The Son of Monte-Cristo, Volume I

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The Son of Monte-Cristo, Volume I (of 2), by

Alexandre Dumas père
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Title: The Son of Monte-Cristo, Volume I (of 2)
Author: Alexandre Dumas père

Release Date: July 7, 2007 [eBook #22018]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SON OF MONTE-CRISTO, VOLUME I (OF 2)***
E-text prepared by Juergen Lohnert, Martin Pettit, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)

Transcriber's Note:
Obvious typographical errors have been correct, and inconsistent spelling has been made consistent.
This volume does not have any illustrations.

The Works of Alexandre Dumas in Thirty Volumes
THE SON OF MONTE-CRISTO
VOLUME ONE
Illustrated with Drawings on Wood by Eminent French and American Artists

[Illustration: Publisher's logo]
New York P. F. Collier and Son MCMIV

CONTENTS
I. A MARRIAGE CONTRACT AND ITS END 3
II. A CALM BRIDE 8
III. A FAMILY TRAGEDY 13
IV. A PECULIAR TRIAL 16
V. THE RESULT OF THE CATASTROPHE 20
VI. BENEDETTO, THE MURDERER 23
VII. A MIRACLE 29
VIII. THE SENTENCE OF DEATH 35
IX. THE EDITORIAL ROOMS 43
X. PONTOON NO. 2 50
XI. THE DEAD LIVE 55
XII. THE CONFESSION 59
XIII. FORGIVENESS 72
XIV. THE RAT-KING 78
XV. IN THE BAGNIO 88
XVI. THE ESCAPE 94
XVII. IN THE MOUNTAIN PASS OF OLIOLLES 98
XVIII. THE MOTHER 107
XIX. ON THE SEA 111
XX. MONTE-CRISTO 116
XXI. WITH THE PANDURS 127
XXII. THE QUEEN OF FLOWERS 132
XXIII. GREEN, WHITE AND RED 138
XXIV. A FIGHT IN THE STREETS 150
XXV. THE MASKS FALL 152
XXVI. LOVE OF COUNTRY 156
XXVII. SHADOWS OF THE PAST 160
XXVIII. THE CONSPIRATORS 164
XXIX. FATHER AND SON 168
XXX. IN THE WELL 178
XXXI. SPERO 186
XXXII. ECARTE 194
XXXIII. FORWARD! 198
XXXIV. SERGEANT COUCOU 204
XXXV. MISS CLARY 207
XXXVI. A MOTHER 215
XXXVII. THE RING 218
XXXVIII. "SEARCH FOR THE WIFE!" 226
XXXIX. DEPEND ONLY ON YOURSELF 233
XL. THE SACRIFICE 240
XLI. HOW AND WHERE COUCOU TOOK LEAVE 249
XLII. IN THE SPIDER'S WEB 263
XLIII. MANUELITA 273
XLIV. THE HUMORS OF A LADY-MILLIONNAIRE 291
XLV. MALDAR 305
XLVI. MISS CLARY'S SECRET 310
XLVII. AN AMERICAN WAGER 314
XLVIII. THE WEDDING BREAKFAST 325
XLIX. MALDAR'S FAREWELL 331
L. THE HOLY SIGNAL 336
LI. UARGLA 340
LII. CAPTAIN JOLIETTE 342
LIII. THE LION IN CONFLICT WITH THE LION 345
LIV. MEDJE 352
LV. "DO NOT DIE, CAPTAIN!" 363
LVI. THE FLIGHT 368
LVII. AT THE FOOT OF THE KIOBEH 370
LVIII. MONTE-CRISTO BECOMES EDMOND DANTES 374
LIX. EDMOND DANTES 377
LX. SECRETS 381

THE SON OF MONTE-CRISTO
CHAPTER I
A MARRIAGE CONTRACT AND ITS END
In the month of July of the year 1829, a man created a great sensation in Paris, and even attracted the attention of the lions of society. Where he came from--who he was--what was his past life--none knew; and the mystery surrounding him only tended to make the hero of the season more interesting.
The Count of Monte-Cristo, from Italy--from Malta--no one knew whence--had unlimited credit with the banking house of Danglars, one of the largest in Paris; owned the finest mansion--a superb villa--at Auteuil, and the handsomest turnout on the road, which he presented to a banker's wife, without letting any one know his reason for doing so; all this was sufficient to make him the central point around which revolved the social gossip of the day. But, besides this, the handsome stranger makes his appearance at the theatres in the company of a lady in Grecian dress, whose transcendent beauty and countless diamonds awake alike admiration and cupidity. Like moths around the flame, society flutters about the legendary count, and it is principally the golden youth who find in him their centre of attraction. Among the latter were more especially Albert Morcerf, the son of a general, Debray, a young and talented attaché at the Foreign Office, Beauchamp, and Chateau-Renaud, who served as the asteroids of the new star in the Parisian sky.
Sometimes they were joined at those famous dinners which only a Monte-Cristo understood how to give, by a Count Andrea Cavalcanti, who at first appeared there with his father, Major Cavalcanti. Although he was a stranger, he was received in society through his acquaintance with Monte-Cristo and with Baron Danglars, in whose banking house he had a large sum on deposit.
The young count, a perfect Apollo, with classically-cut features, did not fail to produce an impression upon Eugenie, a proud, black-eyed brunette, the only daughter of the millionnaire Danglars; and as the millions of the father, in conjunction with the peculiar beauty of the daughter, began to interest the count, it was not long before they thought of marriage. Danglars, who had been a heavy loser in certain speculations of which the public was ignorant, hoped to rehabilitate himself with the millions of his prospective son-in-law, and therefore there was nothing to prevent the marriage of the proud Eugenie and the handsome Andrea.
One July evening, representatives of the high financial society, and a few members of the aristocracy, were invited to