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The Telegraph

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Brief overview

Villefort loses nine hundred thousand francs rather than break his daughter's engagement to d'Epinay.

  1. Pride costs nine hundred thousand francsVillefort will endure the pecuniary deprivation rather than let his father's will dictate his daughter's marriage.
  2. A paralysed man still rules the familyNortier can neither move nor speak, yet his eyes alone direct two notaries to disinherit Valentin.
  3. Monte Cristo steers without seeming to listenHe feigns attention to Edward and the bird's water-glass while hearing every word, then pushes the marriage to be settled irrevocably.
Executive Summary AI
  • Monsieur and Madame de Villefort return home to find the Count of Monte Cristo waiting in their drawing-room, and Villefort, unable to hide his gloom, admits something has gone badly wrong.
  • His paralysed father Monsieur Nortier, able to move only his eyes, is at that moment dictating a will to two notaries that strips Valentin of nine hundred thousand francs.
  • Villefort refuses to yield, insisting the marriage to the Baron Fran d'Epinay will go ahead because the old man's caprice and a child's will shall not overturn a project he has entertained for years.
  • Monte Cristo draws out the buried history — Nortier the Jacobin, General d'Epinay assassinated after leaving a Bonapartist meeting — and then advises Villefort to settle the marriage at once, beyond all possibility of revocation, which Villefort gratefully accepts.
  • Taking his leave, the Count extracts a promise for Saturday at six at his house at Auteuil, number twenty-eight Rue de la Fontaine — the old Saint-Morin house, which visibly agitates Villefort — and explains he is off to visit a country telegraph he would rather admire than understand.
Key Quote
“Oh, no, monsieur, said Villefort, with a bitter smile. It is only a loss of money which I have sustained.”
— Narrator
Key Quote
“Yes, his bodily faculties, for he can neither move nor speak.”
— Narrator
Key Quote
“Never mind, replied Villefort, I say that this marriage shall be consummated.”
— Narrator

Transcript

0:00 CHAPTER SIXTY THE TELEGRAPH Christo by Alexandra de Mars. Chapter 60. The Telegraph.
0:29 Monsieur and Madame de Villefort found on their return that the Count of Monte Cristo,
0:35 who had come to visit them in their absence, had been ushered into the drawing-room,
0:41 and was still waiting them there. Madame de Villefort, who had not yet sufficiently recovered
0:47 from her late emotion to allow of her entertaining visitors so immediately, retired to her bedroom,
0:56 while the procurer, who could better depend upon himself, proceeded at once to the saloon. Although Monsieur de Villefort flattered himself that,
1:08 to all outward view, he had completely masked the feelings which were passing in his mind,
1:16 he did not know that the cloud was still lowering on his brow, so much so that the Count,
1:23 whose smile was radiant, immediately noticed his sombre and thoughtful leer ma foi said monte cristo after the first compliments were over what is the matter when you were drawing up an indictment for a capital crime?
1:46 Villefort tried to smile. No, Count, he replied, I am the only victim in this case. It is I who
1:56 lose my cause, and it is ill luck, obstinacy, and folly which have caused it to be decided against me. To what do you refer? said Monte Cristo,
2:07 with well-famed interest. Have you really met with some great misfortune?
2:13 Oh, no, monsieur, said Villefort, with a bitter smile. It is only a loss of money which I have sustained. Nothing worth mentioning, I assure you. True, said Monte
2:28 Cristo, the loss of a sum of money becomes almost immaterial with a fortune such as you possess,
2:36 and to one of your philosophic spirit. It is not so much the loss of the money that vexes me, said Villefort, though, after all, nine hundred
2:48 thousand francs are worth regretting, but I am the more annoyed with this fate, chance,
2:55 or whatever you please to call the power which has destroyed my hopes and my fortune, and may blast the prospects of my child also, as it is all occasioned by an
3:09 old man relapsed into second childhood. What do you say, said the Count? Nine hundred thousand
3:17 francs? It is indeed a sum which might be regretted even by a philosopher. And who is the cause of all this annoyance?
3:27 My father, as I told you. Monsieur Nautier, but I thought you told me he had become entirely
3:35 paralyzed, and that all his faculties were completely destroyed. Yes, his bodily faculties, for he can neither move nor speak. Nevertheless, he thinks, acts,
3:50 and wills in the manner I have described. I left him about five minutes ago, and he is now
3:58 occupied in dictating his will to two notaries. But to do this he must have spoken. He has done better than that.
4:09 He has made himself understood. How is such a thing possible? By the help of his eyes,
4:18 which are still full of life, and, as you perceive, possess the power of inflicting mortal injury.
4:26 My dear, said Madame de Villefort, who had just entered the room, perhaps you exaggerate the evil.
4:35 Good morning, madame, said the Count, bowing. Madame de Villefort acknowledge the salutation with one of her most gracious smiles.
4:46 What is this that Monsieur de Villefort has been telling me? demanded Monte Cristo.
4:53 And what incomprehensible misfortune!
4:57 Incomprehensible is not the word, interrupted the procurer, shrugging his shoulders. It is an old man's caprice,
5:06 and is there no means of making him revoke his decision? Yes, said Madame de Villeport,
5:14 and it is still entirely in the power of my husband to cause the will, which is now in
5:21 prejudice of Valentin, to be altered in her favour. The Count, who perceived
5:28 that Monsieur and Madame de Villefort were beginning to speak in parables, appeared to
5:35 pay no attention to the conversation, and feigned to be busily engaged in watching Edward,
5:42 who was mischievously pouring some ink into the bird's water-glass.
5:48 My dear, said Villefort, in answer to his wife, you know I have never been accustomed to play
5:56 the patriarch in my family, nor have I ever considered that the fate of a universe was to be decided by my nod. Nevertheless, it is necessary that my will
6:09 should be respected in my family, and that the folly of an old man and the caprice of a child
6:16 should not be allowed to overturn a project which I have entertained for so many years. The Baron d'Epinay was my friend, as you know, and an alliance with

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