World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 141 The Progress of Little Cavalle-Conti (1)
Old Mr. Cavalle-Conti had long since returned to his post, but not to serve in the army of His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, but to play roulette in the casino at the bathhouse of Lucca, where he was a frequent visitor.He took back all the money allocated to him for this trip, plus the reward after he performed his father's role with dignity and pomp.As he left, he gave proof that Andra was indeed the Marquis of Bartolomeo and Leonora Corcinari, as Oliva Corcinari in the preceding chapter (chapter 55) was.All the papers of the Marchioness's son were left to Mr. Andra.Parisian society is already very hospitable to foreigners, not according to their actual status, but according to their own desired status, so now Mr. Andra can be said to have established a firm foothold in Parisian society .Besides, what can Paris ask of young people?He could speak French tolerably, dress more or less decently, play cards, and bet with gold coins, that's all.As for the requirements for foreigners, needless to say, of course they are much more tolerant than Parisians.

So, it took Andra two weeks to make a decent mess.He was now called Monsieur the Count, said to have an income of fifty thousand livres a year, and talked even more of his father's great fortune, which was said to be hidden in the quarries at Sarafoza.This was told as hearsay to a scholar, who heard that he had seen the quarries of Sarafuza.The words of scholars carry weight, so rumors that are always somewhat difficult to distinguish between true and false have become undeniable facts.

Such was the thought of the Parisian society which we have introduced to our readers.One night, the Count of Monte Cristo visited Mr. Tanglar, but Mr. Tanglar was not at home.The servant told the count that the baroness was at home and had time to meet with guests. The servant also asked the count if he wanted to meet the baroness, and the count agreed.After the dinner at Auteuil and the series of things that happened afterwards, Mrs. Tanglar always trembled nervously when she heard the name Count of Monte Cristo.If the servant announced the name of the Count of Monte Cristo, but no one came for a long time, Mrs. Tanglar would feel even more anxious. That amiable look and his courteous and courteous behavior to Mrs. Tanglar, all these will make Mrs. Tanglar's fear disappear in an instant.The baroness felt that it was impossible for a man of good appearance to plot against her, and that the most sinister people would do so only when they had some interest in them, and that there was nothing to be done for no reason or sense. Being a ghost or a monster, that can only be as disgusting as a maniac.

The Count of Monte Cristo came to the little ladies' drawing-room which we have described to the reader.Before he came in, Eugenie was admiring the painting with Mr. Cavalle-Conti Jr., and passed it to the baroness after reading it, but the disturbed baroness just glanced at it absent-mindedly.When the servant announced the name of the Count of Monte Cristo, the baroness was a little uneasy, but when Monte Cristo came to the living room, the baroness's reaction was the same as usual. She received the count with a smile, and the count just glanced at the living room. You can see the real situation here.

The baroness reclined on an oval loveseat, Eugenie sat beside her, and Cavalle-Conti stood.Cavalle-Conti, dressed in black like a hero in a Goethe poem, with black shoes and white silk stockings, was smoothing his blond hair with his fair, well-maintained hand. hair, but there was a diamond shining in the middle of the blond hair.It turned out that the young man was too vain to listen to Monte Cristo's advice, and at last he couldn't help the itch in his heart, and put a diamond ring on his little finger.While stroking his hair, Cavallecanti cast a captivating look at Miss Tangera, and sighed again.

Miss Tanglar was still the same, that is to say, beautiful, indifferent, and sarcastic.She saw and heard Andra's eye waves and sighs, but it can be said that these eye waves and sighs all hit the ancient Roman goddess of wisdom, art and science, and also the protector of the city of Rome. god.Some philosophers believe that it is this kind of armor that has protected the ancient Greek poetess of Sappho (7th-6th century BC). According to legend, there are 9 collections of poems.breasts.Eugenie saluted the count icily, and after a few greetings, she withdrew and went back to her piano room, where she heard two joyous and clear voices singing in a short while, the piano played the first group of chords, and Monte Cristo listened to it. You know, Miss Donguela actually didn't want to accompany him and Mr. Cavalle-Conti. She liked the company of her music teacher, Miss Louise Amily.

While talking to Mrs. Tangra, the count seemed to be completely attracted by the lighthearted conversation, but he paid attention to Cavalle-Conti's demeanor, and saw that his heart had flown to the piano room and saw him When I walked to the door and listened to the singing over there, I showed a look of admiration, but I didn't dare to push the door.Not long after, the banker came into the drawing room, and the first thing he looked at was Monte Cristo, which did not wrong him at all, and his second glance was at Andra.As for his wife, he bowed, as some husbands do to their wives, in a manner which an unmarried man could never appreciate unless he published a comprehensive guide to conjugal life.

"Didn't the two ladies ask you to sing with them?" Tangra asked Andra.

"Oh, no, sir," replied Andra with a sigh, and this time the sigh was more interesting than the previous ones.

