Part 91 (1/2)
”So much the better,” replied Monte Cristo; ”as that poor Ed to be loved by you Death is about to return to the tomb, the phantom to retire in darkness”
”What do you say, Edmond?”
”I say, since you command me, Mercedes, I ? Whence have you these ideas of death?”
”You do not suppose that, publicly outraged in the face of a whole theatre, in the presence of your friends and those of your son--challenged by a boy ill glory in iveness as if it were a victory--you do not suppose that I can for one moment wish to live What I nity, and that strength which rendered th was my life With one word you have crushed it, and I die”
”But the duel will not take place, Edive?”
”It will take place,” said Monte Cristo, in a most soleround,towards Monte Cristo, but, suddenly stopping, ”Edmond,” said she, ”there is a God above us, since you live and since I have seen you again; I trust to hi his assistance I trust to your word; you have said that my son should live, have you not?”
”Yes, madame, he shall live,” said Monte Cristo, surprised that without more emotion Mercedes had accepted the heroic sacrifice he made for her Mercedes extended her hand to the count
”Edmond,” said she, and her eyes ith tears while looking at hireat the action you have just performed, how sublime to have taken pity on a poor woainst her, Alas, I arief more than with years, and cannot now remind my Edmond by a smile, or by a look, of that Mercedes who Ah, believe me, Edmond, as I told you, I too have suffered much; I repeat, it isone joy to recall, without preserving a single hope; but that proves that all is not yet over No, it is not finished; I feel it by what remains in my heart Oh, I repeat it, Edrand; it is sublime”
”Do you say so now, Mercedes?--then ould you say if you knew the extent of the sacrifice Icreated the world and fertilized chaos, had paused in the work to spare an angel the tears that ht one day flow for mortal sins fro was in readiness and the moment had coood--suppose he had snuffed out the sun and tossed the world back into eternal night--then--even then, Mercedes, you could not i my life at this moment” Mercedes looked at the count in a hich expressed at the saratitude Monte Cristo pressed his forehead on his burning hands, as if his brain could no longer bear alone the weight of its thoughts ”Edmond,” said Mercedes, ”I have but one word more to say to you” The count smiled bitterly ”Edmond,” continued she, ”you will see that if one; if Mercedes, in short, no longer resembles her former self in her features, you will see that her heart is still the sa ain, and have found you as noble and as great as formerly you were Adieu, Edmond, adieu, and thank you”
But the count did not answer Mercedes opened the door of the study and had disappeared before he had recovered froeance had plunged hie which conveyed Madame de Morcerf away rolled on the pavement of the Champs-Elysees, and made Monte Cristo raise his head ”What a fool I was,” said he, ”not to tear e
After Mercedes had left Monte Cristo, he fell into profound glooht seeetic ue ”What?” said he to hihts were nearly burnt out, and the servants aiting impatiently in the anteroo, which I have reared with so le touch, a word, a breath! Yes, this self, of whoht so much, of whoeons of the Chateau d'If, and whoreat, will be but a lump of clay to-ret; for is not the destruction of the vital principle, the repose to which everything is tending, to which every unhappy being aspires,--is not this the repose ofto attain by the painful process of starvation when Faria appeared in eon? What is death for me? One step farther into rest,--two, perhaps, into silence
”No, it is not existence, then, that I regret, but the ruin of projects so slowly carried out, so laboriously fraht it would be propitious It is not God's will that they should be accomplished This burden, alht to bear to the end, was too great for th, and I was compelled to lay it down in the ain become a fatalist, whom fourteen years of despair and ten of hope had rendered a believer in providence? And all this--all this, because ; because it has awakened and has begun to beat again, because I have yielded to the pain of the emotion excited in my breast by a wo each moment more absorbed in the anticipation of the dreadful sacrifice for the morrohich Mercedes had accepted, ”yet, it is ih selfishness consent to th; it is impossible that she can carry to such a point maternal love, or rather deliriueration No, she must have conceived some pathetic scene; she will come and throw herself between us; and ould be sublime here will there appear ridiculous” The blush of pride ht passed through his mind ”Ridiculous?” repeated he; ”and the ridicule will fall on erating to his own mind the anticipated ill-fortune of the next day, to which he had conde Mercedes to spare her son, the count at last exclaienerosity so far as to putman to aim at He will never believe that my death was suicide; and yet it is important for the honor of my memory,--and this surely is not vanity, but a justifiable pride,--it is important the world should know that I have consented, by my free will, to stop my arm, already raised to strike, and that with the arainst others I have strucka pen, he drew a paper from a secret drawer in his desk, and wrote at the bottom of the document (which was no other than his will, made since his arrival in Paris) a sort of codicil, clearly explaining the nature of his death ”I do this, O my God,” said he, with his eyes raised to heaven, ”asten years considered eance, and