The day following this scene, at the hour the banker usuallychose to pay a visit to Madame Danglars on his way to hisoffice, his coupe did not appear. At this time, that is,about half-past twelve, Madame Danglars ordered hercarriage, and went out. Danglars, hidden behind a curtain,watched the departure he had been waiting for. He gaveorders that he should be informed as soon as Madame Danglarsappeared; but at two o'clock she had not returned. He thencalled for his horses, drove to the Chamber, and inscribedhis name to speak against the budget. From twelve to twoo'clock Danglars had remained in his study, unsealing hisdispatches, and becoming more and more sad every minute,heaping figure upon figure, and receiving, among othervisits, one from Major Cavalcanti, who, as stiff and exactas ever, presented himself precisely at the hour named thenight before, to terminate his business with the banker. Onleaving the Chamber, Danglars, who had shown violent marksof agitation during the sitting, and been more bitter thanever against the ministry, re-entered his carriage, and toldthe coachman to drive to the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, No.30.

Monte Cristo was at home; only he was engaged with some oneand begged Danglars to wait for a moment in thedrawing-room. While the banker was waiting in the anteroom,the door opened, and a man dressed as an abbe and doubtlessmore familiar with the house than he was, came in andinstead of waiting, merely bowed, passed on to the fartherapartments, and disappeared. A minute after the door bywhich the priest had entered reopened, and Monte Cristoappeared. "Pardon me," said he, "my dear baron, but one ofmy friends, the Abbe Busoni, whom you perhaps saw pass by,has just arrived in Paris; not having seen him for a longtime, I could not make up my mind to leave him sooner, so Ihope this will be sufficient reason for my having made youwait."

"Nay," said Danglars, "it is my fault; I have chosen myvisit at a wrong time, and will retire."

"Not at all; on the contrary, be seated; but what is thematter with you? You look careworn; really, you alarm me.Melancholy in a capitalist, like the appearance of a comet,presages some misfortune to the world."

"I have been in ill-luck for several days," said Danglars,"and I have heard nothing but bad news."

"Ah, indeed?" said Monte Cristo. "Have you had another fallat the Bourse?"

"No; I am safe for a few days at least. I am only annoyedabout a bankrupt of Trieste."

"Really? Does it happen to be Jacopo Manfredi?"

"Exactly so. Imagine a man who has transacted business withme for I don't know how long, to the amount of 800,000 or900,000 francs during the year. Never a mistake or delay - a fellow who paid like a prince. Well, I was a million inadvance with him, and now my fine Jacopo Manfredi suspendspayment!"

"Really?"

"It is an unheard-of fatality. I draw upon him for 600,000francs, my bills are returned unpaid, and, more than that, Ihold bills of exchange signed by him to the value of 400,000francs, payable at his correspondent's in Paris at the endof this month. To-day is the 30th. I present them; but mycorrespondent has disappeared. This, with my Spanishaffairs, made a pretty end to the month."

"Then you really lost by that affair in Spain?"

"Yes; only 700,000 francs out of my cash-box - nothingmore!"

"Why, how could you make such a mistake - such an oldstager?"

"Oh, it is all my wife's fault. She dreamed Don Carlos hadreturned to Spain; she believes in dreams. It is magnetism,she says, and when she dreams a thing it is sure to happen,she assures me. On this conviction I allow her to speculate,she having her bank and her stockbroker; she speculated andlost. It is true she speculates with her own money, notmine; nevertheless, you can understand that when 700,000francs leave the wife's pocket, the husband always finds itout. But do you mean to say you have not heard of this? Why,the thing has made a tremendous noise."

"Yes, I heard it spoken of, but I did not know the details,and then no one can be more ignorant than I am of theaffairs in the Bourse."

"Then you do not speculate?"

"I? - How could I speculate when I already have so muchtrouble in regulating my income? I should be obliged,besides my steward, to keep a clerk and a boy. But touchingthese Spanish affairs, I think that the baroness did notdream the whole of the Don Carlos matter. The papers saidsomething about it, did they not?"

"Then you believe the papers?"

"I? - not the least in the world; only I fancied that thehonest Messager was an exception to the rule, and that itonly announced telegraphic despatches."

