Contents
Chapter 43.
Overview
Monte Cristo tours his new Auteuil house with a terrified Bertuccio, who recognizes it as the scene of his past vengeance. The concierge links the property to the Saint-Meran family and Villefort. In the garden, Bertuccio reveals an assassination and a buried child, promises a full confession, and denounces Villefort.
Summary
Monte Cristo insists on visiting his newly purchased house at Auteuil despite Bertuccio’s visible dread. At the door, the concierge identifies the former owner as the Marquis of Saint-Meran, adds that his only daughter—married to M. de Villefort—died twenty-one years earlier, and notes the marquis rarely visited.
Inside, Monte Cristo has Bertuccio lead him through the rooms and down a private staircase to the garden. As night deepens, Bertuccio’s terror grows. When Monte Cristo pauses near a clump of trees, Bertuccio begs him to move, declaring it is the very spot “where he fell.”
Pressed by the count, Bertuccio reveals this house is the site of his long-ago vengeance and an assassination. He says the victim had just buried his child two paces away. Monte Cristo threatens to dismiss him and alert authorities unless he speaks plainly, noting that a guilty secret explains Bertuccio’s agitation.
Driven by fear of losing his position and facing justice, Bertuccio agrees to confess everything, swearing he will tell more than he ever told the Abbe Busoni. He names Villefort as the man connected to the crime and calls the reputedly upright magistrate a villain. Monte Cristo, intrigued, sits to hear the full account.
Who Appears
- undefinedPurchases the Auteuil house, probes Bertuccio’s terror, and compels him to confess.
- BertuccioSteward overwhelmed by the house’s past; admits his vengeance, an assassination, and Villefort’s involvement.
- undefinedConfirms the house belonged to Saint-Meran, links it to Villefort, and mentions the daughter’s death.