World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 83 Blood Rain (1)
"When the jeweler came in, he looked around suspiciously, but if he wasn't suspicious himself, it didn't look like there was anything suspicious in the room, and if he was suspicious, it didn't look suspicious. Where to confirm suspicions. Caderos still covering his banknotes and gold coins with his hands, while the 'Carcomte' smiled at her guest with the best smile she could muster .

"'Ha ha,' said the jeweler, 'you seem to be afraid of getting the count right, and you will count the money again after I go away.'

"'No,' said Caderos, 'we were too surprised to have so much money at once to believe it was real, so we always thought it was a dream unless we had the actual evidence in front of us.'

"' The jeweler smiled a little. 'Are there any customers in your shop?' he asked.

"'No,' replied Caderos, 'we don't live here, and no one would lodge here, so near the town.'

"'Then am I bothering you too much?'

"'Trouble us? You, my dear sir?' said the Calconte kindly. 'Not at all, don't worry.'

"'But where are you taking me?'

"'It's the room upstairs.'

"'But isn't this your room?'

"'Oh, never mind, we have another bed in the room next door.'

"Caderos looked at his woman in amazement. The jeweler, humming a tune, turned his back to the fire, which the 'Carcomte' had just lit for the guests to dry their rain-soaked clothes. On a table in the corner, where the 'Calcontes' had spread a napkin, she placed the few poor things they had left over from their meals, and added two or three fresh eggs. Cuderos again Putting the banknotes into the wallet at a time, putting the gold coins into the bag, and then putting the wallet and bag back in the cabinet. He looked gloomy, as if thinking about something, paced up and down the room, and looked up at the jeweler from time to time The jeweler has been standing in front of the fire, steaming from his body, drying one side of his body and then turning to cook the other.

"'Well,' said the 'Calconte', putting a bottle of wine on the table, 'the supper is ready, and you can have it whenever you want.'

"'What about yourselves?' asked Joanes.

"'I won't eat,' replied Caderos.

"'We ate late at last meal,' said the Calcomte hastily.

"'Just me dining alone?' said the jeweler.

"'We can serve you,' said the Calconte graciously, and it was not common for her to be paid for her meals. Caderousse cast a quick glance at the woman from time to time. Outside it was still It was raining and raining, and the thunder was rumbling. 'Do you hear that?' said the 'Carconte'. 'Really, you were right to come back.'

"'That's all right,' said the jeweler; 'if the wind calms down while I dine, I'd like to go back on my way.'

"'The wind is from the northwest,' said Caderos, shaking his head, 'to-morrow.' And he sighed again.

"'Hey,' said the jeweler, as he sat down and began to eat, 'you are a poor man!'

"'Yes,' went on the Calconte, 'they are having a hard time to-night.'

"The jeweler began to eat, and the 'Calconte' took care of the guests like a careful housewife. This woman, who is usually very capricious and quick-tempered, became a model housewife, with a pleasant face and a hospitable manner. Polite. If the jeweler had known the woman before, her transformation would have surprised him, and must have aroused some suspicion in him. As for Cuderoth, he did not say a word, but walked about the room. Walking up and down, he looked preoccupied and hesitant, not even daring to look at his guests. When the guests had finished eating, Cuderos himself went to open the door. 'I think the thunderstorm has stopped,' he said. But as if deliberately trying to expose his lies, at this moment, a terrible thunderbolt sounded, almost shaking the house down, and at the same time, a gust of wind swept into the house with rain stars, and extinguished the lights. De Rose closed the door, and the 'Calconte' lit a candle on the embers of the fireplace. 'Here,' she said to the jeweler, 'you must be tired too, I have put a white sheet on the bed, and you Go upstairs and sleep soundly."

"Joanes waited a little longer, he wanted to see if the thunderstorm had stopped, but at last he saw clearly that the thunder was still falling, and the rain was still falling, and it was getting heavier. So he said to the two masters Saying good night, I went upstairs. He was walking on top of my head, and I heard the stairs creaking every time he took a step. The greedy eyes of the "Calconte" always followed the jeweler, but Kade Ross, on the contrary, kept his back to the jeweler, not even turning his head to look.

"I remember all these situations very clearly afterwards, but when I was watching it, I didn't think there was anything strange. In general, except for the story about the diamond, which was a bit unbelievable, it made sense before and after. In the middle, everything was normal. I was exhausted at the time, so I thought that when the thunderstorm first started to die down, I would sleep for a few hours and go somewhere else later in the night. I heard the jeweler Playing around in the upstairs room, he was trying to sleep as comfortably as possible for the night, and after a while I heard him go to bed, making the bed rattle. I felt that my eyes could not help themselves, and slowly closed, when I It didn't occur to me to suspect anything, so I had no intention of staying awake. So I took a last look into the room. Cuderos sat on a wooden bench by the long table, and the country inn took This kind of stool is used as a chair. His back was facing me, so I couldn't see what his expression was at that time, and even if he turned around and sat upside down, I couldn't see clearly, because his drooping head was buried deep in the ground. Between his hands, the 'Calconte' looked at him for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders and sat down across from him.

