apartment. There will be no necessity for me to make a note of these
particulars, for there, before my eyes, beneath my feet, all around me,
I have the plan sketched with all the living reality of truth." After
making the tour of the garden a second time, the count re-entered his
carriage, while Bertuccio, who perceived the thoughtful expression of
his master's features, took his seat beside the driver without uttering
a word. The carriage proceeded rapidly towards Paris.
That same evening, upon reaching his abode in the Champs Elysees, the
Count of Monte Cristo went over the whole building with the air of one
long acquainted with each nook or corner. Nor, although preceding the
party, did he once mistake one door for another, or commit the smallest
error when choosing any particular corridor or staircase to conduct him
to a place or suite of rooms he desired to visit. Ali was his principal
attendant during this nocturnal survey. Having given various orders to
Bertuccio relative to the improvements and alterations he desired
to make in the house, the Count, drawing out his watch, said to the
attentive Nubian, "It is half-past eleven o'clock; Haidee will soon be
here. Have the French attendants been summoned to await her coming?" Ali
extended his hands towards the apartments destined for the fair Greek,
which were so effectually concealed by means of a tapestried entrance,
that it would have puzzled the most curious to have divined their
existence. Ali, having pointed to the apartments, held up three fingers
of his right hand, and then, placing it beneath his head, shut his eyes,
and feigned to sleep. "I understand," said Monte Cristo, well acquainted
with Ali's pantomime; "you mean to tell me that three female
attendants await their new mistress in her sleeping-chamber." Ali, with
considerable animation, made a sign in the affirmative.
"Madame will be tired to-night," continued Monte Cristo, "and will, no
doubt, wish to rest. Desire the French attendants not to weary her with
questions, but merely to pay their respectful duty and retire. You will
also see that the Greek servants hold no communication with those of
this country." He bowed. Just at that moment voices were heard hailing
the concierge. The gate opened, a carriage rolled down the avenue, and
stopped at the steps. The count hastily descended, presented himself
at the already opened carriage door, and held out his hand to a young
woman, completely enveloped in a green silk mantle heavily embroidered
with gold. She raised the hand extended towards her to her lips, and
kissed it with a mixture of love and respect. Some few words passed
between them in that sonorous language in which Homer makes his gods
converse. The young woman spoke with an expression of deep tenderness,
while the count replied with an air of gentle gravity. Preceded by Ali,
who carried a rose-colored flambeau in his hand, the new-comer, who was
no other than the lovely Greek who had been Monte Cristo's companion in
Italy, was conducted to her apartments, while the count retired to the
pavilion reserved for himself. In another hour every light in the house
was extinguished, and it might have been thought that all its inmates
slept.
Chapter 46. Unlimited Credit.
About two o'clock the following day a calash, drawn by a pair of
magnificent English horses, stopped at the door of Monte Cristo and a
person, dressed in a blue coat, with buttons of a similar color, a
white waistcoat, over which was displayed a massive gold chain, brown
trousers, and a quantity of black hair descending so low over his
eyebrows as to leave it doubtful whether it were not artificial so
little did its jetty glossiness assimilate with the deep wrinkles
stamped on his features--a person, in a word, who, although evidently
past fifty, desired to be taken for not more than forty, bent forwards
from the carriage door, on the panels of which were emblazoned the
armorial bearings of a baron, and directed his groom to inquire at the
porter's lodge whether the Count of Monte Cristo resided there, and if
he were within. While waiting, the occupant of the carriage surveyed the
house, the garden as far as he could distinguish it, and the livery
of servants who passed to and fro, with an attention so close as to be
somewhat impertinent. His glance was keen but showed cunning rather than
intelligence; his lips were straight, and so thin that, as they closed,
they were drawn in over the teeth; his cheek-bones were broad and
projecting, a never-failing proof of audacity and craftiness; while the
flatness of his forehead, and the enlargement of the back of his skull,
which rose much higher than his large and coarsely shaped ears, combined
to form a physiognomy anything but prepossessing, save in the eyes of
such as considered that the owner of so splendid an equipage must needs
be all that was admirable and enviable, more especially when they gazed
on the enormous diamond that glittered in his shirt, and the red ribbon
that depended from his button-hole.
The groom, in obedience to his orders, tapped at the window of the
porter's lodge, saying, "Pray, does not the Count of Monte Cristo live
here?"
"His excellency does reside here," replied the concierge; "but"--added
he, glancing an inquiring look at Ali. Ali returned a sign in the
negative. "But what?" asked the groom.
"His excellency does not receive visitors to-day."
"Then here is my master's card,--the Baron Danglars. You will take it
to the count, and say that, although in haste to attend the Chamber, my
master came out of his way to have the honor of calling upon him."
"I never speak to his excellency," replied the concierge; "the valet de
chambre will carry your message." The groom returned to the carriage.
"Well?" asked Danglars. The man, somewhat crest-fallen by the rebuke he
had received, repeated what the concierge had said. "Bless me," murmured
Baron Danglars, "this must surely be a prince instead of a count by
their styling him 'excellency,' and only venturing to address him by the
medium of his valet de chambre. However, it does not signify; he has a
letter of credit on me, so I must see him when he requires his money."
Then, throwing himself back in his carriage, Danglars called out to
his coachman, in a voice that might be heard across the road, "To the
Chamber of Deputies."
Apprised in time of the visit paid him, Monte Cristo had, from behind
the blinds of his pavilion, as minutely observed the baron, by means of
an excellent lorgnette, as Danglars himself had scrutinized the house,
garden, and servants. "That fellow has a decidedly bad countenance,"
said the count in a tone of disgust, as he shut up his glass into its
ivory case. "How comes it that all do not retreat in aversion at sight
of that flat, receding, serpent-like forehead, round, vulture-shaped
head, and sharp-hooked nose, like the beak of a buzzard? Ali," cried
he, striking at the same time on the brazen gong. Ali appeared. "Summon
Bertuccio," said the count. Almost immediately Bertuccio entered the
apartment. "Did your excellency desire to see me?" inquired he. "I did,"
replied the count. "You no doubt observed the horses standing a few
minutes since at the door?"
