“Oh!” he cried, in an accent of despair, “the count has deceived me; I am yet living.” And extending his hand toward the table, he seized a knife.
“Dearest!” exclaimed Valentine, with her adorable smile, “awake, and look this way.” Morrel uttered a loud exclamation, and frantic, doubtful, dazzled, as though by a celestial vision, he fell upon his knees.
The next morning at the first beams of day, Valentine and Morrel were walking arm-in-arm on the seashore, Valentine relating how Monte-Cristo had appeared in her room; how he had unveiled everything; how he had revealed the crime; and, finally, how he had saved her life by allowing her to seem dead.
They found the door of the grotto opened, and went forth, the few remaining stars of night yet gleaming through the morning blue.
Morrel perceived a man standing amidst the group of rocks, who was awaiting a sign from them to advance; he pointed him out to Valentine.
“Ah! it is Jacopo,” she said, “the captain of the yacht.” And she beckoned him toward them.
“Do you wish to speak to us?” asked Morrel.
“I have a letter to give you from the count.”
“From the count!” murmured the two young people.
“Yes; read it.”
Morrel opened the letter, and read:
“MY DEAR MAXIMILIAN:
“There is a felucca for you at anchor. Jacopo will conduct you to Leghorn, where M. Noirtier awaits his grand-daughter, whom he wishes to bless before you lead her to the altar. All that is in this grotto, my friend, my house in the Champs Elysees, and my house at Treport, are the marriage-gifts bestowed by Edmond Dantes upon the son of his old master, Morrel. Mademoiselle de Villefort will share them with you; for I entreat her to give to the poor all the fortune reverting to her from her father, now a madman, and her brother, who died last September with his mother. Tell the angel who will watch over your future destiny, Morrel, to pray sometimes for a man who, like Satan, thought himself, for an instant, equal to God; but who now acknowledges, with Christian humility, that God alone possesses supreme power and infinite wisdom. Perhaps those prayers may soften the remorse he feels in his heart. As for you, Morrel, this is the secret of my conduct toward you. There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life.
“Live, then, and be happy, beloved children of my heart! and never forget, that until the day when God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these two words, – ‘Wait and hope.’
“Your friend,
“EDMOND DANT?S,
“Count of Monte-Cristo.”
During the perusal of this letter, which informed Valentine, for the first time, of the madness of her father and the death of her brother, she became pale, a heavy sigh escaped from her bosom, and tears, not the less painful because they were silent, ran down her cheeks; her happiness cost her very dear.
Morrel looked round uneasily.
“But,” he said, “the count’s generosity is too overwhelming; Valentine will be satisfied with my humble fortune. Where is the count, friend? Lead me to him.”
Jacopo pointed toward the horizon.
“What do you mean?” asked Valentine. “Where is the count? – where is Haydee?”
“Look!” said Jacopo.
The eyes of the young people were fixed upon the spot indicated by the sailor, and on the blue line separating the sky from the Mediterranean sea, they perceived a large white sail, like the wing of a sea-mew.
“Gone!” said Morrel; “gone! – Adieu, my friend! Adieu, my father!”
“Gone!” murmured Valentine. “Adieu, my friend! – adieu, my sister!”
“Who can say whether we shall ever see them again?” said Morrel, with tearful eyes.
“My friend,” replied Valentine, “has not the count just told us that all human wisdom was contained in these two words, –
“‘Wait and hope’?”
(THE END)The few pages which are herewith appended to “The Count of Monte-Cristo” relate the story on which Dumas’ admirable romance was founded.
It was well said by the editor of the latest complete French edition of the book: “To give a striking reality to a marvelous composition, to establish the truth of its facts, and to show that its dramatic scenes had witnesses is to double the interest of the work.”