[Count of Monte Cristo] Love and hatred

r110

Three years later.

On the road between Normandy and Paris, many people noticed a luxurious station wagon with four stage horses galloping down the wide avenue, raising a cloud of dust.

The beautiful manes of the horses are fluttering in the wind, and they all have a white star on their foreheads, like a mark left by a certain god for his ride.The driver was a black slave named Ali. On the wide avenue in the suburbs, his dark face and shining eyes always reminded people of the hurricane god, but once in the bustling city of Paris, his eyes seemed to be Lost spirits, because there are too many restrictions here, the carriage must travel very slowly.

The carriage drove straight to No. 27 Helda Road. It passed through a gilded gate and entered a beautiful courtyard.However, the carriage did not go to the palace-style mansion between the courtyard and the garden that belonged to the Earl of Sev, but turned to the beautiful building in the corner of the courtyard.

The owner of the house, Albert, the only son of the Earl of Morcerf, has already arranged everything, and sent invitations to several friends in the upper class, hoping to introduce the mysterious and distinguished guest to them.

However, when his friends came, they didn't believe that there was such a strange person in the world, and thought it was Albert's excuse because the servant didn't prepare breakfast.

"No, what I said is true," Albert said angrily. "At the Roman Carnival last year, that mysterious count saved me from a robber named Vampa."

"Did he overthrow all the robbers by himself?" Baron Lenoir asked with a smile.

"No, he only said a few words to the bandit leader, and I was free," said Albert triumphantly.

"Albert, there are no robbers in Rome." Lucien folded his hands and commented, "The mysterious count you mentioned does not exist either."

"Don't say that," Beauchamp said quickly, "only those who have been there can judge."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the 10:30 clock rang.Albert's servant Germaine announced before the last few strokes, "The Count of Monte Cristo is here."

Several people in the living room looked at each other, only Albert showed unconcealable excitement on his face.

The Count of Monte Cristo appeared.

He was dressed simply, but not even the most censorious person could find anything to fault in his attire, for everything about him was so delicate that it showed the work of a first-rate hand .

Albert enthusiastically introduced his friends to the count.

Lucien Debray, who just said that the earl does not exist, is the private secretary of the Minister of the Interior. Although he has an outstanding appearance, he has a semi-official look on his face, neither smiling nor speaking.

Beauchamp, on the other hand, worked as an editor in a newspaper office, and he looked at the guest with the eyes typical of a journalist.

In contrast, Baron Renaud was much more enthusiastic.He was also older than the few people present, in his thirties like the earl, and he looked like a gentleman.The baron also brought a friend, Maximilian, captain of the cavalry stationed in Algeria.

When Albert mentioned that name, the Count of Monte Cristo's eyes flashed quickly.

He looked at Maximilian, the last time he saw him was in Marseilles, when he only saw the back of this young man from a distance.Maximilian's brow revealed the heroic spirit of his father, Mr. Morel. The count still remembered that Maximilian used to play on his lap when he was a child, pestering him to carve wooden guns for himself.

"Although I saw him for the first time today, I would like to ask you to allow me to introduce him as my friend," said the host Albert, "Captain Maximilian is the savior of Baron Renaud in North Africa. Saved the Baron from the hands of a band of Arab brigands, and then killed his own horse, and rescued the Baron from starvation."

"Captain Maximilian has a noble heart," praised the count.

"The day I met Baron Lenoir happened to be a special day," Morel said with a smile. "My father miraculously saved his life on that day. So every year at that time, I will do a good deed." , to commemorate that day."

The count nodded approvingly.

At this time, Germain, Albert's servant, came to announce that breakfast was ready.

At Albert's breakfast, however, the count claimed to have taken a pill and hadn't eaten anything.

Perhaps because of his profession, Beauchamp, the reporter, noticed that the earl looked at other people with distant and polite eyes, and only when he looked at Captain Maximilian, he inadvertently revealed another emotion.

After breakfast, Albert and his friends began to recommend a suitable residence to the count.

Baron Lenoir strongly recommended Germanic Village, an aristocratic area where he lived, while Lucien insisted that it would be better to settle on the avenue, because that is the real center of Paris.

"It's too noisy there," Beauchamp commented, "it's better to choose a house on Theater Avenue, it will be more elegant."

"Do you have any ideas, Mr. Morel?" Leno turned to Maximilian for help, hoping that this friend could stand up and support him.Unexpectedly, Maximilian invited the count to rent a room in a beautiful Badur-style building on Misley Road, "My sister has lived there for a year."

"You have a sister?" asked the Count of Monte Cristo.

"Yes, sir. A best sister."

"Is she married?"

Maximilian nodded.

"And is she happy?" asked the count again.

"She married Emmanuelle, whom she loved, who never changed his mind when our family suffered bad luck," replied Maximilian. "The two of them ran my father's shipping company, Fortunately, all the ships have already gone to sea during this time, and they know that I am coming to Paris, so they have already come here to stay in advance.”

Monte Cristo showed an imperceptible smile on his face, "I'd be happy to visit them."

"Your Excellency, have you decided to rent a house there?" Albert asked hastily, "It's a long way from here."

"No, in fact, my servant butler has already arrived in Paris in advance, chose a house according to my preferences, and it has probably been furnished by now."

