The Count of Monte Cristo LXXXV Summary

Summary

Edmond Dantès (the Count of Monte Cristo) greets Albert de Morcerf and Beauchamp, discussing recent gossip about an engagement and the troublesome publicity surrounding certain characters (Cavalcanti, Danglars, and a supposed robber Caderousse). The Count, irritated by the attention his house and affairs draw from the police and press, proposes a rapid change of scene; Albert, suffering a headache and melancholy, accepts. Preparations are made at once: Bertuccio and the Count organize a relay of horses so they can travel at exceptional speed.

They make the eight-hour, overnight run to a coastal estate in Normandy. On arrival Albert enjoys the Count’s hospitality—sporting, hunting, fishing, and comfortable rooms overlooking the sea—while the Count supervises household matters and instructs servants like Bertuccio and Ali. After several vigorous days, Albert naps; a fast horseman arrives: his valet Florentin carrying a sealed parcel from Beauchamp. Albert reads a newspaper paragraph that reveals a painful public assertion about his father’s past and title. Shocked and enraged, he immediately demands a horse and rides back to Paris in the night, leaving the Count to read the offending paragraph and to reflect on the destructive reach of rumor.

Key events

1. Conversation in Paris: gossip about Cavalcanti, Eugénie Danglars, Caderousse, and Villefort's proceedings.
2. Count proposes a sudden trip; Bertuccio readies horses and an express relay.
3. Rapid night journey to the Count’s Normandy estate with thirty-two horses across stages.
4. Days of sport and rest at the seaside property—hunting, fishing, and comfort.
5. Florentin arrives with a newspaper and letter from Beauchamp.
6. Albert reads a paragraph about his father's past and rushes back to Paris, distraught.

Analysis

This chapter functions as a transitional episode that combines character development, plot propulsion, and atmospheric detail. Structurally it gives readers respite—seaside leisure and the Count’s calm hospitality—while simultaneously escalating tension through information delivered by the press. The Count’s impatience with public scrutiny and his meticulous logistical control (the relays of horses, Bertuccio’s obedience, Ali’s skill) reinforce his power, resources, and desire for privacy. Albert’s vulnerability is emphasized: he enjoys physical vigor and aristocratic comforts but is emotionally fragile when confronted with attacks on his family honor.

Themes of reputation, rumor, and the press’s destructive potential are central: a paragraph in a newspaper precipitates immediate crisis, showing how public words can have private, violent consequences. The chapter uses contrasts—speed versus leisure, open sea freedom versus the claustrophobia of scandal—to underline characters’ inner states. Symbolically, the Count’s schooner and the Monte Cristo arms suggest renewal and hidden meanings connected to the Count’s identity (a mountain and cross evocative of suffering and rebirth). Narratively, the abrupt, breathless journey and Albert’s hasty departure foreshadow coming conflict while keeping the reader anchored in the present scene and the personalities involved.

Important quotes

“I never knew till now the delight of speed,”

Albert de MorcerfAlbert, exhilarated by the Count's swift private post-horses, expresses the pleasure the rapid journey gives him.

“The French officer in the service of Ali Pasha of Yanina alluded to three weeks since in L’Impartial, who not only surrendered the castle of Yanina, but sold his benefactor to the Turks, styled himself truly at that time Fernand, as our esteemed contemporary states; but he has since added to his Christian name a title of nobility and a family name.”

Narrator (newspaper paragraph quoted in the text)This newspaper paragraph, delivered to Albert, publicly accuses and names the family scandal that drives Albert to dash back to Paris in anguish.

Characters in LXXXV

• Edmond Dantes
• Albert de Morcerf
• Beauchamp
• Danglars
• Major Cavalcanti
• Eugénie Danglars
• Gaspard Caderousse
• Gérard de Villefort
• Haydée
• Ali
• Bertuccio
• Baptistin
• Florentin