[Count of Monte Cristo] Love and hatred

chapter131

It was late when he bid farewell to Haidee, and Beauchamp did not visit the Viscount de Morcerf's house until the next morning.Out of the protection of Haidee, he did not say anything about her, but told Albert that he had obtained conclusive evidence in Yanina.

After learning the truth, Albert first drew the sword out of the scabbard and wanted to fight him, until Beauchamp bluntly pointed out that the agreed time limit had not yet come.

But when Beauchamp was about to leave, Albert seemed to be a different person. He refused to talk about the duel, but grabbed Beauchamp's hand and begged him not to reveal the truth with tears in his eyes.If it was in the past, Beauchamp might still be moved by this scene, but as soon as he thought of Haiidee's pale face, Beauchamp only felt that Albert in front of him disappointed him. This cowardly person was not his friend he had known for three years.

"Albert, where is your sense of honor?"

Beauchamp shook off Albert's hand, and resolutely got into the carriage. He didn't even look back, and just sighed slightly. He knew that this friendship was over.

It was not until the carriage completely disappeared from sight that Albert believed that Beauchamp would not come back again.This friend's attitude really surprised him. He had done enough drama just now. He thought that as long as he showed his weak side, Beauchamp would sympathize with him and would willingly destroy the evidence for him.Now it seems that he was wrong, completely wrong.When Beauchamp announced that terrible truth, the name Morcerf would shame him.

"No, I will never sit still!" Albert clenched his fists.

He quickly thought of several ways to deal with it.In the afternoon, he came to visit Danglars' house in a fine attire, and he was surprisingly hospitable to the lady who had a rich dowry and was always regarded by him as a "moving purse".

His purpose is very clear, which is to marry Eugenie as soon as possible.As long as his future father-in-law, Danglars, remained in Parliament, sooner or later Parisian society would accept him again, even if Beauchamp announced everything.Of course, this innocent girl would be affected, but this was not within the scope of his consideration.

However, this behavior obviously angered another suitor of Eugenie.He read poetry to her, and Cavalcanti sang Italian folk songs to her.Eugenie is always indifferent to Albert, but when the Italian sings, she actively accompanies him, and even Rosie, her family's no-status friend, helps the outsider.This situation didn't last long, and Albert left the room angrily.

In fact, Eugenie just can't stand Albert's affectation in reading the sonnets, which completely destroys the emotion Shakespeare wanted to express, and Vampa only tacitly rescues her.Therefore, as soon as Albert left, Eugenie gave Vampa the treasured book of sonnets as a token of gratitude.

But this setback would not hold Albert back.Next, he turned his target to Danglars, but he did not expect to suffer the same cold reception.

"Listen," said Danglars, interrupting him, pointing to his daughter and Vampa, "the prince is a fine singer, and they are a wonderful combination!"

This time Albert couldn't bear it anymore, after all, in his opinion, he was the son of the noble Count Morcerf, and Danglars was just a baron.If he was willing to flatter Danglars, the other party should be extremely grateful.

When he left the baron's house, the anger in Albert's eyes was like burning iron.If he could keep Beauchamp's mouth shut, he wouldn't have to bother trying to curry favor with these people he had always looked down upon.But what to do?After all, Beauchamp was not Bertuccio, and he could be made to act according to his will with just a threat.

Albert narrowed his eyes slightly.After tearing off his aristocratic disguise, he was the ruffian who grew up in Corsica. In the Parisian social circle, only Eugenie could see his true nature.He quickly thought of a solution once and for all.

As the saying goes, the mouth of the dead is always more reliable than the mouth of the living!

When one person is led astray by the devil in his heart, another person goes to the confessional room of the church in hymns in order to get rid of its control.He deliberately chose the time at 45:[-], which was only a quarter of an hour before the priest left work.At this point, no one else will come to confess, and no one will see him.

The priest on duty at this time was Busani.In fact, he only temporarily replaced another priest when he was absent.Although he routinely completes the sacrament of confession every time, and asks the visitor to repent and make amends for the sins he accused, but after listening to more confessions, Busani gradually found inner peace.

He was most impressed by a young girl with a strangely sweet voice who had come to confess a secret love for a close friend.Busoni knew that her love was a sin in doctrine, but perhaps because he was not a real priest, he did not accuse her and ask her to repent, but patiently released her.

At this time, the confessor seemed to be more difficult to speak than the girl. He waited for a long time, but the other party did not speak.Busani did not remind, just waited quietly.

