The Count of Monte-Cristo/Volume 4/Chapter 86
CHAPTER LXXXVI
THE TRIAL
T eight o'clock in the morning Albert had arrived, like a lightning-flash, at Beauchamp's door. The valet-de-chambre had received orders to introduce him into his master's room, who was just then bathing.
"Here I am, Albert said."
"Well, my poor friend," replied Beauchamp, "I expected you."
"Here I am! I need not say I think you are too faithful and too kind to have spoken to any one of that painful circumstance. Your having sent for me is another proof of your affection. So, without losing time, tell me, have you any idea whence this blow proceeds?"
"I will say a couple of words about that, immediately."
"Yes! but first tell me all the particulars of this shameful plot."
Beauchamp proceeded to relate to the young man, overwhelmed with shame and grief, the following facts: Two days previously, the article had appeared in another paper besides the Impartial, and, what was more serious, one that was well known as a Government paper. Beauchamp was breakfasting when he read the passage: he sent immediately for a cabriolet, and hastened to the publisher's office. Although professing diametrically opposite principles from those of the editor of the accusing paper, Beauchamp, as it sometimes, we may say often, happens, was his intimate friend. The editor was reading, with apparent delight, a leading article in his paper on beet-root sugar, probably a composition of his own.
"Ah! pardieu!" said Beauchamp, "with the paper in your hand, my friend, I need not tell you the cause of my visit."
"Are you, perchance, concerned in the sugar question?" asked the editor of the ministerial paper.
"No," replied Beauchamp, "I have not considered the question; a totally different subject interests me."
"What is it?"
"The article relative to Morcerf."
"Indeed! Is it not a curious affair?"
"So curious, that I think you are running a great risk of a prosecution for defamation of character."
"Not at all; we have received with the information all the requisite proofs, and we are quite sure M. de Morcerf will keep quiet; besides, it is rendering a service to one's country to denounce those wretches who are unworthy of the honor it bestows on them."
Beauchamp remained thunder-struck.
"Who, then, has so correctly informed you?" asked he; "for my paper, which had announced the subject, has been obliged to stop for want of proof, and yet we are more interested than you in exposing M. de Morcerf, as he is a peer of France, and we are of the opposition."
"Oh! that is very simple; we have not sought to scandalize; this news was brought to us. A man arrived, yesterday, from Janina, bringing the formidable bundle; and as we hesitated to publish the accusatory article, he told us it should be inserted in some other paper. You know, Beauchamp, the value of a bit of important news. We could not let it slip. Now the stroke is made; it is terrible, and will echo through Europe."
Beauchamp understood that nothing remained but to submit, and left the office to dispatch a courier to Morcerf. But what he had been unable to write to Albert, as the events took place after the messenger's departure, was, that the same day, a great agitation was manifest in the House of Peers among the usually calm groups of the noble assembly. Every one had arrived almost before the usual hour, and was conversing on the melancholy event which was to attract the attention of the public toward one of their most illustrious members. Some were reading, in low tones, the article; others making comments and recalling circumstances which substantiated the charges still more.
The Count de Morcerf was no favorite with his colleagues. Like all upstarts, he had had recourse to a great deal of haughtiness to maintain his position. The true nobility laughed at him, the talented repudiated him, and the honorable instinctively despised him. The count was in the terrible position of an expiatory victim; the finger of God once pointed at him, every one was prepared to raise the hue and cry after him.
The Count de Morcerf alone knew nothing. He did not take in the paper containing the defamatory news, and had passed the morning in writing letters and in trying a horse. He arrived at his usual hour with a proud look and insolent demeanor; he alighted, passed through the corridors, and entered the house without observing the hesitation of the door-keepers or the coolness of his colleagues.
Business had already commenced half an hour when he entered. Every one held the accusing paper, but, as usual, no one liked to take upon himself the responsibility of the attack. At length an honorable peer, Morcerf's acknowledged enemy, ascended the tribune with that solemnity which announced the expected moment had arrived. There was an imposing silence; Morcerf alone knew not why such profound attention was given to an orator who was not always listened to with so much complacency.
The count did not notice the introduction, in which the speaker announced that his communication would be of that vital importance that it demanded the undivided attention of the House; but, at the words Janina and Colonel Fernand, he turned so awfully pale that every member shuddered and fixed his eyes upon him. Moral wounds have this peculiarity,―they conceal themselves, but never close; always painful, always ready to bleed when touched, they remain fresh and open in the heart.
