steward entered. "My horses," said Monte Cristo.
"They are at the door harnessed to the carriage as your excellency
desired. Does your excellency wish me to accompany him?"
"No, the coachman, Ali, and Baptistin will go." The count descended to
the door of his mansion, and beheld his carriage drawn by the very
pair of horses he had so much admired in the morning as the property
of Danglars. As he passed them he said--"They are extremely handsome
certainly, and you have done well to purchase them, although you were
somewhat remiss not to have procured them sooner."
"Indeed, your excellency, I had very considerable difficulty in
obtaining them, and, as it is, they have cost an enormous price."
"Does the sum you gave for them make the animals less beautiful,"
inquired the count, shrugging his shoulders.
"Nay, if your excellency is satisfied, it is all that I could wish.
Whither does your excellency desire to be driven?"
"To the residence of Baron Danglars, Rue de la Chaussee d'Antin." This
conversation had passed as they stood upon the terrace, from which a
flight of stone steps led to the carriage-drive. As Bertuccio, with
a respectful bow, was moving away, the count called him back. "I have
another commission for you, M. Bertuccio," said he; "I am desirous of
having an estate by the seaside in Normandy--for instance, between Havre
and Boulogne. You see I give you a wide range. It will be absolutely
necessary that the place you may select have a small harbor, creek, or
bay, into which my corvette can enter and remain at anchor. She draws
only fifteen feet. She must be kept in constant readiness to sail
immediately I think proper to give the signal. Make the requisite
inquiries for a place of this description, and when you have met with
an eligible spot, visit it, and if it possess the advantages desired,
purchase it at once in your own name. The corvette must now, I think, be
on her way to Fecamp, must she not?"
"Certainly, your excellency; I saw her put to sea the same evening we
quitted Marseilles."
"And the yacht."
"Was ordered to remain at Martigues."
"'Tis well. I wish you to write from time to time to the captains in
charge of the two vessels so as to keep them on the alert."
"And the steamboat?"
"She is at Chalons?"
"Yes."
"The same orders for her as for the two sailing vessels."
"Very good."
"When you have purchased the estate I desire, I want constant relays of
horses at ten leagues apart along the northern and southern road."
"Your excellency may depend upon me." The Count made a gesture of
satisfaction, descended the terrace steps, and sprang into his carriage,
which was whirled along swiftly to the banker's house. Danglars was
engaged at that moment, presiding over a railroad committee. But the
meeting was nearly concluded when the name of his visitor was announced.
As the count's title sounded on his ear he rose, and addressing
his colleagues, who were members of one or the other Chamber, he
said,--"Gentlemen, pardon me for leaving you so abruptly; but a most
ridiculous circumstance has occurred, which is this,--Thomson & French,
the Roman bankers, have sent to me a certain person calling himself the
Count of Monte Cristo, and have given him an unlimited credit with me. I
confess this is the drollest thing I have ever met with in the course
of my extensive foreign transactions, and you may readily suppose it has
greatly roused my curiosity. I took the trouble this morning to call
on the pretended count--if he were a real count he wouldn't be so rich.
But, would you believe it, 'He was not receiving.' So the master of
Monte Cristo gives himself airs befitting a great millionaire or a
capricious beauty. I made inquiries, and found that the house in the
Champs Elysees is his own property, and certainly it was very decently
kept up. But," pursued Danglars with one of his sinister smiles, "an
order for unlimited credit calls for something like caution on the part
of the banker to whom that order is given. I am very anxious to see this
man. I suspect a hoax is intended, but the instigators of it little knew
whom they had to deal with. 'They laugh best who laugh last!'"
Having delivered himself of this pompous address, uttered with a degree
of energy that left the baron almost out of breath, he bowed to the
assembled party and withdrew to his drawing-room, whose sumptuous
furnishings of white and gold had caused a great sensation in the
Chaussee d'Antin. It was to this apartment he had desired his guest to
be shown, with the purpose of overwhelming him at the sight of so much
luxury. He found the count standing before some copies of Albano and
Fattore that had been passed off to the banker as originals; but which,
mere copies as they were, seemed to feel their degradation in being
brought into juxtaposition with the gaudy colors that covered the
ceiling. The count turned round as he heard the entrance of Danglars
into the room. With a slight inclination of the head, Danglars signed
to the count to be seated, pointing significantly to a gilded arm-chair,
covered with white satin embroidered with gold. The count sat down. "I
have the honor, I presume, of addressing M. de Monte Cristo."
The count bowed. "And I of speaking to Baron Danglars, chevalier of the
Legion of Honor, and member of the Chamber of Deputies?"
Monte Cristo repeated all the titles he had read on the baron's card.
Danglars felt the irony and compressed his lips. "You will, I trust,
excuse me, monsieur, for not calling you by your title when I first
addressed you," he said, "but you are aware that we are living under a
popular form of government, and that I am myself a representative of the
liberties of the people."
"So much so," replied Monte Cristo, "that while you call yourself baron
you are not willing to call anybody else count."
"Upon my word, monsieur," said Danglars with affected carelessness, "I
attach no sort of value to such empty distinctions; but the fact is, I
was made baron, and also chevalier of the Legion of Honor, in return for
services rendered, but"--
"But you have discarded your titles after the example set you by Messrs.
de Montmorency and Lafayette? That was a noble example to follow,
monsieur."
"Why," replied Danglars, "not entirely so; with the servants,--you
understand."
"I see; to your domestics you are 'my lord,' the journalists style
you 'monsieur,' while your constituents call you 'citizen.' These
are distinctions very suitable under a constitutional government. I
understand perfectly." Again Danglars bit his lips; he saw that he was
no match for Monte Cristo in an argument of this sort, and he therefore
hastened to turn to subjects more congenial.