After a long silence, the person outside the window finally spoke, "Father, please forgive me for the mistakes I have made in thought, language, and behavior. I repent to Almighty God and You. I have not repented for eight years."

The voice sounded very gentle, not like some villain.

"Will you tell me about your crimes?" asked Busani.

Another silence answered him.The light was very dark, and through the gridded window, he couldn't see what the person outside looked like, only vaguely saw the person wearing a single-sided spectacles.

"Are you a scholar?" asked Busani, "or a doctor?"

"I'm a doctor," said the other party with surprise in his tone.

"Oh, don't be surprised, I noticed your glasses," continued Buschani. "If I'm right, you're here on a professional matter. Is it about a patient?"

"No."

"Then what sort of things are you talking about?"

"I committed an unforgivable sin eight years ago."

"Why did you come to confess now?"

"Because now...retribution is coming..."

Buschani sighed slightly, "Tell me everything."

"Eight years ago, I used my professional knowledge to prepare a drug that can kill people. Because the symptom is a stroke, and no poisoning reaction can be detected, if someone uses it to harm others, it is easy to escape sanctioned by law.”

"You killed someone with it?"

"No, I prescribed this medicine for a friend of mine," the doctor pondered for a while, "to be precise, that person is the husband of my beloved."

This relationship sounds complicated, and Busani frowned.But maybe because he had heard enough of people's love-hate entanglements these days, this matter didn't attract his attention too much, "Please continue."

"And that brings me to another of my sins. When I was young I loved a girl who was like an angel... We met at a party and then again in Aix , she is married and doesn't remember me, but she still helped me in my most difficult time. I know that my feelings for her are undeserved, so all the time, I put it Buried in my heart. But I can't deceive my heart, even now that she is dead, I still love her, it's a sin."

"We can't control whether we will fall in love with someone. If this kind of love does not bring trouble to the other person, it is not a sin."

"Thank you for saying that," continued the doctor, "and it is for this reason that I respect her husband and consider him my friend. I have always regarded her only daughter, Valentine, as my own." Come care."

"It's..." It took Busani a few seconds to come up with a word that sounded right, "selfless."

"No, it was this emotion that made me make a big mistake."

"Is that the thing you said about dispensing medicine?"

"Yes," the doctor said after a pause, "I clearly remember that it happened in [-]. We all know that King Charles X fell in that year. And the husband of my beloved He was a supporter of Charles X. During that time, the situation was not clear, so he was always in a state of anxiety. One day, he came to me suddenly and asked me to prepare a medicine so that he could get rid of his enemies without leaving What are you going to do?"

"You promised him just like that?" Busani said disapprovingly.

"I was reluctant at first, but he asked me to do him a favor for his dead wife's sake, or he would die. He swore to me that the man he was going to get rid of was a heinous man," Dr. After a pause, he continued, "When I thought of the possibility that the child who resembled her mother might become an orphan, I couldn't bear it. Two days later, I handed over the prepared medicine to him."

"And then? He killed his enemies with that drug?"

Dr. Avrini sighed slightly, "Yes, it's just that I didn't expect that the person he wanted was his father."

"Are you sure?" Busani asked incredulously, "Maybe it's just a coincidence."

"No, that's not a coincidence. During that time, none of his political enemies died suddenly due to a stroke, only his father...I know the symptoms very well, and I can't be wrong," the doctor said painfully Said, "Fortunately, the old man survived the catastrophe, but he was also paralyzed due to a stroke, and he will no longer pose a threat to him. Since then, I have been taking care of the old man in order to make up for my mistakes."

"But that's his father!" Busoni said excitedly.

"Yes, his father is also his political enemy. The old general was a Girondist, and later became a staunch Napoleonic party. Before the fall of Charles X, he was secretly planning to make the King of Rome, also That is, the sole heir of Napoleon I returned to Versailles. But his son’s position is completely opposite to his, and he is a royalist through and through!”

"You should surrender to the prosecutor and expose this hidden crime!"

"useless."

"why?"

"Because the person who asked me to dispense the medicine was the prosecutor."

Hearing this answer, Busoni's face changed drastically, and he suddenly realized who the prosecutor was, "Villefort, the prosecutor of Versailles?"

"You know him?"

"He came to visit me, and I probably know about his family's situation," Busani explained. "But why did you come to confess now?"

