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The Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fifth of September (The Count of Monte Cristo — Chapter 30, Part 17)Before the tower of Saint-Jean, unmistakable and fully alive, sails a ship bearing the name The Pharaon, Morrel & Son, of Marseilles. Morrel and Maximilian embrace on the pier as the city erupts in applause, witnessing the salvation of a man who, moments earlier, believed himself doomed.
Hidden behind a sentry-box, an unknown man with a black beard watches with quiet satisfaction. Speaking softly so only the sea might hear, he blesses Morrel for the goodness he has shown in life and expresses a desire that his own part in this rescue remain forever hidden.
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2026-01-0813 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fifth of September (The Count of Monte Cristo — Chapter 30, Part 16)After reading Sinbad’s letter, Morrel asks Julie whether she truly followed its instruction to go alone. She explains that Emmanuel accompanied her only to the corner, as planned — but strangely, he was not waiting when she returned. Before Morrel can question further, a voice calls urgently from the stairs. Julie recognizes it instantly: Emmanuel. The Pharaon has returned!
Morrel believes he must be mistaken — the Pharaon had been reported lost. But Emmanuel insists: the harbor lookout has signaled her return. Maximilian arrives moments later with the same news.
Morrel, overwhelmed, can scarcely comprehend what he is...
2026-01-0709 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fifth of September (The Count of Monte Cristo — Chapter 30, Part 15)The final seconds tick away. Morrel raises the pistol, cocks it, and shudders at the sound. Cold sweat covers him; a crushing pain closes around his heart. The staircase door creaks. The clock prepares to strike eleven. His study door opens. Morrel doesn’t turn — he assumes Cocles has come to announce the agent of Thomson & French.
And then he hears a cry — Julie’s voice. He turns. She stands in the doorway, breathless, radiant, her hand extended. The pistol falls from his grasp.
Julie throws herself into his arms, holding a familiar red silk purse. I...
2026-01-0607 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fifth of September (The Count of Monte Cristo — Chapter 30, Part 14)Cocles enters the study to find a man utterly changed. The discoveries of the past three days have crushed Morrel’s spirit so completely that he seems aged by decades. The single thought — the House of Morrel is about to fail — weighs on him more heavily than any hardship he has endured across his life.
Morrel instructs Cocles to remain in the antechamber and to announce the arrival of the agent from Thomson & French the moment he appears. Cocles silently nods and takes his place outside. Morrel sinks into his chair and fixes his gaze on the clock...
2026-01-0508 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fifth of September (The Count of Monte Cristo — Chapter 30, Part 13)Morrel tells Maximilian to leave him and keep Madame Morrel and Julie away. Maximilian, clinging to the faintest hope that seeing Julie again might change his father’s mind, asks whether Morrel will see his sister once more. Morrel refuses gently: he has already said his farewell that morning.
Maximilian then asks if his father has any final instructions. Morrel gives him one sacred command: the house of Thomson & French — the only firm that showed compassion in his ruin — must be repaid first when the family’s fortunes are rebuilt. Its agent, arriving within minutes to collect the impo...
2026-01-0408 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fifth of September (The Count of Monte Cristo — Chapter 30, Part 12)Maximilian assures his father of his unwavering admiration, calling him the most honorable man he has ever known. Morrel, moved, tells him there is nothing more to say and instructs him to rejoin his mother and sister. Instead, Maximilian kneels and asks for his father’s blessing.
Morrel places his hands on his son’s head, kisses him repeatedly, and gives a solemn benediction — not only in his own name, but in the name of generations of honorable Morrels. He urges Maximilian to rebuild what misfortune has destroyed: to live frugally, work tirelessly, protect his mother and sister...
2026-01-0306 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fifth of September (The Count of Monte Cristo — Chapter 30, Part 11)Morrel silently directs Maximilian to read the ledger. The figures speak with a brutal clarity: the debt due at eleven o’clock, the almost nonexistent funds available, and the impossibility of meeting the obligation. When Maximilian asks whether every option has been exhausted, Morrel answers simply: yes. There is no money coming in, no resource left to call upon, no appeal still possible. In half an hour, their name — honored for generations — will be disgraced.
Maximilian declares the truth in a low voice: dishonor is imminent. Morrel replies with the old belief that blood washes out dishonor. Maximi...
2026-01-0213 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fifth of September (The Count of Monte Cristo — Chapter 30, Part 10)While Julie rushes to carry out Sinbad’s mysterious instructions, Madame Morrel explains the full extent of their ruin to Maximilian. Though he knew the family had suffered financially, he had no idea how desperate the situation had become. The revelation leaves him stunned.
He runs upstairs to find his father, knocking at the study door with no response. Then he hears the bedroom door open behind him. Morrel emerges — startled to see his son, unaware he had arrived — and holding something hidden beneath his coat. Maximilian embraces him but recoils in horror when he feels the shape...
2026-01-0105 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fifth of September (The Count of Monte Cristo — Chapter 30, Part 9)The postscript to Sinbad’s letter shakes Julie’s initial joy: she must go alone, and the porter will deny everything if she brings anyone else. Her innocence leaves her uncertain of the dangers such a mission might pose, yet the very unknown makes it more frightening.
Rather than consult her mother or brother, Julie instinctively turns to Emmanuel, confiding everything — the earlier visit from Thomson & French’s agent, the promise she made, the mysterious messenger on the stairs, and finally the letter itself. Emmanuel reads it and tells her she must go.
Julie hesitates: the lett...
2025-12-3108 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fifth of September (The Count of Monte Cristo — Chapter 30, Part 8)Julie obeys her father’s unusually firm request to remain with her mother, staying motionless in the room despite her anxiety. Moments later the door opens, and she is swept into the arms of her brother, Maximilian, whose sudden arrival brings an outburst of joy and relief. Madame Morrel embraces her son, and Maximilian immediately senses the gravity of the situation from the fear reflected in their faces.
At his mother’s request, Julie hurries out to tell her father of Maximilian’s arrival. But on the staircase she encounters a stranger holding a letter. Speaking with a stro...
