World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 139 Meeting Minutes (1)
Noirquier, in a black gown, was waiting in his wheelchair.When the three persons he wanted to see had come in, he looked towards the door, and his servant immediately went to close the door.

"Be careful," whispered Villefort to the beaming Valentine, "if M. Noirquier says anything to you that would interfere with your marriage, I will not allow you to say it according to him."

A blush came over Valentine's face, but she said nothing.Villefort went up to Noirquier. "This is Monsieur Franz d'Epinet," said he. "You wanted to see him, sir, and now he has come at your request. Of course, we have long wanted you two to meet, and I shall be delighted." I see that you will know from the first meeting how unreasonable your opposition to Valentine's marriage is."

Noirquier's reply consisted in a glance which made all the veins in Villefort's body tremble.Noirquier then glanced at Valentine again, and beckoned her to come.After a while, by the way she used to talk to her grandfather, she found in the dictionary the word "key" that the old man wanted to say.Then she looked into the eyes of the old man, and saw that the eyes of the paralyzed old man were fixed on a small drawer between the two windows. She opened the drawer and found a key.When the girl picked up the key, the old man signaled to the girl that it was the key he wanted, and then the paralyzed man turned his eyes to an old writing desk.This writing desk has not been used for many years, and everyone thinks that it contains only some useless papers.

"Shall I open the desk?" asked Valentine.

"Yes." The old man motioned.

"Shall I open the drawer?"

"Yes."

"Is it the drawers on both sides?"

"No."

"The one in the middle?"

"Yes."

Valentine opened the drawer and took out a stack of papers. "Is that what you want, grandpa?" asked the girl.

"No."

The girl dug out all the documents in the drawer one by one, and finally emptied the drawer completely. "But the drawer is empty now," she said.

Noirquier's eyes were fixed on the dictionary.

"Yes, Grandpa, I understand what you mean," said the girl.

So she memorized the letters one by one, and when she got to S, Nouakier signaled her to stop.The girl opened the dictionary and finally found the word Secret.

"Ah! Is there a secret compartment in the drawer?" asked Valentine.

"Yes." Nouakiye gestured.

"Does anyone know this secret compartment?"

Noirquier looked at the door through which the servant had just walked out.

"Baluwa?" said the girl.

"Yes." Nouakiye gestured.

"Shall I call him?"

"Yes."

Valentine went to the door to call Barois.At this moment Villefort's brow was dripping with sweat, while Franz was stunned and stunned.

The old servant came in.

"Barois," said Valentine, "my grandfather told me to get the key from this little cabinet, and he opened this writing-table, and opened the drawer. There is a secret compartment in this drawer, as if you know the secret compartment, Please open it."

Baruwa looked at the old man.

"Open it." Noirquier motioned with his alert eyes.

Baluwa complied, and the compartment of the dark compartment was opened, inside was a stack of documents tied with black ribbons. "Is this what you are looking for, sir?" asked Barois.

"Yes." Nouakiye gestured.

"To whom are these papers given? To M. de Villefort?"

"Do not."

"To Mademoiselle Valentine?"

"Do not."

"To Monsieur Franz Epinet?"

"Yes."

Franz, startled, took a step forward. "Is it for me, sir?" said he.

"Yes."

Franz took the document from Baluwa, looked at the cover and read:

After my death, this document should be kept in the place of my friend General Durand. When General Durand is dying, he should pass this document to his son and ask him to keep it properly according to the requirements.

"Well, sir," asked Franz, "what do you think I should do with this paper?"

"Of course you are required to keep the documents intact," the prosecutor said.

"No, no," said Nouakier eagerly.

"Perhaps you mean that the gentleman should read the papers, don't you?" asked Valentine.

"Yes." The old man gestured and replied.

"You hear, Monsieur Baron, my grandfather begs you to read the document," said Valentine.

"In that case, let us all sit down," said Villefort impatiently, "for the time will not be short."

"Everyone, please sit down." The old man said with his eyes.

Villefort sat down, but Valentine stood beside her grandfather, leaning on the wheelchair, and Franz stood in front of the old man, holding the mysterious volume of papers in his hands.

"Read it," said the old man's eyes.

Franz opened the cover, and there was a sudden silence in the room. In the silence, he read:

Summary of the minutes of the meeting of the Club Napoleon, Rue Saint-Jacques, 1815 February 2.

Franz stopped. "February 1815, 2! My father was assassinated and died on this day."

Valentine and Villefort were silent, but the old man's eyes signaled unmistakably: "Read on."

"Besides, my father disappeared when he left this club!" Franz continued.

Nouakier's gaze was still indicating, "Read it."

Franz went on to read:
We, Lieutenant-Colonel of Artillery Louis-Jacques Beaulepelle, Brigadier General Étienne Duchampy, and Director of Water and Forestry, Claude LeChapar, write the following:

Letter from Elba, February 1815, 2, instructing all members of the Napoleonic Club to be magnanimous and trustful of General Flavel Kenel.The letter stated that the general served the emperor from 4 to 1804. Although Louis XVIII made him a baron and gave him a fief of Epinay, the general must still be loyal to the Napoleonic dynasty.To this end, the club sent a letter to General Kenel, inviting him to attend the club meeting on the next day, February 1815.The letter did not specify the street name and house number of the meeting place, nor was it signed. It only informed the general that if he was going to the meeting, someone would pick him up at 2 o'clock that night.The meeting will be held from 5:9 pm to midnight on the 5th.