"Well, that's what puzzles me," replied Danglars; "the newsof the return of Don Carlos was brought by telegraph."

"So that," said Monte Cristo, "you have lost nearly1,700,000 francs this month."

"Not nearly, indeed; that is exactly my loss."

"Diable," said Monte Cristo compassionately, "it is a hardblow for a third-rate fortune."

"Third-rate," said Danglars, rather humble, "what do youmean by that?"

"Certainly," continued Monte Cristo, "I make threeassortments in fortune - first-rate, second-rate, andthird-rate fortunes. I call those first-rate which arecomposed of treasures one possesses under one's hand, suchas mines, lands, and funded property, in such states asFrance, Austria, and England, provided these treasures andproperty form a total of about a hundred millions; I callthose second-rate fortunes, that are gained by manufacturingenterprises, joint-stock companies, viceroyalties, andprincipalities, not drawing more than 1,500,000 francs, thewhole forming a capital of about fifty millions; finally, Icall those third-rate fortunes, which are composed of afluctuating capital, dependent upon the will of others, orupon chances which a bankruptcy involves or a false telegramshakes, such as banks, speculations of the day - in fact,all operations under the influence of greater or lessmischances, the whole bringing in a real or fictitiouscapital of about fifteen millions. I think this is aboutyour position, is it not?"

"Confound it, yes!" replied Danglars.

"The result, then, of six more such months as this would beto reduce the third-rate house to despair."

"Oh," said Danglars, becoming very pale, how you are runningon!"

"Let us imagine seven such months," continued Monte Cristo,in the same tone. "Tell me, have you ever thought that seventimes 1,700,000 francs make nearly twelve millions? No, youhave not; - well, you are right, for if you indulged insuch reflections, you would never risk your principal, whichis to the speculator what the skin is to civilized man. Wehave our clothes, some more splendid than others, - this isour credit; but when a man dies he has only his skin; in thesame way, on retiring from business, you have nothing butyour real principal of about five or six millions, at themost; for third-rate fortunes are never more than a fourthof what they appear to be, like the locomotive on a railway,the size of which is magnified by the smoke and steamsurrounding it. Well, out of the five or six millions whichform your real capital, you have just lost nearly twomillions, which must, of course, in the same degree diminishyour credit and fictitious fortune; to follow out my simile,your skin has been opened by bleeding, and this if repeatedthree or four times will cause death - so pay attention toit, my dear Monsieur Danglars. Do you want money? Do youwish me to lend you some?"

"What a bad calculator you are!" exclaimed Danglars, callingto his assistance all his philosophy and dissimulation. "Ihave made money at the same time by speculations which havesucceeded. I have made up the loss of blood by nutrition. Ilost a battle in Spain, I have been defeated in Trieste, butmy naval army in India will have taken some galleons, and myMexican pioneers will have discovered some mine."

"Very good, very good! But the wound remains and will reopenat the first loss."

"No, for I am only embarked in certainties," repliedDanglars, with the air of a mountebank sounding his ownpraises; "to involve me, three governments must crumble todust."

"Well, such things have been."

"That there should be a famine!"

"Recollect the seven fat and the seven lean kine."

"Or, that the sea should become dry, as in the days ofPharaoh, and even then my vessels would become caravans."

"So much the better. I congratulate you, my dear M.Danglars," said Monte Cristo; "I see I was deceived, andthat you belong to the class of second-rate fortunes."

"I think I may aspire to that honor," said Danglars with asmile, which reminded Monte Cristo of the sickly moons whichbad artists are so fond of daubing into their pictures ofruins. "But, while we are speaking of business," Danglarsadded, pleased to find an opportunity of changing thesubject, "tell me what I am to do for M. Cavalcanti."

"Give him money, if he is recommended to you, and therecommendation seems good."

"Excellent; he presented himself this morning with a bond of40,000 francs, payable at sight, on you, signed by Busoni,and returned by you to me, with your indorsement - ofcourse, I immediately counted him over the fortybank-notes."

Monte Cristo nodded his head in token of assent. "But thatis not all," continued Danglars; "he has opened an accountwith my house for his son."