2025-12-3007 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fifth of September (The Count of Monte Cristo — Chapter 30, Part 7)Morrel maintains an outward calm in the days leading to September 5th, going about his routine as though nothing has changed. Yet his actions betray the truth: he holds Julie close for an unusually long time after dinner, and she later confides to her mother that his heart was beating violently despite his composed demeanor.
On September 4th, he asks Julie for the key to his study — a request that terrifies her. The key has always been hers to keep, and he has never asked for it except as a childhood punishment. Sensing danger, she delays and im...
2025-12-2908 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fifth of September (The Count of Monte Cristo — Chapter 30, Part 6)Though Morrel’s financial situation is now undeniably hopeless, he descends to dinner with an unnerving calm. To his wife and daughter, this composure feels far more frightening than despair would have been. Breaking his usual habit of spending the evening at the Phocéens club, Morrel instead withdraws directly to his office, isolating himself.
Cocles, deeply shaken by what he has learned, wanders the courtyard in a daze, sitting bareheaded in the blazing sun. Emmanuel attempts to comfort the women, but he knows the business too well to offer convincing reassurance; catastrophe is imminent.
As...
2025-12-2807 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fifth of September (The Count of Monte Cristo — Chapter 30, Part 5)Maximilian Morrel stands revealed as a disciplined, principled young officer — a graduate of the Polytechnic School and a sub-lieutenant of the 53rd of the line. Known in his regiment for his strict sense of both military and moral duty, he has earned the nickname “the stoic.” It is this strength of character his mother and sister now turn to, sensing the crisis approaching.
Their fears are swiftly confirmed. After accompanying Morrel into his private office, Cocles emerges pale and shaken, unable to speak except for a cry of despair. Moments later, he rushes upstairs burdened with ledgers, a port...
2025-12-2708 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fifth of September (The Count of Monte Cristo — Chapter 30, Part 4)Morrel returns to Marseilles on September 1st, and his family greets him with intense anxiety — all their remaining hopes rested on this journey to Paris. He had gone to appeal to Danglars, now enormously wealthy, whose entire rise began through Morrel’s support years earlier. Because Danglars could save him with nothing but his signature, Morrel had long hesitated to ask, sensing the humiliation such a request would bring. His instincts prove correct: Danglars refuses to assist him.
Crushed by the rejection, Morrel returns home but expresses no anger, complaint, or bitterness. He embraces his wife and daug...
2025-12-2607 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Calm Before the Fifth of September (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 30 – Part 3)As Morrel leaves Captain Gaumard, he encounters Penelon on the stairs — newly dressed, awkward, and clearly uneasy. The sailor can barely meet his former employer’s eyes. Morrel assumes the reason is simple: Penelon must have found work aboard another vessel and feels guilty for moving on. Morrel blesses him silently as he departs, wishing the crew the good fortune he himself has lacked.
August brings relentless labor for Morrel, who exhausts every avenue to restore or renew his credit. On August 20th he disappears from Marseilles by mail coach, triggering rumors that he has abandoned his busi...
2025-12-2508 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoA Reprieve Without Rescue (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 30 – Part 2)Despite universal expectations of collapse, Morrel astonishingly meets all his obligations at the end of the month. Commercial Marseilles is stunned — but not convinced. Most believe that this sudden solvency is temporary, that the real ruin has merely been delayed until the end of the next cycle. Confidence, once lost, is not so easily reclaimed.
Through July, Morrel fights desperately to assemble every franc he can. His credit, once impeccable, now evaporates: banks refuse his paper even at short terms, and the reputation that once made his name sought-after now works against him. Fortunately, he still has a...
2025-12-2407 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoA Reprieve That Isn’t Enough (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 30 – Part 1)The unexpected extension granted by the representative of Thomson & French transforms the Morrel household overnight. What had felt like the final blow now appears as a gift from Providence, and for the first time in months, hope softens the family’s despair. Morrel shares the news with his wife, his daughter Julie, and Emmanuel, and all begin to breathe again.
But beneath that fragile relief lies a cruel truth: Morrel’s debts extend far beyond the considerate grace shown by Thomson & French. Other creditors — less patient, less farsighted — continue to press him. The bills they present arrive with mec...
2025-12-2306 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Promise and the Pseudonym (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 29 – Part 14)With solemn precision, the Englishman renews M. Morrel’s bills, extending the deadline for payment until September 5th. The merchant, though grateful beyond words, mutters under his breath that he will either repay the debt or die trying. His reprieve is measured not in hope but in time — three months to rebuild what fate has destroyed.
The Englishman accepts Morrel’s gratitude with the calm reserve of his assumed nationality, then allows himself to be escorted to the door. On the staircase, he encounters Julie, who has been waiting anxiously. She stops him, desperate to express her thanks...
2025-12-2213 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Stranger’s Mercy (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 29 – Part 13)Exhausted by grief and gratitude, M. Morrel dismisses his loyal sailors, unable to bear their devotion any longer. He promises they will meet again in better days, though the words ring hollow. Emmanuel escorts the men out, leaving the merchant alone with the Englishman from Thomson & French — the quiet observer who has watched the collapse of a man’s fortunes without a word.
Morrel’s wife and daughter withdraw as well, though Julie pauses to give the stranger a pleading glance. To her surprise, he answers with a faint, compassionate smile — a warmth momentarily breaking through his otherwis...
2025-12-2112 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Loyalty of the Lost Crew (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 29 – Part 12)In the wake of his ruin, M. Morrel meets despair with dignity. Accepting the loss of the Pharaon as the will of God, he turns to his rescued sailors to settle their wages — the last act of a man determined to remain honorable even in bankruptcy. Though he insists on paying each of them two hundred francs for their service, his voice falters as he admits that what little remains in his coffers no longer belongs to him.
The sailors, moved by his honesty, refuse to take what they are owed. Penelon, speaking for them all, says th...
2025-12-2006 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe End of the Pharaon (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 29 – Part 11)Penelon’s voice softens as he reaches the end of his tale. The gale had passed, the sea calmed, but the Pharaon was doomed — water creeping up inch by inch, the slow arithmetic of disaster.
