THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO - CHAPTERS 50-52

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO - CHAPTERS 50-52

Did it take you a minute to place Emmanuel and Julie? If it did remember back to Dantes shipping boss Morrel who was so dedicated to helping him. Julie was his daughter and Emmanuel his employee who were unable to get married because of money until the count secretly helped. Monte Cristo is clearly moved by the love, devotion, and hard work of this couple when he visits their home.

The moment that Maximilien shares that his father believed the family benefactor was Edmond Dantes was definitely an intense moment. Then the count's voice awakens a memory in Julie's mind that she can't quite place. Will the count's true identity be discovered?

From here we are privy to a secret love between Maximilien Morrel and Valentine daughter of Villefort's first wife. Bits and pieces of the past come back into focus as Valentine overhears Danglars and her father discuss the Morrel family. Note the dislike for the Morrel family by Valentine's father but the respect for them from the grandfather. (Do you remember the back history of Villefort's father that was the nail in the coffin for Dantes?)

Then the count arrives at Villefort's house. The count has met Madame de Villefort before under the pretense of a doctor. Their discussion turns to one of poisons, and I feel like I am in the middle of an Agatha Christie novel.

And what in the world was meant by, "As for Monte Cristo, the visit had succeeded beyond his expectations. 'Well, indeed,' he thought, as he went out, 'this is fertile soil, and I am certain that the seed that falls in it will not remain barren.' "