At 9 o'clock, the chairman of the club came to the general's mansion.The general was ready to go to the meeting. The chairman told him that there were several conditions for introducing him to the meeting. One of them was that he should never know the meeting place. To this end, he promised to blindfold him on the way to the meeting and vowed never to take off the veil by himself. Down.General Kenel accepted this condition, and swore on his honor that he would not have any intention of peeping where he was being sent to the conference.The general had prepared his carriage, but the chairman declared that the general was not allowed to go to the meeting in his own carriage, because since the driver's eyes cannot be blindfolded, he must know the names of all the streets along the way. unnecessary.

"So what?" asked the general.

"I have a carriage," said the chairman.

"Since you don't think you can tell my coachman this secret, why do you let your coachman know? Are you so relieved of your coachman?"

"Our driver is a member of the club," said the chairman, "and our driver is a councilor of state."

"Then," laughed the general, "the danger we run now is that we're about to overturn."

The reporter believes that this joke shows that the general's participation in the meeting was not coerced, but completely voluntary.

After boarding the carriage, the chairman reminded the general that he would keep his oath and promised to blindfold him.In this regard, the general did not express any objection.Therefore, a scarf prepared for this purpose on the carriage blindfolded the general's eyes.On the way, the chairman seemed to notice that the general was trying to peek, so he reminded the general again to keep his promise. "Ah, that's quite true," replied the general.

The carriage stopped in an alley in the Rue Saint-Jacques.The general took the chairman's arm and got out of the car. He didn't know the actual identity of the chairman, but thought he was an ordinary member of the club.They walked through the alley, climbed to the second floor, and entered the conference hall.The meeting has started.Before the meeting, club members have been informed that new members will be introduced to the meeting that night, so all members will attend the meeting.After the general walked to the center of the conference hall, he was told that he could take off the hood over his eyes, and he took off the hood immediately.Before this, the general had never thought that there would be such a club as this club, but now he was shocked to see so many familiar faces among the members.

Members inquired about the general's political views, but the general simply replied that the letter from Elba should have told them...

At this point Franz stopped. "My father is a royalist. They don't need to ask him about his political views. It's all public."

"It is for this reason," said Villefort, "that I have begun to communicate with my father, my dear M. Franz, that is to say, to agree with one another."

"Read on," said the old man's eyes.

Franz went on to read:

At this moment the chairman spoke, asking the general to make his position clear, but Mr. Kennell replied that he wanted to know first what was expected of him.So he notified the general on the spot of the content of Elba Island's letter, and the letter recommended the general to the club, saying that the club was expected to get the general's assistance.Another paragraph in the letter specifically talked about the emperor's plan to return from the island of Elba, and disclosed that there was another detailed letter brought back by the "King of Egypt".The owner of the ship was Morrel of Marseilles, and the captain was loyal to the emperor.

The members thought that the general and the club were like brothers and could be relied on, but when the letter from Elba was read out, the general clearly expressed displeasure and disgust.After reading the letter, he still frowns and remains silent.

"Well," asked the chairman, "what does Mr. General think of this letter?"

"I think," he replied, "that I, having recently taken the oath of allegiance to King Louis XVIII, should now break my faith and support the emperor who has abdicated?"

This answer is very clear, and the general's political views are already obvious to all.

"General," said the chairman, "we hold that there is neither King Louis XVIII nor an abdicated Emperor, but we recognize only the Emperor and King of the present Holy Majesty, who has only been removed from his country, France, by violence and treachery. up to 10 months."

"Excuse me, gentlemen," said the general, "you may not have King Louis XVIII in your eyes, but as far as I am concerned, Louis XVIII is indeed the king of a country, because it is by the king's favor that I canonized a baron, I am promoted to marshal. I am deeply concerned about this, and I have both titles because I have returned to France under the king's good fortune."

"Sir," said the chairman in a stern voice, "please pay attention to your words. Your words have clearly told us that Elba Island has not seen you through, so that we have misjudged you. Just now we It was out of confidence and a belief in you that you were informed of the situation. Now we know it was wrong. A title, a rank has taken you to a new government that we want to overthrow. For your cooperation, we have no intention of forcing you, and we will never force others to recruit others, but we ask you to be open and aboveboard, even if you don't have the intention to do so, you must do so."

"Your so-called being open and aboveboard means that you know your conspiracy and don't expose it! To me, this is pure friendship. Please see, I am much more straightforward than you..."

"Ah! my father," Franz paused at this point. "Now I understand why they wanted to kill you."

Valentine couldn't help looking at Franz. This young man was full of feelings out of filial piety, and he seemed to be a good-looking man.Villefort paced back and forth behind the young man, Noirquier watched everyone's expressions, and he himself always maintained his solemn and solemn demeanor.Franz returned his gaze to the handwritten document, and then read:

(End of this chapter)