Chapter 144: Chapter 144

A few days after their first encounter, Albert de Morcerf showed up at the Count of Monte Cristo’s mansion in one of the city’s most prestigious districts. The place already had that luxurious, almost royal appearance that the count’s vast wealth allowed him to create, even in homes he only stayed in temporarily. Albert had come to deliver his mother’s thanks in person, following up on a formal thank-you letter she’d sent earlier.

He wasn’t alone. Lucien Debray tagged along, throwing in his own compliments during the conversation. The count, who had a sharp eye for people’s hidden motives, easily figured out why Lucien was really there. He was convinced the visit stemmed from double curiosity, most of it coming from Madame Danglars herself. The wealthy banker’s wife couldn’t personally investigate the lifestyle of a man who casually gave away horses worth a fortune and brought a Greek woman dripping in priceless diamonds to the opera. So she’d sent Lucien, her eyes and ears, to report back on how this mysterious count actually lived. Monte Cristo, however, pretended not to notice any connection between Lucien’s visit and the baroness’s curiosity.

"You’re still in close contact with Baron Danglars?" the count asked Albert.

"Yes, count. You remember what I told you before?"

"Everything’s still the same on that front?"

"More settled than ever," Lucien chimed in. Having delivered his token contribution to the conversation, he adjusted his monocle, bit the top of his gold-handled cane, and began wandering around the room, examining the weapons and paintings on display.

"Ah," Monte Cristo said, "I didn’t expect the engagement to move forward so quickly."

"Oh, things have a way of progressing on their own," Albert replied. "While we’re busy forgetting about them, they fall into place naturally. When we finally pay attention again, we’re surprised by how much progress they’ve made. My father and Mr. Danglars served together during the war in Spain, my father in the military, Danglars in supply management. That’s where both of them, my father having lost everything in the revolution and Danglars having started with nothing, laid the foundations for their current fortunes."

"Yes," Monte Cristo said, "I believe Danglars mentioned something about that when I visited him." He cast a sideways glance at Lucien, who was flipping through a photo album. "And Miss Eugénie is quite attractive, if I remember her name correctly."

"Very beautiful, actually," Albert admitted, "but not really my type of beauty. I know that makes me sound ungrateful."

"You’re talking as if you’re already married to her."

"Ah," Albert said, glancing over to see what Lucien was doing.

"Honestly," Monte Cristo said, lowering his voice, "you don’t seem particularly excited about this marriage."

"Miss Danglars is too wealthy for me," Morcerf replied. "That’s intimidating."

"Come on," Monte Cristo scoffed, "that’s a terrible excuse. Aren’t you rich yourself?"

"My father’s annual income is about fifty thousand francs, and he’ll probably give me ten or twelve thousand when I get married."

"That might not seem like much here in the capital," the count acknowledged, "but wealth isn’t everything. You have an excellent reputation and high social standing. Your family name is celebrated, your position impressive. Besides, your father is a military hero. There’s something admirable about combining a soldier’s honor with modest means, integrity shines brightest when paired with humility. Personally, I think a union with Miss Danglars makes perfect sense. She’ll bring wealth, and you’ll bring prestige."

Albert shook his head thoughtfully. "There’s something else," he said.

"I admit," Monte Cristo said, "I’m having trouble understanding your objection to a young woman who’s both rich and beautiful."

"Oh," Morcerf said, "this reluctance, if you want to call it that, isn’t entirely on my side."

"Where does it come from, then? You told me your father wants this marriage."

"It’s my mother who objects. She has sharp judgment and keen insight, and she doesn’t approve of the union. I can’t explain it, but she seems to have some prejudice against the Danglars family."

"Ah," the count said in a slightly strained tone, "that’s easy enough to explain. Your mother, who represents aristocracy and refinement personified, doesn’t like the idea of you marrying into a family of lower birth. That’s perfectly natural."

"I don’t know if that’s the reason," Albert said, "but I do know that if this marriage happens, it will make her miserable. There was supposed to be a meeting six weeks ago to discuss and finalize everything, but I had a sudden bout of illness-"

"Real illness?" the count interrupted with a smile.

"Real enough, probably from anxiety. Anyway, they postponed it for two months. There’s no rush, I’m not even twenty-one yet, and Eugénie is only seventeen. But those two months are almost up now. Something has to be decided soon. My dear count, you can’t imagine the stress I’m under. How lucky you are to be free from all this!"

"Why can’t you be free too? What’s stopping you?"

"Oh, it would devastate my father if I don’t marry Miss Danglars."

"Then marry her," the count said with a meaningful shrug.

