World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 11 Interrogation (2)
"I have enemies?" Dantès said. "My luck is that I am insignificant, and my position will not attract enemies. As for my temper, I may be a little irritable, but I have always restrained myself in front of my subordinates. I have Eleven or twelve sailors, you can ask them, sir. They will tell you that they like me and respect me. Of course they can't say that they respect me like a father, I don't deserve it, I am too young, but they treat me Consider it a brother."

"But even if no one hates you, some may envy you. You're going to be made captain at nineteen, a very high position in your line of work. Soon you're going to be with a pretty girl who's in love with you Marriage, this kind of luck is not common in all walks of life in the world. The luck in these two aspects will arouse the envy of others."

"Yes, you are right. It is possible, you know people better than I do. But if the person who envies me is my friend, let me tell you this, I'd rather not know who it is, so that I don't mess myself up." to hate them."

"You are wrong, sir. You must see the people and things around you clearly and clearly. To be honest, I think you are a very noble young man. For your own good, I will send you regardless of the court rules. I wanted to help you find out who wrote this informant letter, so that you were brought before me. Here is the letter, do you recognize the handwriting?" Villefort took the letter out of his pocket and handed it to Dantès.Dantès glanced at it first, then read the letter, a cloud of suspicion flitted across his brow.He said:

"No, sir, I don't know the handwriting. It's a fake, but it's fairly smooth, and the person who made the copy must have had a good hand anyway. I'm very lucky," he went on, looking gratefully at Villefort, " My case is in the hands of such a man as you, indeed, who is jealous of me is indeed an enemy." At this point, a gleam flashed in the eyes of the young man, and Villefort saw that there was something hidden under the surface of gentleness. With strong energy.

"Well, sir," said the acting prosecutor, "now you will tell me, not as a prisoner does to a judge, but as a wronged man does to those who care about him, what is true in this anonymous letter of indictment. ?” He took the anonymous letter from Dantès and threw it on the desk with a look of contempt.

"It's all true, and it's all false, sir. I can tell you the truth, and nothing false, on the honor of my sailor, on my love for Mercedes, and on the life of my father. "

"Tell me, sir," said Villefort aloud, and then whispered to himself, "if René sees me in this state, I think she will be delighted, and won't call me an axe!"

"Well, when we left Naples, Captain Leclerc suddenly fell ill with meningitis. We had no doctor on board, and he was in a hurry to go to Elba. We didn't stop anywhere along the coast. He was getting worse, On the third night he knew it was over, so he sent me to his place. He said, 'I swear on your honor, I have something to say to you, it's the most important thing.''I swear , Captain'. I replied. 'Good! You are the first mate, and you will command the ship after my death. It is your responsibility to take command and steer the ship to the island of Elba. You go ashore at Portoferraio and find Marshal, give him this letter. Perhaps they will also give you a letter, and tell you to do something, you must do it for me, and all the honor will be yours when it is done." I said to the captain: "Captain , I will do it, but maybe it is not what you think, they will not let me see the marshal easily." The captain said: "Here is a ring, take it and ask for an audience without any hindrance." Said When we got here, the captain handed me a ring. The captain’s confession was just in time. Two hours later, he had a high fever and died the next day.”

"So, what did you do?"

"I did what I had to do, sir, as any man would do in my position. After all, a man's dying plea is sacred, and to a sailor a superior's plea is Orders must be carried out. So I sailed for the island of Elba and arrived the next day. I ordered the whole crew to stay on board and went ashore alone. As I expected, they first stopped me from seeing the marshal , so I sent the ring used as a joint signal, and I passed all the gates. The marshal received me and asked about the unfortunate Leclerc's dying situation. As the captain said, the marshal gave me a letter, Asked me to send Paris in person. I agreed, because this is the fulfillment of the captain's last wish. Finally, we returned to Marseilles and docked. More beautiful, more affectionate to me. Thanks to M. Morrel's help, all the canonical troubles have been taken care of. At last, what I just told you, sir, I invited people to dinner I was officially married in an hour. I intended to leave for Paris to-morrow, but I was arrested. I can see that you, as well as I, find this denunciation unworthy of contest."

"Yes, yes," said Villefort softly, "I think it is true. If you are guilty, it is negligent, and your negligence is lawful as you were under the command of the captain. Hand over the letter Ba Dao got, declaring that I will be your attorney during the first public prosecution, and you can go back to your friend."

"I am free, then, monsieur?" cried Dantès, overjoyed.

"Yes, but you must give me the letter first."

"The letter may be right in front of you, sir. They took it from me when they searched for my papers. I recognize some of the papers in the bundle."

"Wait a moment," said the deputy prosecutor, as he was going to get his gloves and hat, "wait a moment, please; to whom is the letter addressed?"

"To M. Noirquier, rue Corque-Eron, Paris."

Not even a thunderbolt from the blue could have been caught off guard by this blow, which struck Villefort into a terrified fright.He fell down on the chair, then half stood up, took the sheaf of papers found on Dantès, opened it hastily, pulled out the fatal letter, and glanced at it with an expression of indescribable terror. "Mr. Noirquier, 13 Rue Coque-Eron." He murmured, his face getting paler and paler.