Captain Gaumard, resolute to the last, gave the final order: abandon ship. The sailors obeyed reluctantly, torn between loyalty and survival. When the captain refused to leave, Penelon wrapped his arms around him and hurled him bodily into the lifeboat — just as the deck gave way with a thunderous crack. Moments later, the Pharaon spun, pitched, and vanished beneath the sea.
For...
2025-12-1906 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Storm and the Captain’s Defiance (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 29 – Part 10)The old seaman continues: they had done more than reef the topsails — they had run before the tempest, stripped bare, and fought through twelve hours of fury before the Pharaon sprung a leak. Down in the hold, the water rose faster than the pumps could fight it. “Since we are sinking,” Penelon had cried, “let us sink!” But Captain Gaumard, defiant to the last, emerged with pistols in hand. “I’ll blow out the brains of the first man who leaves the pump!”
The Englishman leans forward slightly, his voice cool and approving. “Well done,” he says. And in those two wor...
2025-12-1805 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Tempest (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 29 – Part 9)The old sailor, Penelon, shifts his tobacco and begins his tale — rough, vivid, and steady as the sea itself.
Even now, the room seems to tighten with his words. The sailors nod; they remember. The storm had come fast — a wall of black rolling across the horizon, the wind rising like cannon fire. Orders flew: take in the studding-sails, stow the flying jib, lower the mainsail. Within minutes, the Pharaon was straining under a sky turned violent.
But the captain knew his work, and the crew obeyed, reefing sails and bracing for the storm. The memo...
2025-12-1707 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Loss of the Pharaon (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 29 – Part 8)Julie’s trembling voice confirms what her father already fears — the Pharaon is gone. Morrel’s face collapses under the weight of the words.
Moments later, the room fills with sorrow and salt air. Madame Morrel enters weeping; Emmanuel follows; and behind them stand the Pharaon’s sailors, rough and sunburned, their faces lined with fatigue and loss. The Englishman, startled by their sudden presence, retreats into the shadows of the room.
At Morrel’s bidding, the old sailor Penelon steps forward — a man bronzed by years of sun and sea, his hat crushed in his hands, h...
2025-12-1607 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe News Arrives (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 29 – Part 7)The Englishman tries to offer cautious optimism — perhaps the ship entering port, La Gironde, has spoken to the Pharaon. But M. Morrel only shakes his head. “Uncertainty is still hope,” he murmurs. “She left Calcutta the fifth of February; she should have been here a month ago.”
A sudden noise breaks the stillness — hurried steps, muffled sobs, voices on the stairs. Morrel goes pale. The stranger watches him closely, pity softening his calm demeanor. The last color drains from Morrel’s face. As his daughter falls into his arms, the Englishman — silent witness, stranger, and judge — sees what no balance sh...
2025-12-1506 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Last Hope of a Merchant (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 29 – Part 6)M. Morrel straightens in his chair, summoning the dignity of a lifetime built on honor. “For more than twenty-four years,” he says, “nothing bearing the name of Morrel & Son has ever been dishonored.” The words carry both pride and despair.
Morrel’s composure wavers.
Outside, the world continues in silence. Only one thread of hope remains — a single ship still at sea. And as they speak, a young man keeps watch from the rooftop, scanning the horizon for a miracle that may already be too late.
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2025-12-1406 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Weight of the Ledger (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 29 – Part 5)Morrel sits motionless as the Englishman begins to unfold his papers. Each sheet rustles like a verdict. The names and numbers are precise: 200,000 francs owed to M. de Boville, 32,500 francs in promissory notes, and another 55,000 francs from Pascal and Wild & Turner — debts that together crush him under 287,500 francs.
The merchant’s hand trembles as he wipes the sweat from his brow. Never before has he heard his own name — once synonymous with honor — spoken alongside the word liability. He forces his voice steady, but every figure pierces deeper, each familiar signature now a wound reopened.
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2025-12-1308 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Ledger and the Stranger (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 29 – Part 4)Julie retreats down the stairs, pale with dread, as the Englishman and Cocles climb higher. At the top, Cocles unlocks a door leading to M. Morrel’s private room and silently ushers the visitor inside.
There sits the once-proud merchant, hunched over his ledger — a monument of debts. His hair, once black and full, is now white; his steady eyes, dulled by sleepless years. The man who once commanded ships and fortune now trembles at the sound of a knock.
Morrel rises politely, closing the ledger as though it could hide his ruin. The stranger acce...
2025-12-1211 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Visitor from Rome (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 29 – Part 3)The Pharaon has not returned. Another ship from Calcutta arrived weeks ago, but of Morrel’s vessel there is still no word. The silence tightens like a noose around the failing house of Morrel & Son.
Into this fragile quiet steps a stranger — the confidential clerk of Thomson & French of Rome. Emmanuel, anxious at every knock, fears another creditor come to press the debt that cannot be paid. He tries to intercept the visitor, but the Englishman insists: his business is with M. Morrel alone.
Cocles is summoned to lead him upstairs, and as they climb, they...
2025-12-1107 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Last Hope of Morrel & Son (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 29 – Part 2)Through every loss, Cocles alone remains steady — not from ignorance, but from faith built on twenty years of perfect balance sheets. To him, ruin is an impossibility; numbers do not lie, and M. Morrel has never failed to pay. Even as the other clerks abandon ship like rats sensing the storm, Cocles stays at his post, guided by arithmetic and devotion.
When he finds an extra fourteen sous in his ledger, he brings it to Morrel with pride. The shipowner smiles sadly and drops the coins into an almost empty drawer. “You are the pearl of cashiers,” he say...
2025-12-1006 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Silence of the Warehouse (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 29 – Part 1)The once-bustling house of Morrel & Son now stands hollow and still. Where laughter once echoed through bright corridors and the air smelled of salt, goods, and prosperity, there is only dust and silence. The courtyards are empty, the offices dark, and of all the clerks who once filled this hive of commerce, only two remain.