"At this time, the embers in the fireplace burned a piece of dry wood left over from the high fire just now, and the fire was a little bigger than before, illuminating the dark room. The 'Calconte' kept his eyes on her man, But his man always stayed in the same posture, motionless. I saw the woman stretch out a hook-like hand towards the man, and poked him on the forehead. Cuderos was startled, and I felt the woman's lips move However, maybe her voice was too low, or maybe I was too sleepy, anyway, I didn't hear her voice at all, and at this moment I saw things as if separated by a layer of fog. Already sleepy and drowsy, as if starting to dream. Finally, my eyes were closed, and I didn't know anything.

"While I was sleeping soundly, I was awakened by the sound of a pistol, followed by a scream. There were staggering footsteps on the floor of the room above, and then, on the stairs above me, something fell dead. Down. I'm not fully awake yet, but I can hear a groan, and then a dull cry that sounds like a struggle. The last cry is longer than the previous ones, and the last cry But I heard moaning again, and only then did I fully wake up. I propped up my body with one hand and opened my eyes, but I couldn’t see anything in the pitch black. It hit me on the forehead, and I couldn't help but reach out and feel it. There was a terrible noise, and then there was silence. I heard someone walking above me, and the stairs were creaking again. The man came inside house, went to the fireplace, and lit a candle.

"This is Caderousse. His face is pale and his shirt is stained with blood. After the candle was lighted, he hurried up the stairs, and then I heard his restless steps again. After a while he came down the stairs. He was holding the jewelry box in his hand. He opened it and saw that the diamond was still inside. He thought for a while, and he didn't know which pocket to put the box in. Then, he probably thought that which pocket to put the box in would be the best choice. Unreliable, he rolled up the box with a red handkerchief, and then tied the handkerchief around his neck. Then he went to the cabinet, took out the banknotes and gold coins, stuffed the banknotes into the waist pocket of his trousers, put the gold coins into the jacket pocket, I took another two or three shirts, rushed to the door, and disappeared in the night. At this moment, I suddenly realized that I couldn’t bear what happened just now, as if I was the culprit. I seemed to hear moans again Well, the unfortunate jeweler may not be dead, and I may have redeemed part of the crime by rushing to save his life. The crime was not committed by me, but I let it go and did nothing to stop it. Between the cabin where I slept and the main house next door The partition between the two rooms was supposed to be made doable, but at this moment I bumped it with my shoulder and it fell down, so I went to the main room.

"I hastily took the candle and rushed up the stairs. On the stairs lay the body of a 'Calconte'. The pistol I heard was shot at her, her throat was pierced, The front and rear wounds were still bleeding, and blood was spitting out of her mouth. She was dead, so I stepped over the body and walked forward. The room was in a mess, two or three pieces of furniture were overturned on the ground, unfortunately The sheet the jeweler was clutching to fell to the floor, and he himself was lying on the floor, his head against the wall, in a pool of blood that spurted from three long gashes on his chest In the fourth wound was a kitchen knife, with only the handle sticking out. I stepped on the second pistol, which hadn't fired, probably because the powder had been damp. I went to the jeweler, and sure enough , he is not dead yet. At the sound of my footsteps, especially because of the shaking of the floor, he opened his frightened eyes and stared at me for a while, then moved his lips again as if to say something, and then I just died.

"Facing such a horrific scene, and I couldn't save anyone, I was almost going crazy. At this moment, I just thought of one thing, to flee the scene immediately. I immediately rushed to the stairs and stuck my hands deep in my chest. Hair, and screamed again in fear. Downstairs in the main room, five or six customs officers and two or three gendarmes had arrived. It was like an army. They caught me in one go. I was already dizzy I didn't want to resist at all, I just wanted to talk, but I just babbled a few times and couldn't say anything. I saw the customs officer and the gendarme pointing at me, so I looked down at myself , At this time, I was covered in blood. Just now I felt that the warm rain leaking from the wooden stairs to me was the blood of the 'Calconte'. I pointed to the place where I was hiding just now. 'What does he mean?' asked a gendarme. A customs clerk looked over. 'He said he got through there,' said the man.

"That's when I realized they thought I was the murderer. My voice and my strength came back and I broke free from the two men who were holding me, shouting, 'It's not me! It's not me!' Two gendarmes pointed their guns at me and said, 'One more move and I'll kill you.' I yelled, 'I repeat, it's not me!' They said, 'Tell your story to the judge in Nîmes Listen. Now you go with us first, we have one advice for you, and that is don't resist.' I was shocked and frightened, collapsed, and I couldn't think of resistance. They handcuffed me and put I was tied to the tail of a horse that led me at last to Nîmes.

"It turned out that I had been stared at by a person at the customs, but he lost me when he got near this inn. He estimated that I would spend the night here, so he went back and told their people. When they came again, they just heard The sound of the pistol, so they arrested me with all the evidence. I knew immediately that I was speechless, and it was difficult to prove my innocence. So I must hold on to one thing, see When I went to the examining magistrate, I asked the court to find an elder named Buzzoni who had been to the Pont du Gard Inn that day. If what Cuderos said was made up by him, and if the elder did not exist, it is obvious that I am finished. Unless Cuderos is caught and confessed.

(End of this chapter)