Prestige · $2.99/month
Chapter audio, theme analysis, and downloads
Alexandre Dumas
0:00 / 0:00
The Count reaches his new Paris house on the Champs-Élysées only six minutes after leaving the Morcerfs. Young men race their horses just to see his carriage. Ali greets him with joy. Bertuccio, his steward, is already waiting with the notary. The calling cards are printed too. The first one has been sent to Baron Danglars.
The Count looks over the house and says the marble in the front hall is poor quality. Then the notary offers him a country house for sale. The Count pretends he does not know where it is. He says he only arrived from Spain this morning and has never been in France before. When the notary names the place, Bertuccio's face goes white. The house is at Auteuil.
Bertuccio begs the Count to choose any other village. He offers Enghien, Fontenay, or Bellevue instead. The Count refuses. He signs the deed and pays fifty-five thousand francs without even visiting the property. After the notary leaves, the Count opens a locked notebook. He finds an old note: Auteuil, Rue de la Fontaine, number 28. He already knew the address.
That evening the Count orders Bertuccio to come with him to the new house. Bertuccio is terrified and can barely speak. He asks if he must go to Auteuil. The Count says yes, and Bertuccio must give the orders because his master plans to live there. They climb into the carriage together. The steward takes the front seat in silence while the Count sits behind him, already sure that this purchase is no accident.
Some places are ordinary on a deed and unbearable in memory. Bertuccio begs for any estate but Auteuil, then turns livid when the Count orders him there anyway.
When a competent person flinches at an address, pause before you treat their fear as superstition.
Bertuccio will drive the Count to Auteuil despite his pleading, and the villa's cheerful facade will collapse the moment they reach the garden spot where a man once fell and was buried.
What this chapter proves — the pattern beneath the scene
In this chapter, the lesson is Playing the Long Game — Hours by a Sunbeam.
The card below names the pattern this chapter proves — carry it with you into Dumas's feast at La Réserve, Faria's cell, the cave on Monte Cristo, the Opera glove, and the fifth of October.
Playing the Long Game
The Count reaches his new Paris house on the Champs-Élysées only six minutes after leaving the Morcerfs. Young men race their horses just to see his carriage. Ali greets him with joy.
Key Insight
People compelled to revisit a site of trauma often show the stress before they can tell the story, especially when a boss or fate insists on the address.
“The house Ali had chosen”Explore full theme analysis
Chapter 42
Meanwhile the count had arrived at his house; it had taken him six minutes to perform the distance, but these six minutes were sufficient to induce twenty young men who knew the price of the equipage they had been unable to purchase themselves, to put their horses in a gallop in order to see the rich foreigner who could afford to give 20,000 francs apiece for his horses. The house Ali had chosen, and which was to serve as a town residence to Monte Cristo, was situated on the right hand as you ascend the Champs-Élysées. A thick clump of…
Public-domain chapter text, formatted for reading.
Think about someone you know who seems to have achieved success quickly or in ways that didn't quite add up. Without naming them, analyze what made their position vulnerable and what warning signs you might have missed. Then examine your own path: identify three ways your success is built on solid ground versus any areas where you might be cutting corners.
Write about a time when you had to choose between taking a shortcut that involved compromising someone else versus building success the hard way. What did you learn about the long-term costs of each approach?
Purchase the complete book to access all chapters and support classic literature
Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats
Other theme-by-theme analyses from this book.
Providence as a Costume
Watch the buried letter, Faria's oath, and the pardon of Danglars, and see when accountability becomes a hunger.
The Face the Barber Finds
Follow Edmond into the Château d'If and watch the Count walk out, then ask what the mask still lets him feel.
The Last Reversible Order
Hear Mercédès at the Opera, then pardon Danglars, and leave on the fifth of October before the work eats you too.
Friends Who Stay Seated
Sit at the feast at La Réserve, then in Villefort's office, and learn what it costs to keep living after friends erase you.
Names Not on the List
Stand with Valentine at the gate and Albert in the Chamber, and count the people who never chose the fight.
Deep diving the literary elements.
Guides, life skills, and the full library.More ways to read The Count of Monte Cristo: guides, life skills, and the wider library.
Unlock study guides and downloads, early access, and exclusive content — and support free access for everyone.