One is a young man — loyal beyond reason, bound by love to M. Morrel’s daughter and unwilling to abandon the sinking ship. The other is Cocles, the old one-eyed cashier whom the younger clerks once teased as “Cock-eye.” Time and hardship have mad...
2025-12-0908 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Signature and the Proof (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 28 – Part 7)At last, the name Edmond Dantès stares back from the prison register — and beside it, the line that sealed his fate.
The Englishman’s gaze hardens as he compares the ink, the slant of each letter, the flourish of the final stroke. It is unmistakable — the handwriting of Villefort himself, the man whose ambition had destroyed him. The truth lies in plain sight, preserved by bureaucracy and indifference.
Quietly, he folds the denunciation — the letter written by Danglars, the proof of betrayal — and slips it into his pocket. The inspector, content with his newfound fortune and...
2025-12-0809 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Prison Registers (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 28 – Part 6)The Englishman’s tone remains mild, but his purpose sharpens. He asks to see the prison records — those of the Abbé Faria, and of the other prisoner whose story has so interested him. M. de Boville obliges, leading him into a study of immaculate order: numbered ledgers, catalogued files, the bureaucracy of forgotten lives.
While the inspector buries himself in his newspaper, the Englishman leafs through the records with deliberate care. He finds Faria’s entry first — then, as if drawn by fate, turns to the name Edmond Dantès. There it is: the accusation, the examination, the petiti...
2025-12-0710 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Burial at Sea (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 28 – Part 5)The Englishman listens with careful detachment as M. de Boville delivers the tale’s grim conclusion. The government, he says, needn’t have feared Edmond Dantès any longer — for the Château d’If has no cemetery. Its dead are given to the sea.
Believing he was to be buried in consecrated ground, Dantès had instead been sewn into his shroud, weighted with a thirty-six-pound cannonball, and hurled from the fortress cliffs into the black water below. De Boville laughs at the irony, picturing the fugitive’s surprise. The Englishman joins in — softly, thinly — a smile that never...
2025-12-0605 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Prisoner’s Escape (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 28 – Part 4)With the ink barely dry on their transaction, the Englishman’s true purpose unfolds. His calm curiosity sharpens as M. de Boville recounts a story he calls “a singular incident.” The Abbé Faria — the so-called madman who dreamed of treasure — died only months ago, in February. But his death, Boville explains, was not the end of the tale.
Faria’s cell lay just fifty feet from another prisoner — one of Napoleon’s agents, dangerous and determined. His name: Edmond Dantès. The Englishman’s composure tightens. Boville continues, describing how the two men dug a tunnel between their dungeons, plan...
2025-12-0505 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Price of a Secret (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 28 – Part 3)The Englishman’s composure never wavers, producing a thick bundle of banknotes — far more than M. de Boville had dared to hope for. Relief floods the inspector’s face as ruin gives way to salvation. Yet the stranger refuses any percentage or commission. His price, it seems, is something altogether different.
What began as a transaction of francs now turns into an exchange of secrets. Money changes hands easily; the truth requires another kind of payment.
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2025-12-0408 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Debt Redeemed (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 28 – Part 2)When the Englishman enters M. de Boville’s office, recognition flickers across his face — though the inspector of prisons, sunk in despair, is too distraught to notice. The visitor repeats his polite inquiries about the finances of Morrel & Son, but this time the answer is worse than rumor: M. de Boville is ruined. Two hundred thousand francs — his daughter’s dowry — lie trapped in Morrel’s failing firm, and the deadline for payment looms within days.
A transaction begins that feels less like business than providence — and perhaps, retribution.
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2025-12-0306 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Stranger from Rome (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 28 – Part 1)A new chapter — and a new game begins. The morning after the events at the Pont du Gard inn, a man appears in Marseilles: thirtyish, well-dressed, and unmistakably English in bearing. Introducing himself as the chief clerk of Thomson & French of Rome, he claims concern over a large loan made to Morrel & Son — the very firm now whispered to be on the verge of ruin.
Before the mayor of Marseilles, the stranger’s questions are polite, his tone measured, yet his purpose precise. The mayor, bound by honor, can offer only respect for Morrel’s integrity — not the reassu...
2025-12-0205 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Diamond Tested (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 27 – Part 11)The abbé departs into the fading light, leaving Caderousse overflowing with gratitude and disbelief. “May this money profit you,” the priest says, mounting his horse and riding away — back down the same lonely road that brought him to the Pont du Gard inn. Behind him, his calm words linger like a benediction, or a warning.
Inside, Caderousse’s joy meets the cold suspicion of La Carconte. Pale and trembling, she eyes the diamond with dread. “Suppose it’s false?” she whispers. The thought strikes him like a curse. Could the priest — that solemn man of God — have tricked them?
2025-12-0112 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Diamond and the Debt (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 27 – Part 10)The tale reaches its quiet climax in the dim Pont du Gard inn. The abbé, grave and watchful, speaks of divine justice — of how God’s memory, though slow, never fails. Then, from his pocket, he draws the diamond: a brilliant stone meant for Edmond Dantès’ true friends. “Take it,” he says, placing it before the trembling Caderousse. “There was one friend only. It is yours.”
Caderousse hesitates, half-believing it a cruel jest, until the abbé names his price — the faded red silk purse once left by M. Morrel on old Dantès’ chimney. Reluctantly, Caderousse exchanges it for the j...
2025-11-3009 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Countess and Her Shadow (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 27 – Part 9)Eighteen months of mourning — then a wedding. Mercédès begged time to grieve for Edmond Dantès, but grief gave way to resignation, and resignation to marriage. The abbé’s voice cuts with irony as he whispers, “Frailty, thy name is woman,” and listens as Caderousse recounts her walk to the altar — through the same church where she was once to have wed Edmond. Passing La Réserve, she nearly fainted, haunted by memory.
Fernand, uneasy in his triumph, hurried his new wife away from Marseilles and the ghosts that lingered there. Years later, Caderousse saw her again in Pe...