"Permit me to inform you, Count," said he, bowing, "that I have received
a letter of advice from Thomson & French, of Rome."
"I am glad to hear it, baron,--for I must claim the privilege of
addressing you after the manner of your servants. I have acquired the
bad habit of calling persons by their titles from living in a country
where barons are still barons by right of birth. But as regards the
letter of advice, I am charmed to find that it has reached you; that
will spare me the troublesome and disagreeable task of coming to you for
money myself. You have received a regular letter of advice?"
"Yes," said Danglars, "but I confess I didn't quite comprehend its
meaning."
"Indeed?"
"And for that reason I did myself the honor of calling upon you, in
order to beg for an explanation."
"Go on, monsieur. Here I am, ready to give you any explanation you
desire."
"Why," said Danglers, "in the letter--I believe I have it about
me"--here he felt in his breast-pocket--"yes, here it is. Well, this
letter gives the Count of Monte Cristo unlimited credit on our house."
"Well, baron, what is there difficult to understand about that?"
"Merely the term unlimited--nothing else, certainly."
"Is not that word known in France? The people who wrote are
Anglo-Germans, you know."
"Oh, as for the composition of the letter, there is nothing to be said;
but as regards the competency of the document, I certainly have doubts."
"Is it possible?" asked the count, assuming all air and tone of the
utmost simplicity and candor. "Is it possible that Thomson & French
are not looked upon as safe and solvent bankers? Pray tell me what
you think, baron, for I feel uneasy, I can assure you, having some
considerable property in their hands."
"Thomson & French are perfectly solvent," replied Danglars, with an
almost mocking smile: "but the word unlimited, in financial affairs, is
so extremely vague."
"Is, in fact, unlimited," said Monte Cristo.
"Precisely what I was about to say," cried Danglars. "Now what is vague
is doubtful; and it was a wise man who said, 'when in doubt, keep out.'"
"Meaning to say," rejoined Monte Cristo, "that however Thomson & French
may be inclined to commit acts of imprudence and folly, the Baron
Danglars is not disposed to follow their example."
"Not at all."
"Plainly enough. Messrs. Thomson & French set no bounds to their
engagements while those of M. Danglars have their limits; he is a wise
man, according to his own showing."
"Monsieur," replied the banker, drawing himself up with a haughty air,
"the extent of my resources has never yet been questioned."
"It seems, then, reserved for me," said Monte Cristo coldly, "to be the
first to do so."
"By what right, sir?"
"By right of the objections you have raised, and the explanations you
have demanded, which certainly must have some motive."
Once more Danglars bit his lips. It was the second time he had been
worsted, and this time on his own ground. His forced politeness sat
awkwardly upon him, and approached almost to impertinence. Monte Cristo
on the contrary, preserved a graceful suavity of demeanor, aided by
a certain degree of simplicity he could assume at pleasure, and thus
possessed the advantage.
"Well, sir," resumed Danglars, after a brief silence, "I will endeavor
to make myself understood, by requesting you to inform me for what sum
you propose to draw upon me?"
"Why, truly," replied Monte Cristo, determined not to lose an inch of
the ground he had gained, "my reason for desiring an 'unlimited' credit
was precisely because I did not know how much money I might need."
The banker thought the time had come for him to take the upper hand. So
throwing himself back in his arm-chair, he said, with an arrogant and
purse-proud air,--"Let me beg of you not to hesitate in naming your
wishes; you will then be convinced that the resources of the house
of Danglars, however limited, are still equal to meeting the largest
demands; and were you even to require a million"--
"I beg your pardon," interposed Monte Cristo.
"I said a million," replied Danglars, with the confidence of ignorance.
"But could I do with a million?" retorted the count. "My dear sir, if a
trifle like that could suffice me, I should never have given myself the
trouble of opening an account. A million? Excuse my smiling when you
speak of a sum I am in the habit of carrying in my pocket-book or
dressing-case." And with these words Monte Cristo took from his pocket
a small case containing his visiting-cards, and drew forth two orders on
the treasury for 500,000 francs each, payable at sight to the bearer.
A man like Danglars was wholly inaccessible to any gentler method
of correction. The effect of the present revelation was stunning; he
trembled and was on the verge of apoplexy. The pupils of his eyes, as he
gazed at Monte Cristo dilated horribly.
"Come, come," said Monte Cristo, "confess honestly that you have not
perfect confidence in Thomson & French. I understand, and foreseeing
that such might be the case, I took, in spite of my ignorance of
affairs, certain precautions. See, here are two similar letters to that
you have yourself received; one from the house of Arstein & Eskeles of
Vienna, to Baron Rothschild, the other drawn by Baring of London, upon
M. Laffitte. Now, sir, you have but to say the word, and I will spare
you all uneasiness by presenting my letter of credit to one or other of
these two firms." The blow had struck home, and Danglars was entirely
vanquished; with a trembling hand he took the two letters from the
count, who held them carelessly between finger and thumb, and proceeded
to scrutinize the signatures, with a minuteness that the count might
have regarded as insulting, had it not suited his present purpose to
mislead the banker. "Oh, sir," said Danglars, after he had convinced
himself of the authenticity of the documents he held, and rising as if
to salute the power of gold personified in the man before him,--"three
letters of unlimited credit! I can be no longer mistrustful, but
you must pardon me, my dear count, for confessing to some degree of
astonishment."
"Nay," answered Monte Cristo, with the most gentlemanly air, "'tis
not for such trifling sums as these that your banking house is to be
incommoded. Then, you can let me have some money, can you not?"
"Whatever you say, my dear count; I am at your orders."
"Why," replied Monte Cristo, "since we mutually understand each
other--for such I presume is the case?" Danglars bowed assentingly. "You