"I said, because retribution came. During this time, the inspector's family members died one after another, and the symptoms were exactly the same as the effect of that medicine. In order to test that terrible conjecture, I drank it before the old servant Baros died. If the lemonade is not poisonous, the juice will keep its original color, but if it is mixed with that kind of medicine, it will turn green."

"Looks like the violet juice has changed color?"

"Yes, it turns out that the unfortunate Barrois, like the Saint-Meran couple, was poisoned by Enatus."

"Did the prosecutor do it? Maybe he still kept the drug," Busani speculated.

"No, he has no reason to do that," the doctor denied, "like him, the Saint-Merans are staunch royalists and his greatest support in politics. And the servant Barros is just like the Bourgeois in Shakespeare's play." Just like Ronius, he was just a scapegoat, the one who drank the lemonade should have been the prosecutor's father, Noirtier, and the old man was no threat to him at all."

"Who could it be?" Busoni frowned, vaguely guessing that this matter had something to do with the Count of Monte Cristo. "Do you have anyone you suspect?"

"Yes," said the doctor, "but I can't believe it's her."

"Who?"

"All the clues point to Miss Valentine who I regard as my own daughter. All the medicines sent to Mr. Saint-Meran were bandaged by her herself, and Mr. Saint-Meran died. The medicine used by Mrs. Saint-Meran The cold drinks were also prepared by her, and Madame Saint-Méran was dead. The lemonade that Mr. Noirtier drank every morning was prepared by Barros, but he was temporarily sent away, and Valentine It was taken over, and it may be a miracle that M. Noirtier survived."

"But why would she do that?"

"Perhaps it is for inheritance," said the doctor, his eyes twinkling. "As far as I know, both the Saint-Merans and M. Noirtier left all their property to her in their wills. As long as they are dead, Valentine Na can get that money in advance."

"It doesn't make sense, she's going to get those properties sooner or later."

"Perhaps she wants to get the money in advance," the doctor pondered for a moment, "a few days ago, when I went to Mr. Noirtier's room, I heard Valentine talking, and there was a man in the room, then The voice sounded strange. Out of concern, I stood outside the room and listened for a while. I vaguely heard Valentine express her heart to her grandfather and want to elope with the young man in the room. Maybe this is what she wanted. The reason for getting the money in advance."

"No, doctor, I can feel that you are an extremely sensible person, but from this description, I can hear the girl's feelings for Mr. Noirtier. She loves and trusts her grandfather, otherwise She wouldn't reveal that secret to him. In that case, how could she hurt him? "

"But Monsieur Noirtier is so paralyzed that he cannot tell the secret even if he knows it."

"You're right. But if in the eyes of that young lady, her grandfather is just a paralyzed old man, a puppet who can't speak, then why would she tell him the secret and ask for his blessing?"

The doctor was silent.

"It's not time to make a conclusion yet," Busoni pondered for a while, "The deaths of these people can indeed benefit Miss Valentine, but what if these crimes are just the beginning? People who really want to commit crimes Always hide behind, will not leave so many handles."

"What do you mean?" asked the doctor.

"You just said you couldn't believe it was her," Busani said.

"Yes, I watched her grow up. In my heart, she is an angel just like her mother."

"Sometimes, we should trust our hearts," Busoni continued, "Have you ever thought that after Miss Valentine inherits these properties, she will become the next target? After all, there will always be someone who can get her benefit from death."

The doctor stood up suddenly as if he had been awakened.For a moment his mind flashed the stern face of the prosecutor, flashed Madame de Villefort's smile, flashed every face of the servants, he must protect his Valentine!

"Listen to me, before everything is concluded, anyone may become the next victim. I think as a doctor, you must have a way to protect them."

"Yes," Dr. Avrini nodded blankly. "I know what to do. I can secretly put a safe dose of medicine in the water that the Villefort family drinks, so that they will develop resistance and will not be poisoned to death in one go."

"Fine," Busani said with a smile, "but you know, it's not the final solution."

"I am well aware that all the bad results were planted many years ago, but I need to think again..." The doctor clenched his fists, "Thank you, Father, but I have to say goodbye, I still have important things to do. things to be done.”

"I'll give you time, but you know, the criminal won't," Busani reminded.

"I see. Goodbye, Father!"

"Goodbye."

After Dr. Avrigini's footsteps completely disappeared, Busani also got up and was about to leave. He knew where he was going.

The author has something to say: the original work also has a plot in which Edmund disguised himself as Father Busoni to listen to Bertuccio's confession and obtain a secret.