"My dear count," cried Morcerf, "you are at fault -- you, one of the most formidable logicians I know -- and you must see it clearly proved that instead of being an egotist, you are a philanthropist.Ah, you call yourself Oriental, a Levantine, Maltese, Indian, Chinese; your family name is Monte Cristo; Sinbad the Sailor is your baptismal appellation, and yet the first day you set foot in Paris you instinctively display the greatest virtue, or rather the chief defect, of us eccentric Parisians, -- that is, you assume the vices you have not, and conceal the virtues you possess.""My dear vicomte," returned Monte Cristo, "I do not see, in all I have done, anything that merits, either from you or these gentlemen, the pretended eulogies I have received.You were no stranger to me, for I knew you from the time I gave up two rooms to you, invited you to breakfast with me, lent you one of my carriages, witnessed the Carnival in your company, and saw with you from a window in the Piazza del Popolo the execution that affected you so much that you nearly fainted.I will appeal to any of these gentlemen, could I leave my guest in the hands of a hideous bandit, as you term him? Besides, you know, I had the idea that you could introduce me into some of the Paris salons when I came to France.You might some time ago have looked upon this resolution as a vague project, but to-day you see it was a reality, and you must submit to it under penalty of breaking your word.""I will keep it," returned Morcerf; "but I fear that you will be much disappointed, accustomed as you are to picturesque events and fantastic horizons.Amongst us you will not meet with any of those episodes with which your adventurous existence has so familiarized you; our Chimborazo is Mortmartre, our Himalaya is Mount Valerien, our Great Desert is the plain of Grenelle, where they are now boring an artesian well to water the caravans.We have plenty of thieves, though not so many as is said; but these thieves stand in far more dread of a policeman than a lord.
France is so prosaic, and Paris so civilized a city, that you will not find in its eighty-five departments -- I say eighty-five, because I do not include Corsica -- you will not find, then, in these eighty-five departments a single hill on which there is not a telegraph, or a grotto in which the commissary of police has not put up a gaslamp.There is but one service I can render you, and for that I place myself entirely at your orders, that is, to present, or make my friends present, you everywhere; besides, you have no need of any one to introduce you -- with your name, and your fortune, and your talent" (Monte Cristo bowed with a somewhat ironical smile) "you can present yourself everywhere, and be well received.I can be useful in one way only -- if knowledge of Parisian habits, of the means of rendering yourself comfortable, or of the bazaars, can assist, you may depend upon me to find you a fitting dwelling here.I do not dare offer to share my apartments with you, as I shared yours at Rome -- I, who do not profess egotism, but am yet egotist par excellence; for, except myself, these rooms would not hold a shadow more, unless that shadow were feminine.""Ah," said the count, "that is a most conjugal reservation;I recollect that at Rome you said something of a projected marriage.May I congratulate you?""The affair is still in projection."
"And he who says in `projection,' means already decided,"said Debray.
"No," replied Morcerf, "my father is most anxious about it;and I hope, ere long, to introduce you, if not to my wife, at least to my betrothed -- Mademoiselle Eugenie Danglars.""Eugenie Danglars," said Monte Cristo; "tell me, is not her father Baron Danglars?""Yes," returned Morcerf, "a baron of a new creation.""What matter," said Monte Cristo "if he has rendered the State services which merit this distinction?""Enormous ones," answered Beauchamp."Although in reality a Liberal, he negotiated a loan of six millions for Charles X., in 1829, who made him a baron and chevalier of the Legion of Honor; so that he wears the ribbon, not, as you would think, in his waistcoat-pocket, but at his button-hole.""Ah," interrupted Morcerf, laughing, "Beauchamp, Beauchamp, keep that for the Corsaire or the Charivari, but spare my future father-in-law before me." Then, turning to Monte Cristo, "You just now spoke his name as if you knew the baron?""I do not know him," returned Monte Cristo; "but I shall probably soon make his acquaintance, for I have a credit opened with him by the house of Richard & Blount, of London, Arstein & Eskeles of Vienna, and Thomson & French at Rome."As he pronounced the two last names, the count glanced at Maximilian Morrel.If the stranger expected to produce an effect on Morrel, he was not mistaken -- Maximilian started as if he had been electrified."Thomson & French," said he;"do you know this house, monsieur?"
"They are my bankers in the capital of the Christian world,"returned the count quietly."Can my influence with them be of any service to you?""Oh, count, you could assist me perhaps in researches which have been, up to the present, fruitless.This house, in past years, did ours a great service, and has, I know not for what reason, always denied having rendered us this service.""I shall be at your orders," said Monte Cristo bowing.