Tang Gela immediately went over and opened the partition door leading to the piano room, and saw the two young women sitting side by side on the piano bench in front of the piano, each playing the piano with one hand for accompaniment.They often play the piano in such an ingenious way, so they have played very well.Looking over the doorframe, Miss Amely and Eugenie formed a living painting, almost like the double portraits that the Germans love to paint.Miss Amely was handsome, or rather, she was very graceful.She is petite and slender, with fairy-like blond hair curled into a large ring, hanging on her slightly elongated neck, much like the Madonna in Virugeno's works, but her eyes seem to be covered with a layer tiredness.Looking at her, it can be said that her lungs are not very strong, and maybe one day she will be like "The Violin of Cremona" by the German writer and composer Hoffmann (1776-1822).Sing to death like Antonia in .Monte Cristo glanced quickly and curiously at the piano-room.He used to hear about Amelie often in the Tangla mansion, but this was the first time he had seen her.

"Oh!" the banker asked his daughter, "shall we not come in?" As soon as he finished speaking, he led the young man into the piano room.Perhaps by chance, or perhaps on purpose, the door was closed as soon as Andra entered, and the count and baroness looked from where they were sitting towards the piano room, but could see nothing now.Because the banker was with Andra, Mrs. Tangera didn't seem to care about this kind of thing at all.After a while, the count heard Andra singing a Corsican song to the accompaniment of the piano.The count couldn't help smiling when he heard the song. The song made him temporarily forget about Andra, but he remembered that Benedetto.While the count was listening to the song, Mrs. Tangra was boasting to the count how persistent her husband was, saying that due to the bankruptcy of a firm in Milan, Tangra lost 40 million francs at once this morning.In fact, she should have praised her husband, too, for the Count himself knew it all, if he had not heard it from the Baroness, and had not had all the means to know it all. Nothing could be discerned from the Baron's face alone.

"Very good!" thought Monte Cristo, "now he is bored with losing money, and he was boasting about it a month ago." Then he said aloud: "Oh, madam, Mr. Tangra is very familiar with the Exchange. In the market, if you lose in one place, you can definitely make it back in other places.”

"I think you are as wrong as everyone else," said Mrs. Tanglar.

"What is the fault?" said Monte Cristo.

"Everyone says that Mr. Tangla speculates, but that's not the case at all. He never speculates."

"Oh, yes, that's right, ma'am, I remember that Mr. Debray once said to me... By the way, how is Mr. Debray these days? I haven't seen him for three or four days." .”

"I haven't seen him either." Mrs. Tangla said very calmly, "But just now you stopped halfway through what you said."

"Which one?"

"You say that Mr. Debray once told you..."

"Ah, yes. Mr. Debray told me you were speculating on your luck."

"To tell you the truth, I was interested in it once," said Mrs. Tanglar, "but now I don't have it."

"Then you are mistaken, ma'am. Oh, my God! Chance and fortune are fleeting. If I were a woman, and had the fortune to be a banker's wife, then I don't care how much I believe that my husband is indeed lucky." , because you know that speculating in this kind of business is all about luck, well, I said, no matter how much I believe my husband is really lucky, I have to keep a fortune by myself first, even if I get this I think it's worth putting the property in the hands of people my husband doesn't know."

Mrs. Tangla blushed involuntarily.

"You see," continued Monte Cristo, as if he hadn't seen anything, "there are rumors that the Neapolitan bonds made a lot of money yesterday."

"I don't trade in Neapolitan bonds," said the baroness hastily, "I've never traded in them. But, indeed, we've talked quite a bit about the Bourse, Monsieur Count, as if we were stockbrokers." No. Let us speak of the poor Villeforts, who have been so wretched by misfortune these days."

"What has happened to their house?" asked Monte Cristo, who seemed to know nothing.

"But you know that M. de Saint-Méran died on the road three or four days after his departure, and then the Marquise died only three or four days after she arrived in Paris."

"Oh, yes," said Monte Cristo, "I have heard. But, as Claudius said to Hamlet, the two characters in Shakespeare's "Hamlet", Claudius is Hamlet's uncle. , It is a natural law that their fathers died before them, so they wept and mourned for their fathers, and they themselves died before their children, so their children wept and mourned for them."

"But there's more to it than that."

"What's more than that?"

"Not only that, you know they're getting married for their daughter..."

"The son-in-law is M. Franz d'Epinet... Is the engagement broken?"

"It seems that Franz first proposed to them to withdraw the engagement yesterday morning."

"Ah, is it? Is the reason for the marriage change clear?"

"I don't know."

"What kind of news do you tell me? Good God! Madame... But how can M. de Villefort bear all these misfortunes?"

"A philosopher's manner, as usual."

At this moment, Tang La returned to the living room alone.

"Oh!" said the baroness, "will you leave Monsieur Cavalle-Conti with your daughter?"

"Miss Amely is here," said the banker, "what do you think of her?" Then turning to Monte Cristo, he said, "What a lovely young man this Prince Cavalle-Conti is, isn't he, Count Sir? But is he really a prince?"

"I can't guarantee it," said Monte Cristo. "I was told that his father was a marquis, so he should be a count, but I don't think he thinks much of the title himself."

"Why?" said the banker. "If he is a prince, he ought not to be proud. Every man is a man, and I do not like to conceal my parentage."

"Ah, you are a true democrat," said Monte Cristo, smiling.

(End of this chapter)