2025-11-2908 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Return of Fernand (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 27 – Part 8)Caderousse’s tale drifts into the realm of dreams — the kind that ache with truth. Fernand, once the poor Catalan fisherman, now owns a grand Parisian mansion at 27 Rue du Helder. And Mercédès — she too has risen, “as the sun disappears to rise again with greater splendor.” The abbé’s voice falters, his irony masking something deeper.
Caderousse recounts her long sorrow: the pleading with Villefort, the tending of old Dantès, the lonely vigils by the roads to Marseilles. Each evening she waited, praying for Edmond’s return — until one night, a familiar step approached. Fernand...
2025-11-2808 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Making of a Count (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 27 – Part 7)The abbé listens as Caderousse unspools the incredible rise of Fernand — once a poor fisherman, now a decorated noble. His fortune, it seems, was built not on honor but on opportunity seized in shadow. Drafted under Napoleon and stationed at the frontier, Fernand betrayed his general to the Bourbons and returned a hero instead of a traitor. The winds of empire had changed, and Fernand changed with them.
As wars came and went, his ambition only grew. In Spain, he joined forces with Danglars, guiding troops through secret routes and earning favor among royalists until he was mad...
2025-11-2709 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fortunes of the Guilty (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 27 – Part 6)The abbé listens as Caderousse paints a grim contrast between the ruined and the rewarded. M. Morrel — faithful, honorable, undone by loss — now stands at the edge of despair, burdened not only by ruin but by a family he cannot save. A wife steadfast in suffering. A daughter denied her love. A son serving far away. Even death would be a mercy if not for those who depend on him.
And yet the men who destroyed Edmond Dantès prosper. Danglars, the scheming clerk, has climbed from fraud to fortune, now a baron with mansions, horses...
2025-11-2606 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Weight of Remorse (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 27 – Part 5)Caderousse bows his head beneath the burden of guilt, confessing that he let fate destroy Edmond Dantès. “Remorse preys on me night and day,” he admits, believing his misfortune to be divine punishment for cowardice. The abbé listens with grave compassion, telling him that such honesty is a step toward forgiveness — though Caderousse fears Edmond’s spirit already knows his guilt.
When the conversation turns to M. Morrel, Dantès’ former patron, the tone shifts from confession to tragedy. Once an honorable and generous shipowner, Morrel spent years defending Edmond and caring for his father. But time has turn...
2025-11-2508 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Betrayal at La Réserve (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 27 – Part 4)The abbé’s voice hardens as he demands names — the men who destroyed Edmond Dantès and his father. Caderousse, cornered by conscience and the priest’s quiet authority, speaks the truth at last: Fernand and Danglars. One driven by love, the other by ambition. Together they forged a lie.
In the warm glow of Dantès’ betrothal eve at La Réserve, Danglars wrote the letter — disguised in left-handed script — while Fernand slipped it into the post. It was a jest, they told him, a harmless prank. But when the soldiers came the next day, Caderousse saw the truth he...
2025-11-2407 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoA Father’s Last Fast (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 27 – Part 3)Grief turns to solitude, and solitude to ruin. Caderousse recounts how even the kindest neighbors withdrew from old Dantès — sorrow being a burden most hearts can bear only at a distance. Left alone, the father sold his few possessions piece by piece, until the house itself threatened to turn him out.
When the silence above grew too deep, Caderousse peered through the keyhole and found him pale, starved, and near death. Morrel brought a doctor, Mercédès came in tears, yet the old man’s smile at being ordered “a limited diet” was his last quiet irony...
2025-11-2309 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Old Man’s Vigil (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 27 – Part 2)Mercédès, desperate to help, turns to Villefort for mercy and is denied. She then seeks out Edmond’s father — a man broken by grief and sleeplessness, who refuses to leave his home. “If he gets out of prison,” he insists, “he will come here first; I must be waiting.” His love has become an anchor, binding him to the place where hope still lingers.
Through the thin ceiling above, Caderousse listens helplessly as the old man’s steps give way to sobs, and sobs to prayers. Even those who wish to comfort him cannot reach him...
2025-11-2208 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Story (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 27 – Part 1)In the dim light of the Pont du Gard inn, the abbé urges Caderousse to speak the truth about Edmond Dantès’ past — and Caderousse hesitates, gripped by fear of the powerful men his words may expose. The priest’s calm assurance, his vow of secrecy and divine distance, opens the floodgates: Caderousse begins his long, painful confession.
He starts with Dantès’ father — the man Edmond loved most — and the sorrow that followed his son’s arrest. The joyous betrothal feast at La Réserve, once bright with laughter, ended in ruin as soldiers marched in and led the groom...
2025-11-2109 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Explosion (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 24 – Part 3)At last, the secret yields to Edmond’s hand.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 24, Dantès uncovers the artifice that held the circular rock in place. Unable to move it with strength alone, he turns to powder and fire. The explosion shatters the wedge stone and lifts the rock, sending a snake slithering from the darkness like a guardian spirit. Beneath lies the promise of Cardinal Spada’s hidden treasure.
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2025-10-1608 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Rock and the Creek (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 24 – Part 2)Reassured by the sight of departing sails, Dantès turns his attention back to the island itself.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 24, he follows the faint marks toward a secluded creek, hidden like a secret harbor, and imagines how Cardinal Spada might have concealed both his boat and his treasure. Returning to the great circular rock, Edmond realizes the truth — it was not lifted into place, but lowered to conceal what lies beneath.
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2025-10-1506 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Secret Cave Begins (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 24 – Part 1)Alone at last, Dantès stands beneath the burning midday sun on Monte Cristo.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 24, he feels the eerie sensation of being watched, even in solitude. Gun in hand, he climbs to the highest rock to survey the horizon — not gazing at Corsica, Sardinia, or Elba, but fixed on the departing ships that had left him free to pursue his destiny.
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2025-10-1409 minThe Countdown of Monte Cristo“Open Sesame!” (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23 – Part 8)The ruse complete, Dantès watches the smugglers sail away—his feigned weakness leaving him “abandoned” on Monte Cristo. Alone at last, he lets slip a smile: among hardened men of contraband, he has found loyalty and kindness. But the charade is over. Rising with sudden strength, more agile than a wild kid leaping among the myrtles, he seizes his gun and pickaxe and hurries to the rock where the mysterious marks had led him.