The article having been read during this painful silence, it was only then disturbed by a universal shudder, and immediately restored when the orator resumed. He stated his scruples and the difficulties of the case: it was the honor of M. de Morcerf, and that of the whole House, he proposed to defend, by provoking a debate on those personal questions always so warmly agitated. He concluded by calling for an examination, speedy enough to confound the calumnious report before it had time to spread, and to restore M. de Morcerf to the position he had long held in public opinion.
Morcerf was so completely overwhelmed by this enormous and unexpected calamity that he could scarcely stammer a few words as he looked round on the assembly. This timidity, which might proceed from the astonishment of innocence as well as the shame of guilt, conciliated some in his favor; for men who are truly generous are always ready to compassionate when the misfortune of their enemy surpasses the limits of their hatred. The president put the question to the vote, and it was decided that the examination should take place. The count was asked what time he required to prepare his defense. Morcerf 's courage had revived when he found himself alive after this horrible blow.
"My lords," answered he, "it is not by time that one repels attacks like that made on me by enemies unknown to me, and, doubtless, hidden in obscurity; it is immediately, and by a thunderbolt, I must repel the flash of lightning which, for a moment, startled me. Oh! that I could, instead of taking up this defense, shed my last drop of blood to prove to my noble colleagues that I am their equal in worth."
These words made a favorable impression on behalf of the accused.
"I demand, then, that the examination shall take place as soon as possible, and I will furnish the house with all necessary information."
"What day do you fix?" asked the president.
"To-day I am at your service," replied the count.
The president rang the bell. "Does the House approve that the examination should take place to-day?"
A committee of twelve members was chosen to examine the proofs brought forward by Morcerf. The examination would commence at eight o'clock that evening in the committee-room, and, if it were necessary to postpone it, it would be resumed each evening at the same hour. Morcerf asked leave to retire; he had to collect the documents he had long been preparing against this storm, which his sagacity had foreseen.
Beauchamp related to the young man all the facts we have just narrated; his story, however, had over ours all the advantage of the animation of living things over the coldness of dead things.
Albert listened, trembling now with hope, then with anger, and then again with shame; for, from Beauchamp's revelations, he knew his father was guilty; and he asked himself how, since he was guilty, he could prove his innocence. Beauchamp hesitated to continue his narrative.
"What next?" asked Albert.
"What next? My friend, you impose a painful task on me. Must you know all?"
"Absolutely; and rather from your lips than another's."
"Prepare your courage, then; for never will you have required it more."
Albert passed his hand over his forehead, as if to try his strength, as a man, who is preparing to defend his life, proves his shield and bends his sword. He thought himself strong enough, for he mistook fever for energy. "Proceed," said he.
"The evening arrived: all Paris was in expectation. Many said your father had only to show himself to confound the charge; many others said he would not appear; while some asserted they had seen him start for Brussels, and others went to the police-office to inquire if he had taken out a passport. I used all my influence with one of the committee, a young peer of my acquaintance, to get introduced into a sort of gallery. He called for me at seven o'clock, and, before any one had arrived, asked one of the door-keepers to place me in a box. I was concealed by a column, and in complete obscurity, I could hope to hear and see the whole of the terrible scene which was about to take place. At eight o'clock all were in their places, and M. de Morcerf entered at the last stroke. He held some papers in his hand; his countenance was calm. Contrary to his usual custom, his manner was unaffected, his dress particularly quiet, and, after the habit of old soldiers, buttoned completely up to the chin. His presence produced a good effect. His committee was far from being ill-disposed; several of the members came forward to shake hands with him."
Albert felt his heart bursting at these particulars, but gratitude mingled with his sorrow; he would gladly have embraced those who had given his father this proof of esteem at a moment when his honor was so powerfully attacked.
"At this moment one of the door-keepers brought in a letter for the president. 'You are at liberty to speak, M. de Morcerf,' said the president, as he unsealed the letter; and the count began his defense, I assure you, Albert, in a most eloquent and skillful manner. He produced documents, proving that the Vizier of Janina had, to the last moment, honored him with his entire confidence, since he had intrusted him with a negotiation of life and death with the sultan. He produced the ring, his mark of authority, with which Ali Pacha generally sealed his letters, and which the latter had given to him that he might, on his return at any hour of the day or night, were he even in his harem, gain access to him. Unfortunately, the negotiation failed, and when he returned to defend his benefactor, he was dead. 'But,' said the count, 'so great was Ali Pacha's confidence, that on his death-bed, he confided his favorite mistress and her daughter to my care.'"