"Yes," Morcerf replied, "but that would cause my mother real suffering."

"Then don’t marry her," the count said simply.

"I need to think about it. I’ll try to figure out the best course of action. You’ll give me advice, won’t you? Maybe help me find a way out of this mess? I think I’d rather risk offending my father than hurt my dear mother."

Monte Cristo turned away, seemingly moved by this statement. "Ah," he said to Debray, who had thrown himself into an armchair at the far end of the room and now held a pencil in one hand and a notebook in the other, "what are you doing over there? Sketching?"

"Oh no," came the calm reply. "I love art too much to attempt anything like that. I’m doing math."

"Yes, I’m calculating, and by the way, Morcerf, this indirectly concerns you, I’m figuring out how much the Danglars bank must have made on the recent surge in Caribbean bonds. They jumped from 206 to 409 in just three days, and that shrewd banker bought at 206. He must have cleared three hundred thousand."

"That’s not even his biggest win," Morcerf said. "Didn’t he make a million on Spanish investments last year?"

"My friend," Lucien said, "the Count of Monte Cristo here will tell you what they say: ’Money and virtue, half of half.’ When people tell me about these deals, I just shrug and say nothing."

"But you were talking about Caribbean bonds?" Monte Cristo prompted.

"Ah yes, Caribbean bonds, that’s a different game entirely! They’re the high-stakes gambling of the stock market. We might enjoy various financial games, get excited about different investment strategies, even become obsessed with them, but we always come back to the Caribbean market, it’s not just a game, it’s an addiction! Danglars sold yesterday at 405 and pocketed three hundred thousand. If he’d waited until today, the price would have crashed to 205, and instead of gaining three hundred thousand, he would have lost twenty or twenty-five thousand."

"What caused the sudden drop from 409 to 206?" Monte Cristo asked. "I’m completely ignorant about these stock market schemes."

"Because," Albert said, laughing, "news reports keep contradicting each other." Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novèlfire.net

"Ah," the count said, "I see that Danglars is used to winning or losing three hundred thousand in a single day. He must be incredibly wealthy."

"It’s not him doing the trading!" Lucien exclaimed. "It’s Madame Danglars. She’s the daring one."

"But you’re a sensible person, Lucien, and you know how unreliable these news reports are, especially since you’re connected to the source. Surely you should stop her," Morcerf said with a smile.

"How can I if her own husband can’t control her?" Lucien asked. "You know the baroness, nobody has any influence over her. She does exactly what she wants."

"If I were in your position-" Albert began.

"I’d reform her. It would be doing a service to her future son-in-law."

"How would you go about that?"

"It would be easy, I’d teach her a lesson."

"Yes. Your position as the minister’s secretary gives you authority on political news. When you speak, stockbrokers write down every word. Make her lose a hundred thousand, and that would teach her to be more careful."

"I don’t understand," Lucien stammered.

"It’s perfectly clear," the young man replied with genuine innocence. "Tell her some morning about some unprecedented news, some exclusive information that only you possess. For instance, that some important political figure was spotted somewhere unexpected. That would make the market surge. She’ll buy heavily, and she’ll definitely lose when the newspapers announce the next day that the report circulated by usually well-informed sources was completely false."

Lucien smiled weakly. Monte Cristo, though appearing indifferent, hadn’t missed a word of this conversation. His perceptive gaze had caught a hidden secret in the secretary’s uncomfortable manner, something that completely escaped Albert but caused Lucien to cut his visit short. He was clearly uneasy.

As the count said goodbye to him, he whispered something, to which Lucien answered, "Gladly, count. I accept."

The count returned to young Morcerf.

"Don’t you think," he said, "that you were wrong to speak about your future mother-in-law like that in front of Debray?"

"My dear count," Morcerf said, "please don’t use that title prematurely."

"Seriously though, is your mother really that opposed to this marriage?"

"So much so that the baroness rarely visits our house, and my mother has visited Madame Danglars maybe twice in her entire life."

"In that case," the count said, "I feel comfortable speaking openly with you. Danglars is my banker. Mr. de Villefort has been extremely courteous to me in return for a favor I was able to do him. I’m predicting an avalanche of dinner invitations and parties from all this. Now, to avoid presuming on these connections and to be proactive, I’ve been thinking, if you’re agreeable, of inviting the Danglars and the Villeforts to my country estate for dinner. If I were to invite you and your parents to this same dinner, it would look like I’m arranging a marriage meeting. Your mother would certainly see it that way, especially if Baron Danglars brought his daughter. In that case, your mother would resent me, and I definitely don’t want that. On the contrary, I want to remain in her good graces."