World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 94
"It is true," said Valentine, and Maximilian kissed her, passing the tip of a slender finger through a chink in the wood. "It is true, you are very honest. But in the final analysis, you are doing this purely out of self-interest, my dear Maximilian. You know very well that if a slave wants to be exacting, he must first be willing to give up everything .You promised to love me like a big brother, I have no friends, my father has ignored me, my stepmother just abused me, my only consolation is an old man who can't move, can't talk, has no expression on his face, his hands can no longer come Shake my hand, he can only speak to me with his eyes, his heart must beat only for me, keeping the last bit of warmth. By the bitter mockery of fate, all stronger than me regard me as an enemy and The victim, and the support and friend that fate gave me, is a living corpse! Oh, really, Maximilian, I still want to say to you, I am so unfortunate, you are right, love me for me not for yourself."

"Valentine," said the young man, deeply moved, "I cannot say that I love you alone in the world, because I love my sister and brother-in-law too, but it is a kind of tender and honest love, which is quite different. Because of my feelings for you. Whenever I think of you, my blood boils, I just feel my heart beat, and my heart beats. But this courage, this zeal, this extraordinary strength, I can only now To love you, and to serve you only on the day you give my order. It is said that Mr. Franz d'Epinet will not come back within a year, and within a year, he will How many opportunities are available to us, and how many things can be made for us! So we should always hope, and how sweet and sweet it is to hope! But now, Valentine, you reproach me for being selfish, and you are right And what am I? A shy Venus, so beautiful, yet so indifferent. I am loyal, obedient, restrained to you, but have you promised me anything in return? Nothing. You Give me what? Very little. You tell me about your fiancé, Monsieur Franz d'Epinet, and you yourself sigh at the thought of being his one day. But, Valentine, is it not in your heart? Is it all? Oh, I give you my life, I give you my soul, I give you everything to the slightest beat of my heart. When I am all yours, when I whisper to myself, if I lose You, I must die, and you remain so calm, thinking only that you belong to someone else! O Valentine! Valentine! If I were you, if I found someone who loved me as I love you, I must have stretched my hand through the bars of this iron gate a hundred times, I must have squeezed poor Maximilian's hand, and told him: 'Whether in this world or another, Maximilian! I belong to you, Leanne, and to you alone!" Valentine made no answer, but the youth heard her sighs and weeping.Maximilian reacted immediately. "Oh!" he cried, "Valentine, Valentine! If my words hurt you in any way, please forget them."

"No," she said, "you're right, but don't you see? I'm a poor girl, home is almost nothing to me, I'm ignored, my father is almost a stranger to me. My My wish has been shattered, because for 10 years, the masters who have ruled me have used their iron will to destroy me every minute of every day. No one can see how much pain I have in my heart. I don’t want to talk to you except Speaking of anyone. On the surface, in the eyes of everyone, everyone is very kind to me, everyone is affectionate to me, but in fact, everyone is against me. People say: 'Mr. Strict and strict, it is impossible to have much tenderness and love for his daughter, but the daughter is happy enough to have Mrs. Villefort as a stepmother. 'Oh, everyone is wrong, my father is indifferent to me, and the stepmother hates me. It’s scary to have a smile on your face all the time.”

"Hate you! Valentine! How can anyone hate you?"

"Oh, my dear Maximilian," said Valentine, "I must tell you that this hatred for me is due to a natural feeling that she loves her own son, my brother. Edward."

"What will happen then?"

"What will happen! I think it's absurd to bring it up to what we call money, but, my friend, I think that's why she hates me. She has no fortune of her own, but I inherit mine. Mother's property, and my property will be doubled in the future, because M. and Madame de Saint-Meran's property will pass to me one day. So, I think she is jealous. Oh, my God, if I can give her half of the property, and I can really be like a daughter in M. de Villefort's house. In my father's house, I will give her the money at once."

"Poor Valentine."

"Yes, I feel that I am bound, and I feel that I am weak, and I feel that it is this restraint that supports me, and I dare not break free. And my father is a man who will never forgive anyone who disobeys his orders. Man. He is too strong against me, and against you, and even against the king himself. For he is protected by impeccable history and almost invulnerable position. Oh, Maximilian! You should Believe me, I didn't fight because I was afraid that you and I would be crushed in this fight."

"But anyway, Valentine," Maximilian went on, "why are you so disappointed? Why do you always look so bleak about the future?"

"Ah, Maximilian, for I judge the future by the past."

"However, although my position in marriage is not prominent from the point of view of the aristocracy, in many respects I am suitable for the society in which you live. Gone are the days when France was divided into two groups, and the dynasty was the most noble The families of the lords have merged with the families of the empire, and the nobles of the spear have married the nobles of the cannon. Well, I myself belong to the second kind of nobles. And besides, my father, though long dead, is still respected in our native land, and he is unanimously praised as one of the most decent businessmen ever. I speak of our native land, Valentine, because you can also say Marseilles people."

"Don't tell me about Marseilles, Maximilian. When you mention Marseilles, I think of my dear mother. She is the angel everyone misses. In this world, she only took care of her birth daughter for a short time. Time, she has stayed in the sky for a long time, but she is still guarding the birth daughter, at least I hope so. Oh, if my poor mother is alive, Maximilian, I have nothing to fear, I will say to her I love you, and she protects us."

