1001 Stories For The Road

• THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (CHAPS 97-98) THE DEPARTURE FOR BELGIUM and THE BELL & BOTTLE TAVERN

  CHAP 97  THE DEPARTURE FOR BELGIUM Eugenie shears her hair and says she will dress as a man and accompany Louise to Belgium with what money they can grab. They will live together as partners and musicians, thus earning money to survive. Eugenie's relationship with Louise has, over the course of the novel, seemed like a particularly intense friendship. CHAP 98  THE BELL & BOTTLE TAVERN Analysis Andrea heads away from Paris in a mail coach as fast as he can, and winds up at an inn called the Bell and Bottle. There, he orders a room in the dress of a common bourgeois and makes a plan for the following day: he will move out into the countryside, rent a small shack or room from a peasant, and avoid contact with people as much as is possible. He wakes early in the morning to head out into the countryside. But when he does this, he notices that the inn is swarming with gendarmes. Alarmed, Andrea climbs up onto the roof, then tumbles down and hides in a room of the inn. There, to his surprise, he finds Eugenie and Louise, with Eugenie traveling as a man. Andrea believes, much to the girls' laughter, that they have followed him to the inn because Eugenie is still in love with him. Out of a mixture of condescension and basic fellow-feeling, they tell him to run, but he steps outside and is caught by the gendarmes to be taken back to Paris and tried. This allows Louise and Eugenie to continue their escape to Belgium later that day, as the commotion of the arrest of Andrea has caused enough of a distraction for them to sneak away. It is another of the novel's coincidences that Andrea and Eugenie wind up fleeing to the same inn. But Eugenie and Louise manage to maintain their low profile and to escape to Belgium, whereas Andrea, even though Eugenie tries to help him, will be caught by the authorities. This is an instance in the text where characters appear to receive their just desserts: Andrea, the criminal, will have trouble escaping the law, whereas Eugenie, who has only ever wanted her independence, is able to fight for it and gain it on her own terms. Catch 1001 Classic Short Stories aswe celebrate 2 million listens for the year and our new video ads at Instagram and Facebook~  www.bestof1001stories.com      

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• THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (CHAPS 95-96) FATHER AND DAUGHTER, THE CONTRACT

  CHAP 95  FATHER AND DAUGHTER Eugenie requests a formal meeting with Danglars, in whom she confides that she no longer wishes to marry anyone, especially Andrea Cavalcanti, who seems fine enough to her but has no charm beyond his bare good looks. Danglars, for his part, says that he largely respects Eugenie's wishes, but says that he is ruined financially, and that he needs the capital Andrea can provide in order to guarantee his current loans and speculate on a railway with other investors. He asks Eugenie to go through the motions of signing the contract and marrying Andrea so that this loan and his good name can be secured. This is the first acknowledgment Danglars makes about his financial situation. For many chapters, it has seemed that Danglars has sustained heavy losses on the markets, but he has not yet admitted that these losses are more than he can bear. The Count, then, has succeeded in eroding the Baron's fortunes, forcing the Baron to look for other avenues for wealth – including a marriage to Andrea, whom he believes to be a nobleman.    Eugenie agrees to this, although she insists that she has her own secret plan, which she will not divulge to her father and that will not, she insists, interrupt his plan for obtaining the loan from Andrea. Danglars seems to appreciate this negotiation on Eugenie's part, and they shake hands before Eugenie readies herself to visit the Villeforts with her mother. Danglars seems to respect a certain kind of financial negotiation, as Eugenie has offered her father here. Eugenie seems to know this as well, and so has given herself some bargaining room as she figures out what to do with the idea of a potential marital match to Andrea. Active Themes  

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• THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (CHAPS 93-94)