"Yes, sir," said Dantès in surprise, "you know him?"

"No," replied Villefort hastily. How could a loyal servant of the Holy Majesty know a traitor who is plotting rebellion?"

"So it's a case of treason?" asked Dantès, who thought he was free, and was more frightened than before. "I have already told you, sir, that I brought the letter. But I have no idea what was written."

"Yes," said Villefort in a low voice, "but you know the name of the addressee."

"I must deliver the letter to the addressee himself, sir, and I must know the name."

"Have you shown the letter to anyone else?" asked Villefort, growing paler as he read it.

"Not shown to anyone, sir, I swear."

"No one knows that you have brought a letter from Elba to M. Noirquier?"

"Nobody knows, sir, but the person who wrote to me."

"Too much, too much!" murmured Villefort.As he continued to read the letter, his forehead became more and more clouded.His pale lips, trembling hands, and burning eyes filled Dantès with suspicion.After reading the letter, Villefort folded his head in his hands and paused for a moment in despair.

"Oh, my God! What is the matter, monsieur?" asked Dantès timidly.Villefort made no reply, and only after a moment raised his changed pale face, read the letter again, and asked:
"Are you saying you don't know the contents of the letter?"

"I repeat, I swear, sir," said Dantès, "I don't know. But what is the matter with you? My God! You seem to be ill. Shall I ring the bell for someone?"

"No, monsieur," said Villefort, rising abruptly, "don't move or talk. It is I, not you, who give the order here."

"Monsieur," said Dantes sullenly, "I just wanted to do you a favor."

"It's not necessary at all. I'm just a little dizzy. It's nothing wrong. Just take care of yourself and leave me alone. Please answer the question." Since he still wanted to ask, Dantès waited to ask, but the wait was in vain.Villefort sank back into his chair, wiped the sweat from his brow with his cold hands, and read the letter for the third time. "Oh, if he knows what the letter contains," he murmured to himself, "and if he finds out that Noirquier is Villefort's father, I shall be ruined, forever!" He glanced now and then at Edmond, It seemed that his gaze could break through this invisible barrier, and see through Edmond's secrets that he kept silent but kept in his heart. "Well, no more doubts!" ​​he exclaimed suddenly.

"Oh, dear!" cried the unfortunate young man, "sir, if you don't believe me, if you doubt me, just question me and I will answer."

Villefort refrained himself, and said in a tone as calm as possible: "Monsieur, from your interrogation it can be seen that the charges against you are extremely serious, so I cannot decide. At first I wanted to release you immediately. But before taking such a decision, I must first consult with the examining magistrate. But you can see how I have treated you."

"Ah, yes, sir!" exclaimed Dantès, "I thank you very much, for you are more like a friend than a judge to me."

"Well, Monsieur, I must keep you in prison for a while, but I will try to get as little time as possible. Your main crime is this letter. You see..." Villefort approached the fireplace, threw the letter into the fire, and kept Wait until the letter is completely burned. "You see," he went on, "I destroyed it."

"Ah!" cried Dantès, "monsieur, you are more than justice incarnate, you are simply merciful."

"But, listen to me," continued Villefort, "after I have done this, you will understand that you can trust me, can't you?"

"Oh, sir, give the order, and I will obey it!"

"No," said Villefort, walking towards the young man, "wrong, I have no orders for you. You should know that what I want to give you is advice."

"Please say it, I take it as an order, and I must obey it."

"I'm going to keep you in court until night. You may be questioned by someone else. You can tell what you just said, but you can't say a word about the letter."

"I listen to you, sir."

At this time, it seemed that Villefort was pleading, and the prisoner was giving the judge relief. "You know," continued Villefort, glancing at the ashes floating above the flames, the form of paper still clearly visible, "that the letter has been destroyed, and only you and I know of its existence. It could be used in court, so if someone brings it up, you should justly deny it and you'll be saved."

"I will certainly deny it, sir, please rest assured."

"Very, very well!" said Villefort, feeling for the bell-rope.But when he was about to ring the bell, he stopped and said, "You have only one letter?"

"Just this one."

"you swear."

Dantès raised his hand and said, "I swear."

Villefort rang the bell, and a police officer entered.Villefort walked over and whispered something in his ear.The officer didn't speak, just nodded.

"Follow him," said Villefort to Dantès.Dantès bowed to Villefort, gave him one last grateful glance, and withdrew.As soon as the door closed behind him, Villefort could no longer support himself, and fell on a chair almost fainting.After a while, he murmured to himself: "Oh, my God! Why is life and fate so dangerous!... If the prosecutor was in Marseilles, if the examining judge had not been called just now, I would be finished .. this is a hateful letter. It almost drove me into the abyss. Oh, father, father, will you always be in the way of my happiness in this world? Must I always fight and fight your past. Negative?" For an instant, an unexpected ray of light flashed in his mind, illuminating his face, and his frightened eyes became firm, as if he had found his mind and no longer drifted away. "That's all right," said he; "yes, perhaps this letter will make me very successful. Come, Villefort, do it!"

When he was sure that the prisoner had been taken from the hall, the deputy prosecutor came out and hurried to the house of his fiancée.

(End of this chapter)