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Alexandre Dumas
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Barrois returns with the family notary Deschamps, and Noirtier is ready to make his will. Valentine explains how to read her grandfather's eyes: closing them means yes, winking means no. The notary is uneasy at first, but Valentine convinces him that Noirtier's mind is still sharp.
Using the alphabet game and a dictionary, Noirtier spells out that he wants a will. A second notary is called in. Question by question, the room learns that he owns nine hundred thousand francs in bank stock. Everyone expects Valentine to inherit the money because she has cared for him for six years. Instead Noirtier refuses to name her, rejects Edward, and refuses to leave anything to his son.
Madame de Villefort hopes the fortune will go to her boy. Noirtier's angry wink says no. At last Valentine guesses the truth: her grandfather is punishing her engagement to Franz d'Épinay. If she marries the baron, the entire fortune will go to hospitals and charities. If she were free to refuse the marriage, she would have been his heir.
Villefort declares that Valentine will marry Franz anyway. Noirtier completes the will that same day, sealed before witnesses. A paralyzed man has turned his money into a weapon aimed at his granddaughter's wedding.
Money can speak when the body cannot. Noirtier blinks a will into being and leaves nine hundred thousand francs to hospitals if Valentine marries Franz.
When inheritance arrives with strings, treat the condition as the true veto on your choices.
The Count of Monte Cristo waits in the Villefort drawing-room when the procureur returns, learns of Valentine's disinheritance, and steers the talk toward haste, telegraphs, and a dinner at Auteuil on Rue de la Fontaine.
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
Barrois returns with the family notary Deschamps, and Noirtier is ready to make his will. Valentine explains how to read her grandfather's eyes: closing them means yes, winking means no. The notary is uneasy at first, but Valentine convinces him that Noirtier's mind is still sharp.
Key Insight
When direct argument fails, a person with property sometimes weaponizes a will, making obedience costly and disobedience expensive in a different currency.
Chapter 59
As soon as Barrois had left the room, Noirtier looked at Valentine with a malicious expression that said many things. The young girl perfectly understood the look, and so did Villefort, for his countenance became clouded, and he knitted his eyebrows angrily. He took a seat, and quietly awaited the arrival of the notary. Noirtier saw him seat himself with an appearance of perfect indifference, at the same time giving a side look at Valentine, which made her understand that she also was to remain in the room. Three-quarters of an hour after, Barrois returned, bringing the notary with him.…
Public-domain chapter text, formatted for reading.
Think of a major challenge or change in your life that required you to become 'tougher' or different than you naturally were. Draw a simple timeline showing who you were before, what happened, and who you became after. Then identify which changes served you well and which ones you might want to reconsider.
Write about a time when someone from your past made you realize how much you'd changed. What did their reaction teach you about who you'd become, and what adjustments did you make afterward?
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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.
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