"Ah, Valentine," said Maximilian, "if she had lived, I would certainly not have known you, because, as you said yourself, you would be happy if she lived, and happy Valentina Lun Tina is high above, and she also looks at me with contempt."

"Ah, Maximilian," cried Valentine, "you are the one who is injustice...but please tell me..."

"What do you want me to tell you?" Maximilian asked, seeing Valentine hesitate.

"Tell me," went on the girl, "was there any misunderstanding between your father and mine at Marseilles?"

"Not so far as I know," replied Maximilian, "only that your father was a firm supporter of the House of Bourbon, while mine was devoted to the Emperor. That's the difference, I suppose. But why ask this question?"

"I'll tell you," said the girl, "because it's something you ought to know. Well, that day it was in the papers that you had been awarded the Legion of Honor, and we were all in the presence of my grandfather, Monsieur Noirquier." Mr. Tangra is also in the room. Did you know that the banker’s two horses nearly killed my stepmother and younger brother the day before yesterday? My father and Mr. Tangra were talking about Miss Tanglar’s ​​marriage, and I shouted Read the newspaper to my grandfather. When I read the part about you—I read it myself, because you told me the good news the morning before, when I read it, I mean read it I am very happy about this passage about you...but I am also trembling because I have to say your name aloud, if I am not afraid of people seeing me suddenly stop and guessing, I will definitely jump over it , so I mustered up all my courage and read on."

"It is very kind of you, Valentine."

"Well, as soon as your name was said aloud, my father turned his face away. I was sure at the time--you see, what a fool I am, everyone will startle like a thunderbolt when they hear your name, Again I thought I saw my father shudder, and even—I'm sure it was a delusion, even Mr Tanglar.

"'Morrel,' said my father, 'stop!' he continued, frowning. 'Is that the Morrels from Marseilles? These crazy Napoleonic partisans would have pissed us off in 1815. A lot of trouble.'

"'Yes,' said Mr Tanglar, 'I even think this man is the son of the previous owner.'"

"Exactly!" said Maximilian. "What did your father say again? Tell me quickly, Valentine."

"Ah, it's too harsh to say, I dare not learn from you."

"Go ahead," said Maximilian, smiling.

"My father kept frowning. He went on: 'These people are fanatics. The emperor knows how to do the best with them. He calls these people cannon fodder, and these guys deserve only that title. I'm glad to see The new government is also implementing such a beneficial principle. If the government seizes Algeria just to implement this principle, although it is a bit expensive, I think the government's approach is commendable.'”

"It is true that such maneuvers are brutal," said Maximilian, "but, my dear friend, you need not blush at M. de Villefort's words. In this respect my father is no more respectable than your father." Poor, he said repeatedly: "The emperor has done so many good things, why didn't he form a team of judges and lawyers and send them to the front line?" The benevolence is comparable among all factions. However, after the prosecutor finished speaking, what did Mr. Tanglar say?"

"Ah, he laughed, his characteristic smirk, I thought it was a grin, and then they all got up and went away, and then I realized that my grandfather was very excited. I must explain to you, Maximilian, only I alone could see if the poor paralyzed man was disturbed, and I thought at the time that the words spoken in his presence—for the poor old man was now being ignored by no one—would have pained him, Because it was speaking ill of his emperor, and he seemed to be a fanatical follower of the emperor."

"He is indeed one of the great men of the Empire," said Maximilian. "He was a member of the Senate. You may or may not know, Valentine, all the Napoleonic intrigues of the Restoration." All of them."

"Yes, I've heard these things whispered a few times, and I find it very strange that my grandfather was a Napoleonist, my father was a Royalist, anyway, it's not something you can help... I turned to my grandfather, He pointed the newspaper at me with his eyes. 'What's the matter with you, Grandpa?' I asked him, 'Are you happy?'

"He made an affirmative statement.

"'What my dad said just made you happy?' I asked him.

"He made a negative statement.

"'Is that what Mr Tanglar said?'

"He still said no.

"'The Medal of Honour, then, for Mr. Morrel? I dare not say Maximilian.'

"He said yes. Do you believe it, Maximilian? He doesn't know you, but he's glad you got the Medal of Honour. Maybe he's getting confused, because everyone says he's an old boy now. But he Say yes, I believe it."

"How strange," said Maximilian, thinking, "that your father hated me, while your grandfather .

"Hush!" cried Valentine suddenly, "hide and hide, you are coming, someone is coming!"

Maximilian quickly jumped to a shovel, took the shovel and ruthlessly turned up the soil in the alfalfa field.

"Mademoiselle! Mademoiselle!" cried a voice from behind the bushes. "Madame de Villefort is calling for you everywhere. She is calling for you. There are guests in the drawing-room."

"We have visitors!" said Valentine anxiously. "Who is coming to see us?"

"It is my lord, prince, so it is said. He is the Count of Monte Cristo."

"I'll go," said Valentine loudly.

The person outside the iron gate couldn't help but startled when he heard the name of Monte Cristo, and Valentine's "I'll go" has long been tantamount to saying "goodbye" at the end of every tryst.

"Hmm!" Maximilian leaned on the shovel wondering, and said to himself, "How does the Count of Monte Cristo know M. de Villefort?"

(End of this chapter)