"Certainly, your excellency. I noticed them for their remarkable
beauty."
"Then how comes it," said Monte Cristo with a frown, "that, when I
desired you to purchase for me the finest pair of horses to be found in
Paris, there is another pair, fully as fine as mine, not in my stables?"
At the look of displeasure, added to the angry tone in which the count
spoke, Ali turned pale and held down his head. "It is not your fault, my
good Ali," said the count in the Arabic language, and with a gentleness
none would have thought him capable of showing, either in voice or
face--"it is not your fault. You do not understand the points of English
horses." The countenance of poor Ali recovered its serenity. "Permit me
to assure your excellency," said Bertuccio, "that the horses you speak
of were not to be sold when I purchased yours." Monte Cristo shrugged
his shoulders. "It seems, sir steward," said he, "that you have yet to
learn that all things are to be sold to such as care to pay the price."
"His excellency is not, perhaps, aware that M. Danglars gave 16,000
francs for his horses?"
"Very well. Then offer him double that sum; a banker never loses an
opportunity of doubling his capital."
"Is your excellency really in earnest?" inquired the steward. Monte
Cristo regarded the person who durst presume to doubt his words with
the look of one equally surprised and displeased. "I have to pay a visit
this evening," replied he. "I desire that these horses, with completely
new harness, may be at the door with my carriage." Bertuccio bowed, and
was about to retire; but when he reached the door, he paused, and then
said, "At what o'clock does your excellency wish the carriage and horses
to be ready?"
"At five o'clock," replied the count.
"I beg your excellency's pardon," interposed the steward in a
deprecating manner, "for venturing to observe that it is already two
o'clock."
"I am perfectly aware of that fact," answered Monte Cristo calmly. Then,
turning towards Ali, he said, "Let all the horses in my stables be led
before the windows of your young lady, that she may select those she
prefers for her carriage. Request her also to oblige me by saying
whether it is her pleasure to dine with me; if so, let dinner be served
in her apartments. Now, leave me, and desire my valet de chambre to
come hither." Scarcely had Ali disappeared when the valet entered the
chamber. "Monsieur Baptistin," said the count, "you have been in my
service one year, the time I generally give myself to judge of the
merits or demerits of those about me. You suit me very well." Baptistin
bowed low. "It only remains for me to know whether I also suit you?"
"Oh, your excellency!" exclaimed Baptistin eagerly.
"Listen, if you please, till I have finished speaking," replied Monte
Cristo. "You receive 1,500 francs per annum for your services here--more
than many a brave subaltern, who continually risks his life for his
country, obtains. You live in a manner far superior to many clerks who
work ten times harder than you do for their money. Then, though yourself
a servant, you have other servants to wait upon you, take care of your
clothes, and see that your linen is duly prepared for you. Again, you
make a profit upon each article you purchase for my toilet, amounting in
the course of a year to a sum equalling your wages."
"Nay, indeed, your excellency."
"I am not condemning you for this, Monsieur Baptistin; but let your
profits end here. It would be long indeed ere you would find so
lucrative a post as that you have now the good fortune to fill. I
neither ill-use nor ill-treat my servants by word or action. An error
I readily forgive, but wilful negligence or forgetfulness, never. My
commands are ordinarily short, clear, and precise; and I would rather be
obliged to repeat my words twice, or even three times, than they should
be misunderstood. I am rich enough to know whatever I desire to know,
and I can promise you I am not wanting in curiosity. If, then, I
should learn that you had taken upon yourself to speak of me to any one
favorably or unfavorably, to comment on my actions, or watch my conduct,
that very instant you would quit my service. You may now retire. I never
caution my servants a second time--remember that." Baptistin bowed, and
was proceeding towards the door. "I forgot to mention to you," said the
count, "that I lay yearly aside a certain sum for each servant in my
establishment; those whom I am compelled to dismiss lose (as a matter of
course) all participation in this money, while their portion goes to the
fund accumulating for those domestics who remain with me, and among whom
it will be divided at my death. You have been in my service a year, your
fund has already begun to accumulate--let it continue to do so."
This address, delivered in the presence of Ali, who, not understanding
one word of the language in which it was spoken, stood wholly unmoved,
produced an effect on M. Baptistin only to be conceived by such as have
occasion to study the character and disposition of French domestics. "I
assure your excellency," said he, "that at least it shall be my study
to merit your approbation in all things, and I will take M. Ali as my
model."
"By no means," replied the count in the most frigid tones; "Ali has many
faults mixed with most excellent qualities. He cannot possibly serve you
as a pattern for your conduct, not being, as you are, a paid servant,
but a mere slave--a dog, who, should he fail in his duty towards me, I
should not discharge from my service, but kill." Baptistin opened his
eyes with astonishment.
"You seem incredulous," said Monte Cristo, who repeated to Ali in the
Arabic language what he had just been saying to Baptistin in French. The
Nubian smiled assentingly to his master's words, then, kneeling on one
knee, respectfully kissed the hand of the count. This corroboration of
the lesson he had just received put the finishing stroke to the wonder
and stupefaction of M. Baptistin. The count then motioned the valet
de chambre to retire, and to Ali to follow to his study, where they
conversed long and earnestly together. As the hand of the clock pointed
to five the count struck thrice upon his gong. When Ali was wanted
one stroke was given, two summoned Baptistin, and three Bertuccio. The
