Monte-Cristos Daughter | Page 4

to me.
She is equally reticent as to the rumors afloat regarding her. You are,
doubtless, aware that she is reputed to be the daughter of a French
banker who mysteriously disappeared. This she neither denies nor
affirms; she merely maintains an obstinate silence whenever it is
mentioned in her presence."
"Your recital interests me greatly, Captain," said Monte-Cristo. "You
are more privileged than myself in that you enjoy the acquaintance of
this eccentric young lady, but she does not seem to repose a greater
degree of confidence in you than in me, for she has told you absolutely
nothing."
"Well," said Joliette, "you will see her to-night, at any rate, despite her
prohibition. She cannot keep you out of the theatre, for the box is
purchased and here are the tickets."
"But she will be angry with you, Captain," said the Count, slyly, "for
bringing such an undesirable auditor. I had better go alone and occupy
some obscure seat. I do not wish you to forfeit Mlle. d' Armilly's smiles
for me."
"Pshaw!" replied Joliette, "there is plainly some mistake. She does not

know you, will not recognize you. She has certainly confounded you
with some one else."
"Perhaps so," said Monte-Cristo; "but women's memories are good, and
I warn you that you are taking a grave risk."
"None whatever, I assure you. It is more than likely that, in answering
your note as she did, Mlle. d' Armilly was influenced solely by caprice.
If she should ask me after the performance who was my companion, I
have only to give you a fictitious name and she will be none the wiser."
That evening Captain Joliette and the Count of Monte-Cristo made
their way through the dense throng in front of the Apollo Theatre, and
were finally shown into a lower proscenium box commanding a full
view of the stage. Monte-Cristo instinctively sought refuge behind the
curtains and drapery of the box, where he could sit unobserved and yet
be enabled to closely scrutinize the mysterious singer who appeared to
have such an intense aversion for him.
Although still early the house was already crowded in every part, and
throngs were unable to gain even admission. The vast audience was
made up chiefly of the best and most fashionable society in Rome. It
included many of the highest nobility, who occupied the boxes they
held for the season. Everywhere the bright colored, elegant toilets of
the ladies met the eye, while the gentlemen were brilliant in fête attire.
Fresh young faces and noble old visages were side by side, the beauty
of youth and the impressiveness of age, and the male countenances
were not less striking than those of the females. Truly, it was a grand
assemblage, one that should delight the heart and flatter the vanity of
even the most capricious of prima donnas.
At first there was a low hum of conversation throughout the theatre,
together with preliminary visits from box to box, but the flutter began
to subside as the musicians appeared, and by the time they were in their
places in the orchestra absolute silence reigned. When the conductor
made his appearance he was greeted with a burst of applause, which he
gracefully acknowledged with a profound bow. Then he grasped his
bâton, tapped lightly upon the rack in front of him, and the delightful

overture to Donizetti's great work commenced.
At its conclusion the curtain slowly rose and the opera began. Mlle. d'
Armilly came forth in due course, and the house fairly rung with
plaudits of welcome. She sang divinely and acted with consummate art,
receiving loud encores for all her numbers. Monte-Cristo who was
passionately fond of music, caught the prevailing enthusiasm and
gradually emerged from the shelter of the protecting curtains and
drapery. He had scanned Mlle. d' Armilly carefully through his
opera-glass and was thoroughly convinced that she was a perfect
stranger to him, although now and then a tone, a gesture or a movement
of the body vaguely conveyed a sense of recognition of some tone,
gesture or movement he had heard or seen somewhere before. The
Count, however, reflected that all women possessed certain points of
resemblance in voice and bearing; he, therefore, passed the present
coincidences over as purely accidental, thinking no more of them.
For a long while Mlle. d' Armilly did not glance at the box occupied by
Captain Joliette and the Count of Monte-Cristo,[5] and it was not until
the former threw her a costly wreath of flowers that she turned her eyes
in that direction. She was about bowing her acknowledgments, when
her gaze rested upon the stately form of the Count. Instantly she paused
in the centre of the stage, turned deadly pale beneath the paint of her
make-up, and, with a loud scream,