Contents
Chapter 66.
Overview
Danglars, reeling from fresh financial blows, consults Monte Cristo and discloses plans to marry his daughter advantageously, favoring Andrea Cavalcanti over Albert de Morcerf. Monte Cristo steers the talk to Morcerf’s past, prompting Danglars to admit Morcerf is Fernand Mondego and to investigate his role in Ali Pasha’s downfall.
This redirects Danglars’ ambitions from finance to scandal, setting up a targeted inquiry that threatens the Morcerf alliance and advances Monte Cristo’s designs.
Summary
After watching Madame Danglars depart and waiting in vain for her return, Danglars stews over bad news, including a Trieste bankruptcy. He attends the Chamber, agitated, then drives to Monte Cristo’s. As he waits, an abbe (Busoni) passes through to the inner rooms; Monte Cristo returns and apologizes for the delay.
Pressed by Monte Cristo, Danglars details recent losses: 600,000-franc bills returned unpaid by Jacopo Manfredi, another 400,000 in Paris bills with a vanished correspondent, plus 700,000 lost on false Spanish telegraph news—totaling 1.7 million. Monte Cristo coolly classifies fortunes, warns repeated shocks could cripple Danglars’s “third-rate” wealth, and pointedly offers help.
The talk shifts to Major Cavalcanti’s visit and finances: a 40,000-franc sight bond endorsed by Busoni, and a 5,000-franc monthly allowance for Andrea. Monte Cristo counsels strict terms, calling the father close-fisted, and sketches the family’s buried-wealth mystique, noting a Lucca palace let to the Finance Minister.
Speculation turns matrimonial. Danglars weighs Andrea as a suitor, despite Eugénie’s existing understanding with Albert de Morcerf. They debate names versus money; Danglars boasts of his own title and belittles Morcerf’s, revealing Albert’s father began as “Fernand Mondego,” a fisherman, with rumors linking him to Ali Pasha’s fate.
Seizing the opening, Monte Cristo urges Danglars to write to Yanina to learn Fernand’s role in Ali Tepelini’s catastrophe. Excited by the prospect of scandal that could upend the Morcerf match, Danglars leaves at once to dispatch inquiries.
Who Appears
- Baron DanglarsAnxious banker; reveals heavy losses, considers Andrea for Eugénie, exposes Morcerf as Fernand, and resolves to investigate Yanina.
- undefinedCoolly dissects Danglars’s finances, steers talk to Morcerf’s past, and prompts a Yanina inquiry to further his plans.
- undefinedMonte Cristo’s clerical persona, briefly seen passing through, validating ties to Cavalcanti’s finance.
- undefinedCalls on Danglars to finalize business; his bond and son’s allowance anchor the Andrea discussion.
- Andrea CavalcantiDiscussed as a potential husband for Eugénie; portrayed as dependent on a parsimonious father.
- Albert de MorcerfExisting suitor to Eugénie; his suitability questioned amid hints about his father’s origins.
- undefinedRevealed by Danglars as Morcerf’s true name; suspected in Ali Pasha’s downfall; target of investigation.
- undefinedLeaves the house early; her past speculation loss is blamed for Danglars’s Spanish setback.