Albert started on hearing these words; the history of Haydée recurred to him, and he remembered what she had said of that message and the ring, and the manner in which she had been sold and made a slave.
"And what effect did this discourse produce?" anxiously inquired Albert.
"I acknowledge it affected me, and, indeed, all the committee also," said Beauchamp.
"Meanwhile, the president carelessly opened the letter which had been brought to him; but the first lines aroused his attention. He read them again and again, and fixing his eyes on M. de Morcerf: 'M. le Comte,' said he, 'you have said the Vizier of Janina had confided his wife and daughter to your care?'—'Yes, sir,' replied Morcerf, 'but in that, like all the rest, misfortune pursued me; on my return, Vasiliki and her daughter Haydée had disappeared.'—'Did you know them?'—'My intimacy with the pacha and his unlimited confidence had gained me an introduction to them, and I had seen them above twenty times.'—'Have you any idea what is become of them?'—'Yes, sir; I heard they had fallen victims to their sorrow, and, perhaps, to their poverty. I was not rich; my life was in constant danger; I could not seek them, to my great regret.' The president frowned imperceptibly. 'Gentlemen,' said he, 'you have heard M. le Comte de Morcerf's defense. Can you, M. le Comte, produce any witnesses to the truth of what you have asserted?'—' Alas! no, sir,' replied the count, 'all those who surrounded the vizier, or who knew me at his court, are either dead or scattered; alone, I believe, of all my countrymen, I survived that dreadful war: I have only the letters of Ali Tebelin, which I have placed before you; the ring, a token of his good-will, which is here; and, lastly, the most convincing proof I can offer, namely, after an anonymous attack, the absence of all witnesses against my veracity and the purity of my military life.'
"A murmur of approbation ran through the assembly; and at this moment, Albert, had nothing more transpired, your father's cause had been gained. It only remained to put it to the vote, when the president resumed: 'Gentlemen, and you, M. le Comte, you will not be displeased, I presume, to listen to one who calls himself a very important witness, and who has just presented himself. He is, doubtless, come to prove the perfect innocence of our colleague. Here is a letter I have just received on the subject; shall it be read, or shall it be passed over? and shall we not regard this incident?' M. de Morcerf turned pale, and clinched his hands on the papers he held. The committee decided to hear the letter; the count was thoughtful and silent. The president read:
"'Mr. President, I can furnish the committee of inquiry into the conduct of the Lieutenant-General Count de Morcerf in Epirus and in Macedonia with important particulars.'
"The president paused, and the count turned pale. The president looked at his auditors interrogatively. 'Proceed,' was heard on all sides. The president resumed:
"'I was on the spot at the death of Ali Pacha; I was present during his last moments; I know what is become of Vasiliki and Haydée; I am at the command of the committee, and even claim the honor of being heard. I shall be in the lobby when this note is delivered to you.'
"'And who is this witness, or rather this enemy?' asked the count, in a tone in which there was a visible alteration. 'We shall know, sir,' replied the president. 'Is the committee willing to hear this witness?' 'Yes, yes,' said they all at once.
"The door-keeper was called. 'Is there any one in the lobby?' said the president.—'Yes, sir.'—'Who is it?'—'A woman accompanied by a servant.' Every one looked at his neighbor. 'Introduce her,' said the president. Five minutes after, the door-keeper again appeared: all eyes were fixed on the door, and I," said Beauchamp, "shared the general expectation and anxiety. Behind the door-keeper walked a woman enveloped in a large veil, which completely concealed her. It was evident, from the figure which her veil betrayed and the perfumes she had about her, that she was young and elegant, but that was all. The president requested her to throw aside her veil, and it was then seen she was dressed in the Grecian costume, and was remarkably beautiful."
"Ah!" said Albert, "it was she."
"Who?"
"Haydée."
"Who told you that?"
"Alas! I guess it. But go on, Beauchamp. You see I am calm and strong. And yet we must be drawing near the disclosure."
"M. de Morcerf," continued Beauchamp, "looked at this woman with surprise and terror. Her lips were about to pass his sentence of life or death. To all the committee the adventure was so extraordinary and curious, that the interest they had felt for the count's safety became now quite a secondary matter. The president himself advanced to place a seat for the young lady; but she indicated that she would remain standing. As for the count, he had fallen on his chair; it was evident his legs refused to support him.
