THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO - CHAPTERS 71-73

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO - CHAPTERS 71-73

Had to use our family's current puzzle as a backdrop to our reading this week. We are being handed pieces left and right, and little by little they are beginning to form a picture.

Our chapters open this time with a private garden walk taken by the count and Mercedes. I was holding my breath through this entire scene. The palpable feelings of passion, regret, hurt, longing, need for forgiveness, to still be valued swirl around them as they walk. And the refusal of the count to eat - did you catch the Arab custom? But as the count quickly reminds Mercedes they are in France not Arabia? So we are left wondering if they are friends or not. First the count affirms that they are, but later he tells her he could not pretend to be her friend, but her most respectful servant. And so we wait. I have to admit I am feeling the moral struggle right now of Mercedes being married to someone else and the desire for love to be restored that was lost by evil deeds.

From there we plunge head first into another love story, the love story of Valentine and Morrel. The arrival of a very disheveled woman, Valentine's grandmother - Monsieur de Saint-Meran is dead. Do you not feel swept up in the madness of this scene? I somewhat feel, myself, like the raving, wild haired woman as I wrestle alongside Valentine with her desire to honor her father and her grandmother. But to do so means to shackle herself to someone she doesn't love, that she doesn't know, all in the name of...well...a name! But she makes a promise to Morrel. She prepares to run away with him but then fails to show. We learn that Madame de Saint-Meran is dead. The wedding is postponed. Then, we are privy to a conversation between the doctor and Villefort. Poisoned?! And it's to be buried away, not brought to light! Who would want to poison Madame de Saint-Meran? I find myself asking was Monsieur de Saint-Meran poisoned as well? In the midst of all this Valentine and Morrel secure a protector. Someone who is on their side who will see that they are together in the end. Noirtier, Villefort's crippled, unspeaking father, has become their ally. Don't let his body fool you. He is still a very powerful man biding his time in the wings.