[Count of Monte Cristo] Love and hatred

r015

This was not the first time Mr. Morel had come.This time he told them that the prosecutor Villefort had signed a petition which he promised to send himself to Paris to present to the Minister of Police.

This is indeed good news, but after that, it was a long wait.

With the defeat of Murat, King of Naples, Napoleon lost his only ally.The countdown to the famous Battle of Waterloo in history has entered, and Mei Tess's anxiety has also reached its peak.

She couldn't wait any longer.Although Morel kept reassuring her that the Minister of Police had signed the release order, there were only a few formalities left.But it seemed that the next procedure would never be completed, and she even began to suspect that the prosecutor Villefort was deliberately delaying.

This was quite possible, since M. Morel had said that Villefort was a royalist.But now Villefort's status has not been affected in any way, but has been reused by the Napoleon government, and the acting prosecutor has been directly converted to a regular position. There must be some inexplicable tricks in this.

She decided to ask Villefort herself.

However, when she arrived at Villefort's mansion, the servants blocked her from the door as before.And when she asked when Villefort would return, the answer was "No comment."

After hitting a wall at Villefort's house, Mei Tess went straight to the next court.Although the gendarmes would not let her in, she would keep guard at the door. She did not believe that Villefort would work inside all the time.

She wandered under the stone steps of the courthouse, the lonely shadow behind her getting shorter and shorter.Around noon, a young man dressed as an old-fashioned aristocrat appeared on the platform at the top of the stone steps, frowning slightly, with a solemn and calm demeanor.But when he noticed Mei Tess, the "uninvited guest", his eyes suddenly turned cold.

He stared at Mei Tess for a second or two, as if judging her identity.Then, as if he remembered something, he turned around and left in a hurry.

Mei Tess suddenly realized that this was probably the person she was looking for, and immediately chased after him.But it was too late, when she climbed the steps, the man had disappeared from her sight.

Instead, two gendarmes escorted her into a long corridor in the courthouse without any explanation.The hallway was so gloomy that she couldn't help feeling a little shuddering.

At the end of the corridor, Mei Tess realized that it was a dark prison.It turns out that the court and the prison are connected. When they interrogated Edmund, they must have locked him here.But why did they bring her here?Edmund is obviously imprisoned in the Château d'If now.

It wasn't until the military police opened an empty prison door that Mei Tess finally realized what was about to meet her.

"What are you going to do? Let me go!" Before the gendarmes pushed her into the iron gate of the dungeon, she tried to make a final struggle, but soon she found that she was no match for them.By the time Plum Tess came to her senses, the cell door was tightly closed.

"I didn't commit a crime, why am I locked up here?" Mei Tess knocked on the cell door desperately, but after a long time, no one came to explain to her, not even a response.

This made Plum Tess angry.Perhaps she was really rash in coming to Villefort rashly, but she did nothing but waited for him at the gate of the court. Was this enough to arrest her as a criminal?

Although her hands were red and swollen and her throat was hoarse, she still didn't want to stop.A few minutes later, a gendarme finally approached her cell.

"Stop shouting, Miss, all the people who come here are criminals," the visitor said sarcastically.

"What crime have I committed?" asked Mei Tess. "Murder or arson?"

"Obstructing official duties," the man said after a pause, "I have to warn you, miss. If you continue to make trouble like this, then your charges will be increased!"

"Shameless!" Mei Tess finally slammed on the cell door and retreated to the room.At this moment, she finally understood that the right to speak was in the hands of others, and her resistance was futile, and she didn't even know if they would let her out.

The dark dungeon frightened her, the room was small and damp, only the iron windows could leak a little light.She walked to the window, grabbed the iron railing with both hands, and tried to look out. The steeple of the bell tower of the Akul Church appeared at the upper limit of her vision, which made her feel a little relieved, so she began to pray, for herself and for Edmund, who was also in prison.

When the bell rang for the first time, she began to worry again that old Dantès could not find her.Later, she couldn't remember how many times the clock tower bell rang.The light outside the window gradually faded until she could no longer see the steeple of the bell tower of the church, and she sat back on the narrow wooden bench.

The surrounding temperature is getting lower and lower, and the coldness, hunger and inner anxiety are tormenting Mei Tess at the same time.

If Villefort meant to frighten her, he had served his purpose, she thought.

After an unknown amount of time, she finally heard footsteps, which stopped in front of her cell, and then the cell door was opened, and the sheriff poked his head in, "Maise Tess Hillilla, can you Let’s go. Remember! Don’t come here to disturb official business next time.”

Plum Tess wanted to speak back, but she had no strength at all.Two gendarmes with torches led her through the corridor from which she had come, and at the end, thank God, was none other than Mr. Morel.

"Mr. Morel, thank you very much for coming to rescue me," Mai Tess said sincerely.

Morrel put a coat on her shoulders, and led her to the outside of the courthouse. He didn't speak until he was near the door of a carriage, and said in a reproachful tone, "Mai Tess, what are you doing today?" It's too reckless. Villefort is a nobleman who values ​​honor, and since he has made a promise to release Edmund, he will definitely do it. We must not provoke him at this time."

"But this has dragged on for too long. From March until now, there is still no news from the Château d'If. I am very worried." Mei Tess pondered for a while, "Besides, you once said, Will Mr. Fu is a royalist, who can guarantee that he will not use his power to suppress the alien party in his mind?"

"I think you have misunderstood him," explained Morel. "When I went to intercede with you tonight, he was about to sign your release order. Doesn't that show that he is a merciful man?"

Seeing that she was silent, Morel continued, "Messer Tess, leave it to me to deal with the prosecutor in the future. Edmond's situation is more complicated. Villefort said that there is no record of political prisoners. , so it’s normal that the procedures are complicated. But don’t worry, it’s only a matter of time before Edmund comes out from Chateau d’If.”

"But we don't have time, the Battle of Waterloo is coming!" Mei Tess really wanted to say it out loud, but her reason caught her in time, making her swallow the words that had come to her lips.

She thought of Joan of Arc, the legendary heroine who led the French army against the British invasion, but was sentenced to be burned by the Inquisition for heresy and witches.Although this era is 400 years ahead of Joan of Arc's era, people are still very superstitious.

Believing that she had caused Edmund's misfortune by marrying a foreigner by breaking the rules, she was no longer welcome in the Catalan village.If she blindly speaks out about the doomed battle again, how many people will regard her as the culprit who cursed Napoleon?She couldn't imagine how much better her end would be than Joan of Arc.

"Okay," Plum Tess finally nodded and stepped into the carriage.Mr. Morel followed in the next carriage.

Mei Tess wrapped her coat tightly around her body. She didn't trust Villefort, but at least she could trust Mr. Morel. Maybe she was really worrying too much, maybe Edmund was really about to be released soon.

She looked up at the dark sky outside the car window.

Tonight, no moon.