws. I could swear I get so excited every time I see it because I keep thinking that these weird signals are cutting through the sky and flying 300 miles away with no mistakes. Sitting alone at a table, His will is unknown to others, and then the signals convey his will to another man at the other end of the line, also sitting at the same table. It is only by the power of the will of the Almighty that these signals It can penetrate the dark clouds and fly across the blue sky. I can't help but believe that there are gods in the sky, there are elves in the sky, and ghosts in the ground. In short, I can't help laughing at the thought of this illusory mysterious power. However, I never want to get closer and take a closer look at these white Belly, big beetles with thin and black claws, because I was afraid that under the stone wings of these beetles, I would meet the unsmiling, arrogant, full of science, magic and witchcraft. But one day, I learned The protagonist of every telegraph room is a poor clerk with an annual salary of only 1200 francs. He has to keep his eyes closed all day long, but he does not observe the starry sky like an astronomer, does not watch the waves like a fisherman, and does not watch like a leisurely person. Instead, I stared closely at the beetle with a white belly and thin and black claws that was in contact with him four or five miles away. At this time, curiosity arose in my heart, and I wanted to take a closer look at this moving chrysalis, watching How do the strands in the chrysalis shell be picked up one by one, weaving a scene and passing it to the chrysalis below."

"So you want to go to the telegraph room?"

"I want to go there and have a look."

"Which telegraph office? The Home Office or the Observatory?"

"Oh, no! There will be people there who will force me to understand things I don't want to know, and they will explain without my asking a mystery they don't know much about themselves. Come on! My knowledge of insects The hallucinations must remain, for I have lost the original illusion of man, and that is enough. So I do not want to go to the telegraph office of the Ministry of the Interior, nor to the telegraph office of the Observatory. I want to visit the telegraph office in the wilderness , where you can meet the spotless good old people who have been dormant in the small newspaper building for many years."

"You are an extraordinary lord," said Villefort.

"Which line do you say I'm going to investigate?"

"It should be the busiest line at this time."

"Very good! Is that the Spanish route?"

"That's right. Would you like to get a letter of introduction from the minister, and then he can explain to you..."

"No," said Monte Cristo, "on the contrary, as I told you just now, I did not intend to go there to find out anything, and when I did, the telegram would no longer be a telegram, but a descha. Thiel, a Britannian soldier in France (1368-1458), served as the police chief of Paris. Mr. or Montalive was the French Minister of the Interior (1766-1823). Issued by Mr., Bayonne French place name. Chief of Police The received signal, the whole meaning is only two Greek words, that is, Τηλε.γραρΨειγ (telegraph). The black claw beetle and the dreadful pure words and my reverence for them, I want to live forever I keep it in my heart."

"Go, then, for it will be dark in two hours, and you won't be able to see anything."

"Ah, I'm in a hurry when you say that. Where's the nearest telegraph office?"

"Is it on the Baronna Road?"

"That's fine, let's say it's on Bayonna Road."

"That's Futilon's telegraph room."

"What about after Futilon?"

"I think it's the watchtower from Montraley."

"Thank you, and good-bye! On Saturday I will tell you about my impressions from my visit."

The count came to the door just in time to meet the two notaries, who had just completed the notarization of the will disinheriting Valentine.

(End of this chapter)