"'Madame,' said the president, 'you have engaged to furnish the committee with some important particulars respecting the affair at Janina, and you have stated that you were an eye-witness of the events.'—'I was, indeed!' said the stranger, with a tone of sweet melancholy, and with the sonorous voice peculiar to the East.
"'But allow me to say you must have been very young then.'—'I was four years old; but as those events deeply concerned me, not a single particular has escaped my memory.'—'In what manner could those events concern you? and who are you, that they should have made so deep an impression on you?'—'On them depended my father's life,' replied she. 'I am Haydée, the daughter of Ali Tebelin, Pacha of Janina, and of Vasiliki, his beloved wife.'
"The blush of mingled pride and modesty which suddenly suffused the cheeks of the young female, the brilliance of her eye, and her highly important communication, produced an inexpressible effect on the assembly. As for the count, he could not have been more overwhelmed if a thunderbolt had fallen at his feet and opened before him an immense gulf.
"'Madame,' replied the president, bowing with profound respect, 'allow me to ask one question, it shall be the last: Can you prove the authenticity of what you have now stated?'
"'I can, sir,' said Haydee, drawing from under her veil a satin satchel highly perfumed; 'for here is the register of my birth, signed by my father and his principal officers; and that of my baptism, my father having consented to my being brought up in my mother's faith; this letter has been sealed by the grand primate of Macedonia and Epirus, and lastly, (and perhaps the most important), the record of the sale of my person and that of my mother to the Armenian merchant El-Kobbir, by the French officer, who, in his infamous bargain with the Porte, had reserved as his part of the booty, the wife and daughter of his benefactor,
whom he sold for the sum of four hundred thousand francs.' A greenish paleness spread over the count's cheeks, and his eyes became blood-shot, at these terrible imputations, which were listened to by the assembly with an ill-foreboding silence.
"Haydée, still calm, but whose calmness was more dreadful than the anger of another would have been, handed to the president the record of her sale, registered in Arabic. It had been supposed some of these papers might be registered in the Arabic, Romaic, or Turkish language, and the interpreter of the House was in attendance. One of the noble peers, who was familiar with the Arabic language, having studied it during the sublime Egyptian campaign, followed with his eye as the translator read aloud:
"'I, El-Kobbir, a slave-merchant, and furnisher of the harem of his highness, acknowledge having received for transmission to the Sublime Emperor, from the French lord, Count of Monte-Cristo, an emerald valued at eight hundred thousand francs, as the ransom of a young Christian slave of eleven years of age, named Haydée, the acknowledged daughter of the late Lord Ali Tebelin, Pacha of Janina, and of Vasiliki, his favorite; she having been sold to me seven years previously, with her mother, who had died on arriving at Constantinople, by a French colonel in the service of the Vizier Ali Tebelin, named Fernand Mondego. The above-mentioned purchase was made on his highness's account, whose mandate I had, for the sum of four hundred thousand francs.
"'Given at Constantinople, by authority of his highness, in the year 1247 of the Hegira."'That this record should have all due authority, it shall bear the imperial seal, which the vendor is bound to have affixed to it.'
"Near the merchant's signature there was, indeed, the seal of the Sublime Emperor. A dreadful silence succeeded the reading of this paper; the count could only look, and his gaze, fixed as if unconsciously on Haydée, seemed one of fire and blood. 'Madame,' said the president, 'can we not examine the Count of Monte-Cristo, who is now, I believe, in Paris?'
"'Sir,' said Haydée, 'the Count of Monte-Cristo, my other father, has been in Normandy the last three days.'
"'Who, then, has counseled you to take this step, one for which the court is deeply indebted to you, and which is perfectly natural, considering your birth and your misfortunes?'—'Sir,' replied Haydée, 'I have been led to take this step from a feeling of respect and grief. Although a Christian, may God forgive me! I have always sought to revenge my illustrious father. Since I set my foot in France, and knew the traitor lived in Paris, I have watched carefully. I live retired in the house of my noble protector, but I do it from choice; I love retirement and silence, because I can live with my thoughts and recollections of past days. But M. le Comte de Monte-Cristo surrounds me with every paternal care, and I am ignorant of nothing which passes in the world. I hear its distant echoes; I see all the newspapers, every periodical, as well as every new melody; and by thus watching the course of the life of others, I learned what had passed this morning in the House of Peers, and what was to take place this evening; then I wrote.'
