The Lions' Den — The Count of Monte Cristo

Andrea Cavalcanti, now answering to Benedetto, walks the Lions' Den at La Force polishing torn finery while thieves watch a prisoner who still acts like a prince. He begs twenty francs from a keeper for a dressing gown, insults the man's compassion, and nearly provokes la savate when he refuses comradeship with the mob. Only a Masonic sign Caderousse taught him turns the iron-heeled shoe aside and wins grudging respect before an inspector summons him to the visitors' room.

Andrea reads the call as proof his hidden protector has not abandoned him. Behind the grating he finds Bertuccio, whom he tries to charm into revealing who sent him. The steward secures a private upstairs room, accuses the youth of robbery and murder without heat, and refuses the name of any patron. When Andrea names the Count of Monte Cristo as the rich gentleman on the Champs-Élysées, Bertuccio warns that heaven favors that man too highly for such a father and threatens thunderbolts held ready. Andrea insists he will know his father or perish, and Bertuccio finally answers that he came to tell him.

The jailer interrupts for the examining magistrate. Bertuccio promises to return tomorrow, agrees to leave a few crowns at the gate, and when Andrea reaches for a handshake keeps his hand in his pocket and jingles only loose coins. Andrea steps into the oblong grated vehicle prisoners call the salad basket, murmuring that he may be deceived as the steward repeats tomorrow and the gendarmes close the gate.