  CHAP 93  VALENTINE  Maximilien Morrel, fresh from the aborted duel, goes to visit Valentine at the Villefort home, where she announces that she has decided that finally she and Noirtier will move out together into their own quarters. Mme Danglars and Eugenie visit Mme de Villefort to announce that Eugenie will be marrying Andrea Cavalcanti, and though Eugenie says she does not wish to marry at all, she says it is at least better that she marry Andrea than a man disgraced. This is another instance of dramatic irony, for the reader understands that Andrea himself is an imposter, and as previous events in the novel have indicated, it seems only a matter of time until Andrea's past is also brought to light. Eugenie is a fascinating character, one who attempts to make her own life in a society where this kind of independence for women is rarely possible.    Valentine has been feeling faint and unwell, and she tells Maximilien that Noirtier has prescribed to her the same potion that he drinks in large quantities, as a medicine for his own condition. This same potion is what the doctor formerly described as a poison which, in preparatory doses, can be used actually to prevent poisoning, if one builds up resistance to it slowly. Coming to pay respects to the Danglars, Valentine excuses herself, falls ill again, and collapses in another room near Noirtier and Morrel, who immediately call for help. For many chapters the groundwork has seemingly been laid for Valentine's poisoning. Although it has not been stated explicitly that Mme de Villefort is the poisoner, it always seemed unlikely that Valentine was the culprit. Now that Valentine has fallen ill, this gives even more credence to the idea that it is Mme de Villefort who is to blame. The question now is the emergency of Valentine's condition, and whether she will be able to survive this sickness.\ CHAP 94 MAXIMILIAN'S RENEWAL Villefort calls on the doctor who had warned him about the poisoning in his family, and after hearing that it is Valentine who has now fallen ill—Valentine whom the doctor initially suspected of the crime—he agrees to help Villefort in finding the true criminal. The doctor arrives at the Villefort home and questions Noirtier, who admits in his sign-language to having prepared Valentine by administering to her protective doses of brucine, the poison, in order to inoculate her against possible attack. The doctor thanks Noirtier for saving Valentine's life. The doctor discovers practice the method that, long ago, the Count discussed with Mme de Villefort. Noirtier, in his wisdom, saw that Valentine was going to be a target of poisoning in the home, and so he used a small amount of poison to build up Valentine's tolerance, allowing her to suffer larger doses without immediately succumbing to them. The doctor recognizes how clever and compassionate Noirtier's care for Valentine has been.     In parallel, Maximilien runs to the house of the Count, begging him for help, since there is a murderer in the Villefort house. Morrel finally admits to the Count that he is in love with and wishes to marry Valentine. As devoted as the Count is to Morrel, this harms his plan, for the Count has sworn vengeance against Villefort and calls Valentine the child of a "dangerous breed." At this, however, the Count says he will ponder what best to do. After the doctor has finished checking up on Valentine and realizes that she will survive this poisoning attack, the narrator relates that the Abbe Busoni has purchased the house next to the Villeforts, the house whose garden Morrel has tended as a way of courting Valentine. This is another complication to the Count's plan. The Count wants to elevate Young Morrel, to name him as his son and heir, as indicated in previous chapters. But if Maximilien is joined to the Villefort family, the Count finds himself in a conundrum, for he wants to destroy the Villeforts. With this said, however, the episode with Albert and Mercedes has helped him to separate the innocent from the guilty, even within a family. Thus, after much thought, he seems open to the possibility that he can disentangle helping Valentine from harming Villefort.  

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• THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (CHAPS 91-92) MOTHER & SON and THE SUICIDE

  SPOILER  CAUTION Chapter 91: The Meeting Monte Cristo confides to Maximilian and Emmanuel that he plans to let himself be killed. He then demonstrates his almost superhuman skill with the pistol so that there will be no doubt as to whether he lost the duel on purpose. Albert finally arrives at the site of the duel, but rather than pick up his pistol he apologizes to Monte Cristo, telling him that he was right to avenge Fernand for wronging him. Monte Cristo realizes that Mercédès has told her son the entire story. Chapter 92: The Mother and Son Albert and Mercédès both plan to leave all their worldly possessions behind and create a new life away from the sins of Fernand. As they are about to depart their home forever, a letter from Monte Cristo arrives. Monte Cristo instructs Mercédès to travel to Marseilles, to the house in which Louis Dantès once lived. Buried under a tree in front of that house is the money that Dantès once planned to use to start a family with Mercédès. He writes that this money, though a pittance, is rightfully hers and should be enough to support her comfortably for the rest of her life. Mercédès accepts the gift and declares that she will use it as a dowry to gain entrance to a convent. Catch ALL our shows and episodes at one place at www.bestof1001stories.com!  and sign up for our newsletter

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• HE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (CAPS 89-90) A NOTURNAL INTERVIEW, THE MEETING

  Two dramatic chapters no summary to give away the plot.......

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