"May I ask how much he allows the young man?"

"Five thousand francs per month."

"Sixty thousand francs per year. I thought I was right inbelieving that Cavalcanti to be a stingy fellow. How can ayoung man live upon 5,000 francs a month?"

"But you understand that if the young man should want a fewthousands more" -

"Do not advance it; the father will never repay it. You donot know these ultramontane millionaires; they are regularmisers. And by whom were they recommended to you?"

"Oh, by the house of Fenzi, one of the best in Florence."

"I do not mean to say you will lose, but, nevertheless, mindyou hold to the terms of the agreement."

"Would you not trust the Cavalcanti?"

"I? oh, I would advance six millions on his signature. I wasonly speaking in reference to the second-rate fortunes wewere mentioning just now."

"And with all this, how unassuming he is! I should neverhave taken him for anything more than a mere major."

"And you would have flattered him, for certainly, as yousay, he has no manner. The first time I saw him he appearedto me like an old lieutenant who had grown mouldy under hisepaulets. But all the Italians are the same; they are likeold Jews when they are not glittering in Oriental splendor."

"The young man is better," said Danglars.

"Yes; a little nervous, perhaps, but, upon the whole, heappeared tolerable. I was uneasy about him."

"Why?"

"Because you met him at my house, just after hisintroduction into the world, as they told me. He has beentravelling with a very severe tutor, and had never been toParis before."

"Ah, I believe noblemen marry amongst themselves, do theynot?" asked Danglars carelessly; they like to unite theirfortunes."

"It is usual, certainly; but Cavalcanti is an original whodoes nothing like other people. I cannot help thinking thathe has brought his son to France to choose a wife."

"Do you think so?"

"I am sure of it."

"And you have heard his fortune mentioned?"

"Nothing else was talked of; only some said he was worthmillions, and others that he did not possess a farthing."

"And what is your opinion?"

"I ought not to influence you, because it is only my ownpersonal impression."

"Well, and it is that" -

"My opinion is, that all these old podestas, these ancientcondottieri, - for the Cavalcanti have commanded armies andgoverned provinces, - my opinion, I say, is, that they haveburied their millions in corners, the secret of which theyhave transmitted only to their eldest sons, who have donethe same from generation to generation; and the proof ofthis is seen in their yellow and dry appearance, like theflorins of the republic, which, from being constantly gazedupon, have become reflected in them."

"Certainly," said Danglars, "and this is further supportedby the fact of their not possessing an inch of land."

"Very little, at least; I know of none which Cavalcantipossesses, excepting his palace in Lucca."

"Ah, he has a palace?" said Danglars, laughing; "come, thatis something."

"Yes; and more than that, he lets it to the Minister ofFinance while he lives in a simple house. Oh, as I told youbefore, I think the old fellow is very close."

"Come, you do not flatter him."

"I scarcely know him; I think I have seen him three times inmy life; all I know relating to him is through Busoni andhimself. He was telling me this morning that, tired ofletting his property lie dormant in Italy, which is a deadnation, he wished to find a method, either in France orEngland, of multiplying his millions, but remember, thatthough I place great confidence in Busoni, I am notresponsible for this."

"Never mind; accept my thanks for the client you have sentme. It is a fine name to inscribe on my ledgers, and mycashier was quite proud of it when I explained to him whothe Cavalcanti were. By the way, this is merely a simplequestion, when this sort of people marry their sons, do theygive them any fortune?"

"Oh, that depends upon circumstances. I know an Italianprince, rich as a gold mine, one of the noblest families inTuscany, who, when his sons married according to his wish,gave them millions; and when they married against hisconsent, merely allowed them thirty crowns a month. ShouldAndrea marry according to his father's views, he will,perhaps, give him one, two, or three millions. For example,supposing it were the daughter of a banker, he might take aninterest in the house of the father-in-law of his son; thenagain, if he disliked his choice, the major takes the key,double-locks his coffer, and Master Andrea would be obligedto live like the sons of a Parisian family, by shufflingcards or rattling the dice."

"Ah, that boy will find out some Bavarian or Peruvianprincess; he will want a crown and an immense fortune."

