We hear From Yanina — The Count of Monte Cristo

Franz d'Épinay walked out of Noirtier's room pale and shaking. He sent a letter saying the marriage was impossible after what he had learned about General de Quesnel. Villefort had never been told the full truth about Franz's father. He had always believed the general was murdered, not killed in a fair duel. The harsh letter struck him like a blow. His wife found him in his study and he told her only that the wedding was off. She lied to the guests and said Noirtier had an apoplectic fit so the contract could wait. The notary and witnesses went home puzzled by so much death in one house.

Valentine felt both fear and joy. She had half expected Morrel to leap the wall and stop the contract like a hero in a novel. Instead she slipped into the garden and ran to Maximilian at the gate. She cried, "We are saved!" and told him to love her grandfather for breaking the chain. Morrel swore he would worship the old man like a god. She promised to explain everything later, when she was Morrel's wife. While they talked, Madame de Villefort visited Noirtier. She said she had always opposed the marriage and asked him to restore his fortune to Valentine. The old man agreed. The next day he tore up his first will and made a new one leaving everything to Valentine if she never left him. Paris soon buzzed that the Saint-Méran heiress would have three hundred thousand livres a year.

Monte Cristo went to see Count Morcerf while the Villefort contract was falling apart. The Count had promised Danglars he would get a clear answer, and now Morcerf arrived to give it. Morcerf put on his general's uniform with all his medals and drove to Danglars in his finest coach. He asked plainly for Eugénie's hand for Albert. Danglars would not say yes or no. He spoke of new circumstances and told Morcerf to wait. Morcerf grew angry and demanded a real reason. Danglars hinted that ugly rumors might surface in time, like clouds that look dark at night but clear in the morning. When Morcerf asked if someone was slandering him, Danglars refused to explain further. Morcerf left biting his lips, and Danglars noticed he never asked whether the baron meant him personally.

That same morning Danglars read the newspapers and fixed on l'Impartial, Beauchamp's paper. He stopped at a short item headed We hear from Yanina. It said a French officer named Fernand had betrayed Ali Tepelini's castle to the Turks. Danglars smiled and thought the paragraph would save him from explaining himself to Morcerf. That evening he met with friends while Cavalcanti lingered with the ladies. Meanwhile Albert, dressed in black, went to Monte Cristo's house. The Count was out, so Albert walked the Champs-Élysées and found his horses at Gosset's shooting gallery. Inside, Monte Cristo was turning playing cards into new numbers with pistol shots, even hitting swallows that flew too near the wall. Ali loaded the guns. Albert admired the trick, then said he had come to fight a duel that day.

Albert wanted the Count as his second against Beauchamp. The trouble was a newspaper line linking a French officer named Fernand to the fall of Yanina. Albert said his father's Christian name was Fernand and the story stained the Morcerf name. Monte Cristo told him not to rush. He said many Greek officers shared that name, and Albert should talk to Beauchamp alone before bringing witnesses. He even suggested asking Haydée, who knew Yanina, but Albert refused to drag a woman into it or admit the charge might be true. The Count would not second him or give a fencing lesson. Albert said he would use Franz and Château-Renaud instead.

At Beauchamp's dusty newspaper office Albert demanded a retraction. Beauchamp had not written the piece and had not even seen it until Albert pointed it out. He asked Albert to sit and read the paragraph again, but the paper never named the Count of Morcerf outright. Albert finally named his father: M. Fernand Mondego, Count of Morcerf. Beauchamp said he would retract only if convinced the story was false, and he needed three weeks to investigate. When Albert insisted on an immediate answer, Beauchamp warned that a duel between them would be serious because both were brave shots. Albert raged at the delay, but Beauchamp stood firm. They set the duel for September 21 if no retraction came. Albert stormed out, thrashing newspapers with his stick and walking three times to the press-room door without entering. At the barrier he saw Morrel walking fast and happy toward the Faubourg Saint-Honoré. One young man was drowning in wounded honor while another hurried toward love, and neither yet knew how closely their fates were tied.