Recalling the Arabian tale told by Faria, Edmond faces the stone that may guard his fate. With a cry that bridges legend and rea...
2025-10-1318 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoA Convenient Injury (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23 – Part 8)Dantès’ feigned injury deepens, his cries of pain convincing even the strict patron of La Jeune Amélie to consider breaking his rule of never delaying a voyage.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23, Edmond insists he be left behind with food, weapons, and tools, declaring that death on the island is preferable to the agony of movement. The crew hesitates, torn between duty and loyalty, while Edmond quietly edges closer to the solitude he seeks for his secret purpose.
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2025-10-1212 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fall (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23 – Part 7)Edmond’s search for the treasure takes a sudden turn.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23, while bounding across the rocks toward his comrades, Dantès slips and falls heavily down a slope. Found bleeding and in pain, he insists on being left to rest while the sailors eat. Alone again, his body weakened but his mind resolute, Edmond presses himself against a mossy rock — still guarding his hidden purpose.
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2025-10-1107 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoMarks on the Rocks (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23 – Part 6)Exploring Monte Cristo alone, Dantès follows a narrow cleft carved by a torrent, searching for the grottos of legend.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23, he discovers faint marks scratched into stone, hidden under moss and myrtle, and dares to believe they were left as guides by Cardinal Spada himself. But the trail ends abruptly at a great round rock, leaving Edmond uncertain whether he has reached the beginning of the path — or its end.
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2025-10-1011 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Hunger for More (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23 – Part 5)Feigning a hunting trip, Dantès sends Jacopo back to the crew and climbs alone into the heights of Monte Cristo.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23, Edmond gazes down on the smugglers below, reflecting that their small fortunes, soon squandered, mean nothing beside the treasure he seeks. Once content with liberty alone, he now craves wealth with a passion he can hardly control — a hunger Providence itself seems to have placed within him.
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2025-10-0910 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Grottos of Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23 – Part 4)Dantès presses Jacopo about the hidden grottos of Monte Cristo — only to be told that none exist.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23, Edmond wrestles with doubt and resolves to delay his search until morning. Meanwhile, a phantom-like vessel arrives, and the smugglers set to work. Even as he labors alongside them, Dantès fears his eagerness may betray him, masking his restlessness beneath the sadness prison has etched into his face.
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2025-10-0806 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoFirst Steps on Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23 – Part 3)At last, the island itself comes into view.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23, Edmond guides the course toward Monte Cristo, his emotions rising and falling with each glimpse of its rocky silhouette. By nightfall, La Jeune Amélie drops anchor, and Dantès leaps ashore, barely able to conceal his fervor. Under the silver light of the moon, he questions Jacopo about where they will pass the night on this long-awaited island.
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2025-10-0707 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Solitude of the Sea (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23 – Part 2)Dantès’ command of the crew grows so complete that even the old patron yields to him.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23, Edmond takes the helm through the night, guiding the vessel beneath the stars with Monte Cristo rising on the horizon. Alone at sea, his thoughts crowd the silence — dreams of treasure, vengeance, and freedom keeping him awake even as dawn approaches.
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2025-10-0608 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoDreams of Treasure (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23 – Part 1)At last, fortune brings Edmond the chance to set foot on Monte Cristo without suspicion.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 23, Dantès spends a restless night filled with dazzling dreams of treasure turning to dust. By day, he steadies his mind and begins to form a clear plan. On board, his growing authority makes him a leader among the smugglers as they prepare to sail for the island that holds his destiny.
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2025-10-0511 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Plan at Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 22 – Part 8)Opportunity at last: during a smugglers’ meeting in Leghorn, the patron of La Jeune Amélie proposes Monte Cristo as the perfect neutral ground for their next landing.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 22, Edmond hides his joy as the plan is accepted. By the following night, they will sail for the deserted island — and for Edmond, the chance to pursue the secret entrusted to him by Abbé Faria.
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2025-10-0412 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Tutor and the Pupil (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 22 – Part 7)On long days at sea, Dantès becomes to Jacopo what Faria had been to him — a teacher.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 22, he teaches his Corsican companion the language of the stars and the secrets of navigation, while quietly preparing for his own future. Passing Monte Cristo again and again without a chance to land, Edmond resolves that when his term aboard La Jeune Amélie ends, he will hire a vessel of his own and risk everything to claim the treasure.
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2025-10-0309 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoLessons in Blood (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 22 – Part 6)A skirmish with customs officers leaves one dead and two smugglers wounded — Dantès among them.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 22, Edmond embraces danger and injury as harsh lessons for the path ahead, feeling his heart harden as pity slips away. Jacopo rushes to his aid with sincere devotion, deepening the quiet bond between them.
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2025-10-0207 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Patience of Fourteen Years (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 22 – Part 5)Dantès reminds himself that he has learned to wait — liberty itself was worth fourteen years, and wealth can wait longer if need be.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 22, Monte Cristo fades from sight while the smugglers complete a smooth Corsican landing, divide their profits, and prepare for another voyage. Edmond watches, patient and observant, biding his time as La Jeune Amélie sails on to Sardinia.
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2025-10-0106 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoPassing Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 22 – Part 4)Newly shorn and dressed as a sailor, Dantès returns Jacopo’s clothes and accepts only a short-term place on La Jeune Amélie.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 22, the smugglers load their contraband and set sail. As dawn breaks, Edmond gazes longingly at the rocky shores of Monte Cristo — the island that holds his destiny — but knows he must wait for the right moment to claim its secret.
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2025-09-3008 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoA New Face, A New Life (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 22 – Part 3)Fourteen years of suffering have remade Dantès beyond recognition.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 22, the round, open face of youth has hardened into resolution, intellect, and hidden fury. Even he can barely recognize himself in the mirror. Accepting funds from the captain of La Jeune Amélie, Edmond completes his transformation by purchasing a simple sailor’s suit — the outward disguise of a man already reborn within.