"No; these grand lords on the other side of the Alpsfrequently marry into plain families; like Jupiter, theylike to cross the race. But do you wish to marry Andrea, mydear M. Danglars, that you are asking so many questions?"

"Ma foi," said Danglars, "it would not be a bad speculation,I fancy, and you know I am a speculator."

"You are not thinking of Mademoiselle Danglars, I hope; youwould not like poor Andrea to have his throat cut byAlbert?"

"Albert," repeated Danglars, shrugging his shoulders; "ah,well; he would care very little about it, I think."

"But he is betrothed to your daughter, I believe?"

"Well, M. de Morcerf and I have talked about this marriage,but Madame de Morcerf and Albert" -

"You do not mean to say that it would not be a good match?"

"Indeed, I imagine that Mademoiselle Danglars is as good asM. de Morcerf."

"Mademoiselle Danglars' fortune will be great, no doubt,especially it the telegraph should not make any moremistakes."

"Oh, I do not mean her fortune only; but tell me" -

"What?"

"Why did you not invite M. and Madame de Morcerf to yourdinner?"

"I did so, but he excused himself on account of Madame deMorcerf being obliged to go to Dieppe for the benefit of seaair."

"Yes, yes," said Danglars, laughing, "it would do her agreat deal of good."

"Why so?"

"Because it is the air she always breathed in her youth."Monte Cristo took no notice of this ill-natured remark.

"But still, if Albert be not so rich as MademoiselleDanglars," said the count, "you must allow that he has afine name?"

"So he has; but I like mine as well."

"Certainly; your name is popular, and does honor to thetitle they have adorned it with; but you are too intelligentnot to know that according to a prejudice, too firmly rootedto be exterminated, a nobility which dates back fivecenturies is worth more than one that can only reckon twentyyears."

"And for this very reason," said Danglars with a smile,which he tried to make sardonic, "I prefer M. AndreaCavalcanti to M. Albert de Morcerf."

"Still, I should not think the Morcerfs would yield to theCavalcanti?"

"The Morcerfs! - Stay, my dear count," said Danglars; "youare a man of the world, are you not?"

"I think so."

"And you understand heraldry?"

"A little."

"Well, look at my coat-of-arms, it is worth more thanMorcerf's."

"Why so?"

"Because, though I am not a baron by birth, my real name is,at least, Danglars."

"Well, what then?"

"While his name is not Morcerf."

"How? - not Morcerf?"

"Not the least in the world."

"Go on."

"I have been made a baron, so that I actually am one; hemade himself a count, so that he is not one at all."

"Impossible!"

"Listen my dear count; M. de Morcerf has been my friend, orrather my acquaintance, during the last thirty years. Youknow I have made the most of my arms, though I never forgotmy origin."

"A proof of great humility or great pride," said MonteCristo.

"Well, when I was a clerk, Morcerf was a mere fisherman."

"And then he was called" -

"Fernand."

"Only Fernand?"

"Fernand Mondego."

"You are sure?"

"Pardieu, I have bought enough fish of him to know hisname."

"Then, why did you think of giving your daughter to him?"

"Because Fernand and Danglars, being both parvenus, bothhaving become noble, both rich, are about equal in worth,excepting that there have been certain things mentioned ofhim that were never said of me."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing!"

"Ah, yes; what you tell me recalls to mind something aboutthe name of Fernand Mondego. I have heard that name inGreece."

"In conjunction with the affairs of Ali Pasha?"

"Exactly so."

"This is the mystery," said Danglars. "I acknowledge I wouldhave given anything to find it out."

"It would be very easy if you much wished it?"

"How so?"

"Probably you have some correspondent in Greece?"

"I should think so."

"At Yanina?"

"Everywhere."

"Well, write to your correspondent in Yanina, and ask himwhat part was played by a Frenchman named Fernand Mondego inthe catastrophe of Ali Tepelini."

"You are right," exclaimed Danglars, rising quickly, "I willwrite to-day."

"Do so."

"I will."

"And if you should hear of anything very scandalous" -

"I will communicate it to you."

"You will oblige me." Danglars rushed out of the room, andmade but one leap into his coupe.