"Then,' remarked the president, 'the Count of Monte-Cristo knows nothing of your present proceedings?'—'He is quite unaware of them;
and I have but one fear, which is, that he should disapprove of what I have done. But it is a glorious day for me,' continued the young girl, raising her ardent gaze to heaven, 'that on which I find at last an opportunity of avenging my father!'
"The count had not uttered one word the whole of this time. His colleagues looked at him, and doubtless pitied his blighted prospects, which sank under the perfumed breath of a woman. His misery was depicted by sinister lines on his countenance. 'M. de Morcerf,' said the president, 'do you recognize this lady as the daughter of Ali Tebelin, Pacha of Janina?'―'No,' said Morcerf, attempting to rise; 'it is a base plot, contrived by my enemies.' Haydée, whose eyes had been fixed upon the door, as if expecting some one, turned hastily, and, seeing the count standing, shrieked, 'You do not know me?' said she. 'Well, I fortunately recognize you! You are Fernand Mondego, the French officer, who led the troops of my noble father! It is you who surrendered the Castle of Janina! It is you who, sent by him to Constantinople, to treat with the emperor for the life or death of your benefactor, brought back a false mandate, granting full pardon! It is you who, with that mandate, obtained the pacha's ring, which gave you authority over Selim, the fire-keeper! It is you who stabbed Selim! It is you who sold us, my mother and me, to the merchant El-Kobbir. Assassin! assassin! assassin! you have still on your brow your master's blood! Look, gentlemen, all!'
"These words had been pronounced with such enthusiasm of truth, that every eye was fixed on the count's forehead, and he himself passed his hand across it, as if he felt Ali's blood still moist upon it. 'You positively recognize M. de Morcerf as the officer, Fernand Mondego?'—'Indeed I do!' cried Haydée. 'Oh, my mother! it was you who told me, "You were free, you had a beloved father, you were destined to be almost a queen. Look well at that man; it is he who raised your father's head on the point of a spear; it is he who sold us; it is he who forsook us! Look well at his right hand, on which he has a large wound; if you forgot his features, you would know him by that hand, into which fell, one by one, the golden pieces of the merchant El-Kobbir!" I know him! Ah! let him say now if he does not recognize me!' Each word fell like a dagger on Morcerf, and deprived him of a portion of his energy; as she uttered the last, he hid hastily in his bosom his hand, which had indeed been mutilated by a wound, and fell back on his chair, overwhelmed by wretchedness and despair. This scene completely changed the opinion of the assembly respecting the accused count.
"'M. le Comte de Morcerf,' said the president, 'do not allow yourself to be depressed; answer. The justice of the court is supreme and impartial as that of God; it will not suffer you to be trampled on by your enemies without giving you an opportunity of defending yourself. Shall further inquiries be made? Shall two members of the House be sent to Janina? Speak!' Morcerf did not reply. Then all the members looked at each other with terror. They knew the count's energetic and violent temper; it must be, indeed, a dreadful blow which would deprive him of courage to defend himself. They expected this silence
resembling a sleep, would be followed by an awakening like a thunderbolt. 'Well,' asked the president, 'what is your decision?'
"'I have no reply to make,' said the count in a low tone.
"'Has the daughter of Ali Tebelin spoken the truth?' said the president. Is she, then, the terrible witness to whose charge you dare not plead "Not guilty?" Have you really committed the crimes of which you are accused?' The count looked around him with an expression which might have softened tigers, but which could not disarm his judges. Then he raised his eyes toward the ceiling, but withdrew them immediately, as if he feared the roof would open and reveal to his distressed view that second tribunal called heaven, and that other judge named God. Then, with a hasty movement, he tore open his coat, which seemed to stifle him, and flew from the room like a madman; his footstep was heard one moment in the corridor, then the rattling of his carriage-wheels as. he was driven rapidly away. 'Gentlemen,' said the president, when silence was restored, 'is M. le Comte de Morcerf convicted of felony, and degrading conduct, treason and?'—'Yes,' replied all the members of the committee of inquiry with a unanimous voice.
"Haydee had remained until the close of the meeting. She heard the count's sentence pronounced without betraying an expression of joy or pity; then drawing her veil over her face, she bowed majestically to the councillors, and left with that dignified step which Virgil attributes to his goddesses.