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2025-09-2909 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Face of a Stranger (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 22 – Part 2)Among the smugglers of La Jeune Amélie, Edmond keeps his secret, offering only fragments of truth and convincing lies.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 22, he arrives at Leghorn and faces a more personal trial: seeing his own face for the first time in fourteen years. At a barber’s shop, his beard and hair are shorn away, revealing how much he has changed since youth — and what remains of the man he once was.
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2025-09-2807 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoLa Jeune Amélie (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 22 – Part 1)Aboard the Genoese tartan La Jeune Amélie, Dantès quickly grasps the nature of his new companions.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 22, the captain proves fluent in the many tongues of the Mediterranean, making clear that Dantès has joined a crew of smugglers. At first suspicious, the captain relaxes when Edmond’s seamanship impresses the men — and when the Château d’If’s cannon salute suggests that their new recruit carries a dangerous importance.
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2025-09-2709 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoAlone with a Corpse (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 19 – Part 8)As dawn breaks, Dantès’ last doubts fade — Faria is dead.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 19, Edmond closes the secret passage just in time for the jailer’s arrival, then returns to overhear the discovery of the body. He listens to the shouts for help, the tramp of soldiers, the governor’s orders, and the mingled pity and cruel laughter of the onlookers.
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2025-09-0707 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Last Attempt (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 19 – Part 7)Dantès waits for the moment to give the restorative, counting twelve drops, then the rest of the phial when no change comes.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 19, a violent tremor shakes Faria’s body, but the spark of life fades. Edmond feels the heartbeat slow, then stop entirely, as the abbé’s eyes remain open in stillness.
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2025-09-0608 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoMonte Cristo — Forget Not Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 19 – Part 6)In the final moments of his life, Faria blesses Dantès and reaffirms the treasure’s reality, urging him to claim it if he ever escapes.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 19, a violent convulsion overtakes the abbé, his strength fades, and with his last breath he repeats the words that have bound their fates together: “Monte Cristo — forget not Monte Cristo.”
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2025-09-0508 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Last Chance (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 19 – Part 5)Faria insists there is no hope, but Dantès refuses to give up.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 19, Edmond retrieves the remaining “magic draught” and begs for instructions. The abbé tells him to act quickly — administering twelve drops instead of ten, and, if needed, the rest — as the chill of death creeps through his body.
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2025-09-0407 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Third Attack Begins (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 19 – Part 4)In the night, Dantès hears his name called from Faria’s cell — and finds the abbé gripped by the familiar, terrible symptoms of his illness.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 19, Faria stops Edmond from calling for help, urging him instead to think of his own survival. Believing his death near, the old man calls it Providence, freeing Dantès from the burden of a half-paralyzed companion and leaving open the chance of a new ally.
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2025-09-0306 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoLearning the Treasure by Heart (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 19 – Part 3)Faria, resigned to never enjoying the treasure himself, devotes his energy to preparing Dantès for the day he will be free to claim it.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 19, Dantès memorizes the cardinal’s letter word for word before Faria destroys part of it, and receives detailed instructions for reaching the Island of Monte Cristo. Between lessons, the two men fill their days with work and study, keeping despair at bay.
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2025-09-0211 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Real Treasure (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 19 – Part 2)A final hope of escape is destroyed when the gallery to the sea is rebuilt and the hidden tunnel sealed.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 19, Dantès tells Faria that his true fortune is not the gold of Monte Cristo but the friendship, knowledge, and strength of mind his companion has given him — a wealth no jailer can take away.
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2025-09-0107 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Island of Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 19 – Part 1)With the treasure now pledged to him, Dantès listens as Faria speaks of the good such wealth could do — but Edmond’s vow of vengeance reminds him how much harm it could also bring.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 19, the abbé learns the location of the Island of Monte Cristo from Dantès, who has visited it before, and offers advice for retrieving the fortune. Yet Edmond remains doubtful that the treasure still exists.
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2025-08-3110 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoA Father’s Gift (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18 – Part 13)Dantès can hardly believe the treasure’s value, but Faria assures him such fortunes were not uncommon for noble families of the fifteenth century.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18, the old man reveals he kept the secret to test Edmond’s character — and now claims him as his son, offering the treasure as both inheritance and bond. Overcome, Dantès embraces his friend and weeps.
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2025-08-3011 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Will and the Fortune (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18 – Part 12)Faria explains how he reconstructed Cardinal Spada’s will and the treasure’s location — and how his attempt to claim it led to his arrest.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18, he pledges the fortune to Dantès: half if they escape together, all if Edmond escapes alone. With the Spada family extinct, the two million Roman crowns — nearly thirteen million in modern currency — await without another rightful heir.
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2025-08-2912 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Complete Secret (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18 – Part 11)Faria presents a second fragment of parchment, and together with the first, it forms a complete declaration: Cardinal Cæsar Spada’s will.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18, the document reveals the exact hiding place of a fortune in gold, jewels, and precious stones — buried in the caves of the Island of Monte Cristo and left entirely to his nephew.
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2025-08-2806 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Hidden Script (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18 – Part 10)A simple search for a candle-light changes everything.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18, Faria discovers that an old page in the Spada breviary — long used as a bookmark — holds invisible writing that appears only when exposed to flame. The fragment, dated 1498 and signed “Cæs…,” describes a fortune hidden on the Island of Monte Cristo.
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2025-08-2708 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Search Exhausted (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18 – Part 9)Faria recounts years spent scouring the Spada archives for any trace of the missing fortune — and finding nothing.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18, the inheritance appears lost to history, leaving the Count of Spada in poverty. Upon the count’s death, Faria inherits the family papers, vast library, and the gold-cornered breviary — and on Christmas Day, 1807, an unexpected moment sets the stage for discovery.
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2025-08-2607 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Breviary (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18 – Part 8)With the pope dead and Cæsar Borgia in exile, the Spada family never regains its former glory — and rumors swirl that Cæsar kept the fortune for himself.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18, Faria traces the family’s decline to his own time, when the fabled gold-cornered breviary, passed down for generations, remains in the possession of the Count of Spada, revered as a relic yet holding far more than sentiment.
