Chapter 35.

Monte Cristo welcomes Franz and Albert, apologizing for delay and arranging a carriage and windows for the day’s events. He summons his steward, Bertuccio, to confirm an expensive window on the Piazza del Popolo and casually notes rumors of a pardon for the bandit Peppino. Over breakfast, he outlines a stark philosophy on justice and vengeance, dismissing European executions as crude and dueling as inadequate compensation for deep wrongs.

Franz, unsure whether to confront the Count about prior encounters, observes him closely while Albert remains chiefly charmed by their host. Monte Cristo offers costumes and proposes they dress in the rented room overlooking the square. Franz resists witnessing the execution up close but agrees to view from the window. En route by the Corso, Franz confirms that the Rospoli windows bear the agreed red-cross signal, convincing him Monte Cristo arranged the previous night’s sign.

At the Piazza del Popolo, the guillotine-like mandaia stands amid a festive crowd. The penitents process, followed by the nearly naked executioner with his mace, and the prisoners: steadfast Peppino and terrified Andrea Rondolo. As they reach the scaffold, a priest delivers a papal pardon for Peppino, exactly as Monte Cristo foretold. Andrea, enraged that his companion is spared, fights and screams that he will not die alone.

Seized by assistants and dragged to the platform, Andrea is forced to his knees. Before Franz’s horrified eyes, the executioner strikes Andrea’s temple with the mace and slits his throat, finishing the execution amid the crowd’s cries. Franz nearly faints; Albert, pale, clings to the curtains. Monte Cristo, composed and intense, condemns human cruelty even as he observes the scene with fierce, triumphant focus.