The earl's words surprised everyone present.

"Is that Ali?" asked Albert eagerly; "but he's a nigger, and a mute."

"No, it's not him. The servant's name is Pont Bertou, and he was recommended by my friend, the Abbe Busoni," said Monte Cristo casually. Pass."

As soon as these words came out, the other people were fine, but Albert's expression changed completely.

"Why do you trust such a person to be your housekeeper?" Beauchamp asked curiously.

"As long as he can satisfy me, I don't care about his past," the count said with a smile.

Seeing that Beauchamp was about to answer the conversation, Albert immediately changed the subject and brought the topic to the recent news in Paris.And this happened to be Beauchamp's field of expertise, and he immediately talked about an upcoming auction.

"I heard that Lord Weimar will also go," Albert introduced, "this Englishman often spends a lot of money."

After hearing the title, the count seemed to be suddenly interested, and a different light shone in his eyes, "Lord Weimar?"

"Yes, after the Englishman came to France, he invested in a shipping company, adopted the latest steam technology, and invested in several railways with a sinister eye. God knows how much money he made in France in a few years, but I believe his wealth is inferior to yours." Albert pondered for a while, "By the way, have you heard of him?"

"Yes, he is my opponent," answered the count calmly.

When he said this, Maximilian's expression suddenly became a little nervous, because the shipping company that Lord Weimar invested in was Morrell & Sons, which was run by his sister Yuli.

"Can you tell us what happened?" asked Albert.

"With pleasure," the Count of Monte Cristo spread his hands, "but since the auction is about to start, and that is a very long story, I think we can sit in the carriage and talk about it."

"Ah, I'm sorry, Your Excellency, I have accepted the invitation of Baroness Danglars, who has booked a box in the theater," Albert said regretfully.

"I think I can take you there, sir," Beauchamp suddenly interjected, "I'm going to the auction at noon for an interview."

"Thank you very much, Monsieur Beauchamp."

So the Count of Monte Cristo and Beauchamp went to the auction together in a carriage.

The whole auction is full of antiques and jewelry, including the armchair that Cardinal Richelieu once sat on, with a light blue shield carved on it, the paintings of the Fontainebleau School in the sixteenth century, and Madame Pompidou wearing gemstone necklace.

The Lord of Weimar that Albert said was in the front position.

The Count of Monte Cristo looked in her direction from time to time, and Beauchamp was not surprised by this. After all, the Count had said that Lord Weimar was his enemy.And Beauchamp himself was also looking in that direction, but not at the lord who was eye-catching throughout the scene, but at his female companion wearing a veil.

It can be seen that Mel has successfully entered the high society of Paris as Lord Weimar, and doubled the half of her wealth in just a few years.

And he is no worse than her.

In the process of investigating the crimes of his enemies, the count traveled all over the eastern countries, bought all kinds of rare treasures, and then went to another country to exchange for more wealth.

The count soon noticed that another of his enemies, Danglars, was also at the auction, so he asked Beauchamp about that man.

"Do you know him?"

"I do not know him," replied the Count of Monte Cristo, "but I am guaranteed by the largest banks, London, Vienna, and Roman Soup, to enjoy unlimited loans in his bank, and will soon be with him. He's connected. But I'd love to know him because I've heard he's done a lot for this country."

"Contribution is great," Beauchamp replied with sarcasm, "as a liberal, he negotiated a loan of [-] yuan for Charles X, and because of this, Charles X granted him He was made a baronet, and made him an honorary knight. So he wore his medals too, but not on his waistcoat as you might think, but on his buttonhole superior."

Monte Cristo couldn't help showing a smile, and his eyes towards the reporter became gentle.It can be seen that Beauchamp is a very righteous and cynical person.

Next, some of the most exquisite antique jewelry and works of art were auctioned off at extremely high prices, and the winners were all Lord Weimar, and the nobles in Paris were no longer surprised by this.

But when the last piece of jewelry went up for auction, something completely different happened.

It was a huge blue diamond named "Hope", which made people think of the lost crown blue diamond.

At the beginning, many people, including Danglars, the richest banker in Paris, also joined the competition. However, when they found that the price of the diamond was far higher than their estimated price, they all gave up.

Just when Lord Weimar called out a high price and wanted to end the auction quickly, a powerful competitor suddenly appeared at the venue, the Count of Monte Cristo.

"Lord Weimar" turned his head, gave him a meaningful look, and then called out a higher price.

In the end, only Lord Weimar and the Count of Monte Cristo were left to compete, as if they were not trying to capture the diamond, but were engaged in a duel.

However, when the price of blue diamonds soared to 25 francs, the earl suddenly shouted a high price of 50 francs, and everyone present was dumbfounded.

Lord Weimar wisely chose not to continue his bid.

When paying, only one piece of jewelry, Danglars, was photographed there. He originally thought that the Count of Monte Cristo would pay through the bank, but when the Count of Monte Cristo took the face value coupon of 50 francs payable on demand When he came out, he was almost dumbfounded.

After that auction, Beauchamp found his material, and the Count of Monte Cristo became the latest talking point among the Parisian aristocratic circles.He sold twice in the entire auction, one was a Da Vinci manuscript that was rarely seen, and the other was the Hope Blue Diamond.