other wretches, like Morcerf, Danglars, Villefort, even Morcerf hiine that chance has freed them from their enemy Let them know, on the contrary, that their punishment, which had been decreed by providence, is only delayed by h they escape it in this world, it awaits the tiloorief,--the first rays ofpierced his s, and shone upon the pale blue paper on which he had just inscribed his justification of providence It was just five o'clock in the h reached his ear He turned his head, looked around hih to convince hi the door of the drawing-rooing down and her beautiful head thrown back She had been standing at the door, to prevent his going out without seeing her, until sleep, which the young cannot resist, had overpowered her fra The noise of the door did not awaken her, and Monte Cristo gazed at her with affectionate regret ”She reot I had a daughter” Then, shaking his head sorrowfully, ”Poor Haidee,” said he; ”she wished to seeOh, I cannot go without taking leave of her; I cannot die without confiding her to soained his seat, and wrote under the other lines:-- ”I bequeath to Maximilian Morrel, captain of Spahis,--and son of my former patron, Pierre Morrel, shi+powner at Marseilles,--the sum of twenty millions, a part of which may be offered to his sister Julia and brother-in-law Emmanuel, if he does not fear this increase of fortune may mar their happiness These twenty rotto at Monte Cristo, of which Bertuccio knows the secret If his heart is free, and he will hter of Ali Pasha of Yanina, whoht up with the love of a father, and who has shown the love and tenderness of a daughter for me, he will thus accomplish my last wish This will has already constituted Haidee heiress of the rest of land, Austria, and Holland, furniture in my different palaces and houses, and which without the twenty acies to my servants, may still a the last line when a cry behind him made him start, and the pen fell from his hand ”Haidee,” said he, ”did you read it?”
”Oh,thus at such an hour? Why are you bequeathing all your fortune toon a journey, dear child,” said Monte Cristo, with an expression of infinite tenderness and melancholy; ”and if any misfortune should happen to irl, with an authoritative tone the count had never observed before, and which startled him ”Well, if any misfortune happen to hter to be happy” Haidee s, my lord?” said she
”The wise ood to think of death'”
”Well, if you die,” said she, ”bequeath your fortune to others, for if you die I shall require nothing;” and, taking the paper, she tore it in four pieces, and threw it into theexhausted her strength, she fell not asleep this ti on the floor The count leaned over her and raised her in his ar that sweet pale face, those lovely eyes closed, that beautiful form motionless and to all appearance lifeless, the idea occurred to him for the first tihter loves a father
”Alas,” ht, then, have been happy yet” Then he carried Haidee to her roo to his study, which he shut quickly this tiain copied the destroyed will As he was finishi+ng, the sound of a cabriolet entering the yard was heard Monte Cristo approached the , and saw Maxiht ”Good,” said he; ”it was time,”--and he sealed his ith three seals A -room, and went to open the door himself Morrel was there; he had come twenty minutes before the time appointed ”I am perhaps coe that I have not closed ht, nor has any one in eous assurance, to recover myself” Monte Cristo could not resist this proof of affection; he not only extended his hand to the young man, but flew to him with open arms ”Morrel,” said he, ”it is a happy day for me, to feel that I a, Emmanuel; you will come withcaptain
”But if I rong”-- ”I watched you during the whole scene of that challenge yesterday; I have been thinking of your firht, and I said to myself that justice er to be relied on”
”But, Morrel, Albert is your friend?”
”Simply an acquaintance, sir”
”You met on the same day you first saw me?”
”Yes, that is true; but I should not have recollected it if you had not re the bell once, ”Look” said he to Ali, who came immediately, ”take that to my solicitor It is o and examine it”
”What?” said Morrel, ”you dead?”
”Yes; , dear friend? But what did you do yesterday after you left me?”
”I went to Tortoni's, where, as I expected, I found Beaucha theed?”
”Listen, count; the affair is serious and unavoidable”
”Did you doubt it!”
”No; the offence was public, and every one is already talking of it”
”Well?”
”Well, I hoped to get an exchange of arms,--to substitute the sword for the pistol; the pistol is blind”
”Have you succeeded?” asked Monte Cristo quickly, with an ileam of hope
”No; for your skill with the sword is so well known”
”Ah?--who has betrayed me?”
”The skilful swordsman whom you have conquered”
”And you failed?”
”They positively refused”
”Morrel,” said the count, ”have you ever seen me fire a pistol?”
”Never”
”Well, we have time; look” Monte Cristo took the pistols he held in his hand when Mercedes entered, and fixing an ace of clubs against the iron plate, with four shots he successively shot off the four sides of the club At each shot Morrel turned pale He examined the bullets hich Monte Cristo perforer than buckshot ”It is astonishi+ng,” said he ”Look, E towards Monte Cristo, ”Count,” said he, ”in the name of all that is dear to you, I entreat you not to kill Albert!--the unhappy youth has a ht,” said Monte Cristo; ”and I have none” These words were uttered in a tone which made Morrel shudder ”You are the offended party, count”
”Doubtless; what does that imply?”
”That you will fire first”