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2025-08-2505 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoAn Empty Inheritance (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18 – Part 7)After Spada’s death, Pope Alexander VI and Cæsar Borgia move quickly to claim his wealth — only to find a meager inheritance and a curious note mentioning a gold-cornered breviary.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18, the supposed fortune seems to vanish into thin air, and the pope’s reign ends as violently as it was lived. But the true secret of the treasure remains hidden.
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2025-08-2407 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoDinner at San Pierdarena (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18 – Part 6)Pope Alexander VI chooses a slower, surer method for reclaiming the cardinals’ wealth: an invitation to dinner.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18, Cardinal Spada anticipates the danger and makes his will, but his nephew arrives unaware. Poisoned wine and a fatal dish ensure neither leaves the vineyard alive — and the fortune they carried becomes unclaimed.
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2025-08-2306 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Pope’s Scheme (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18 – Part 5)Faria continues his story, recounting a moment in Renaissance Italy when Pope Alexander VI and Cæsar Borgia sought money — and found it in the ambitions of two powerful men.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18, Cardinal Rospigliosi and Cæsar Spada pay dearly for their red hats, but the scheme doesn’t end there. The pope and his son plan a deadly “final step,” armed with subtle and lethal tools.
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2025-08-2208 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Story Begins (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18 – Part 4)Avoiding Faria all day, Dantès finally relents when the abbé drags himself, with great difficulty, into his cell.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18, the old man insists Edmond hear the truth about the treasure — beginning with his years as secretary to Cardinal Spada, the last prince of his name, and the curious research that would lead to a discovery.
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2025-08-2106 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoMadness or Truth? (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18 – Part 3)Faria insists he has reconstructed the burnt document and uncovered its secret — but before he can explain, footsteps interrupt.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18, Dantès slips away to avoid hearing more, while the governor visits Faria, unaware of his paralysis. Alone, Edmond struggles to reconcile the abbé’s wisdom with the possibility that his treasure might be nothing more than madness.
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2025-08-2005 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoProof on Paper (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18 – Part 2)Dantès fears the abbé’s talk of treasure is a relapse — but Faria insists the matter is urgent.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18, the old man speaks of vengeance turned to generosity, determined to ensure Edmond inherits a vast fortune. To prove it’s real, he produces a scorched, centuries-old paper containing a tantalizing fragment of a treasure’s location.
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2025-08-1910 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Treasure (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18 – Part 1)When Dantès visits the abbé the next morning, he finds him composed — and holding a strange, half-burnt paper marked with Gothic script.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 18, Faria reveals what he calls his “treasure,” declaring that from this day forward, half belongs to Edmond. But after years of avoiding the subject for fear of madness, Dantès can’t help but wonder if the abbé has relapsed.
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2025-08-1907 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Oath (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17 – Part 23)Faria urges Dantès to escape without him — but Edmond swears never to leave his friend while he lives.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17, that vow changes their course: the escape tunnel must be filled in to avoid discovery, and Faria promises important news once the work is done.
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2025-08-1711 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoNever Swim Again (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17 – Part 22)Faria tells Dantès the truth: the attack has left him permanently paralyzed.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17, the abbé demonstrates his lifeless arm, explains the family history of the illness, and recalls the prediction of a celebrated physician. Dantès refuses to accept it, vowing to carry his friend to freedom himself if he must.
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2025-08-1608 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoWithout You? (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17 – Part 21)Faria wonders if Dantès might have escaped during his illness — but Edmond’s indignation makes his loyalty clear.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17, the abbé admits the attack has left him weakened, perhaps permanently, and fears a third will mean death or paralysis. Dantès refuses to believe it, vowing they will both live to see freedom.
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2025-08-1508 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoHe Is Saved (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17 – Part 20)Edmond forces open the abbé’s jaws and administers the remedy — then waits, fearing he may have been too late.
An hour passes before color returns to Faria’s cheeks and life stirs once more.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17, relief floods Dantès, but the approach of the jailer forces him to act quickly to conceal their connection.
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2025-08-1406 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Fit (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17 – Part 19)The Abbé Faria’s illness strikes in full force.
He warns Dantès of what is to come — and how to save him — but the attack is swift and violent, bringing convulsions, foam, and cries that must be muffled to avoid discovery.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17, the escape is forgotten as Dantès fights to keep his friend alive.
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2025-08-1308 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Attack (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17 – Part 18)The escape is suddenly forgotten.
A terrible illness strikes the Abbé Faria, leaving him pale, trembling, and barely able to speak.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17, Dantès must abandon the tools of their flight to carry his mentor back to bed — and to search for a single, hidden remedy.
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2025-08-1206 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Work Complete (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17 – Part 17)Fifteen months of labor come to an end.
Armed with only a chisel, a knife, and a wooden lever, the prisoners finish their underground passage — and wait for the right night to escape.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17, the final preparations are nearly done, but a sudden cry from the abbé changes everything.
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2025-08-1107 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoThe Escape Plan (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17 – Part 16)The year they’ve “lost” is over.
Today’s episode reveals the abbé’s long-held plan: an underground passage, a loosened flagstone, a stunned sentry, and a descent from the outer walls on a ladder of cords.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17, hope takes on a shape — and the work begins at once.
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2025-08-1007 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoA Plan of Education (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17 – Part 15)“Everything,” says the abbé. That’s the answer.
Today’s episode marks a radical pivot in Dantès’ life—not an escape attempt, not a scheme—but an education.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17, the old prisoner begins to train the young one, not in vengeance, but in knowledge.
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2025-08-0908 minThe Countdown of Monte CristoA New Kind of Escape (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17 – Part 14)The fire of vengeance has taken root in Dantès—and the abbé knows it.
Today’s passage begins with a warning and ends with a request: Dantès asks to learn, not to flee.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 17, the cell becomes a classroom, and knowledge becomes its own form of escape.
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2025-08-0806 min