THE CONFLAGRATION.
As the Count of Monte-Cristo, Esperance, Ali and the servants approached
the palace on their return from the struggle with the bandits in the
almond grove, their ears were suddenly saluted by loud cries of terror.
They came from the library and thither Monte-Cristo hurried, followed by
his son. On the floor in the centre of the apartment Haydee lay in a
swoon, and bending over her mother was Zuleika, screaming and wringing
her little hands. The Count raised his wife and placed her upon a divan,
while Esperance brought a water-jar and bathed her temples with its
cool, refreshing contents, Zuleika meanwhile holding her mother's hands
and sobbing violently.
At last Haydee recovered consciousness, and opening her eyes gazed
wildly around her; seeing her husband, Esperance and Zuleika safe beside
her, she uttered a faint sigh of relief. It was several moments longer
before she could speak; then she exclaimed in a tremulous voice:
"Oh! my lord, did you meet that terrible man?"
"What man, Haydee?" asked the Count. "Do you mean Benedetto?"
"I do not know his name; I never saw him before," answered Haydee; "but
his face was all battered and bleeding; on his uncovered head the locks
were matted and unkempt, and his garments were torn as if in wrenching
his way through a thicket of tangled briers."
"Benedetto, it was Benedetto!" cried Monte-Cristo. "You do not mean to
say he was here, in this room?"
"He was here and only a short time ago," replied Haydee, with a shudder.
"I was standing at the window with Zuleika when he rushed by me like a
whirlwind, and going to your secretary endeavored to open it, but in
vain; then with a cry of rage he ran to the window, leaped out into the
darkness and was gone! I know nothing further, for as he vanished I fell
to the floor in a swoon."
Monte-Cristo touched a bell and almost immediately Ali stood bowing
before him, as calm and unmoved as though nothing unusual had occurred.
"Ali," said the Count, "post all the servants within and without the
palace, and let the strictest watch be kept until dawn. The chief of the
bandits, who is no other than the former Prince Cavalcanti, was here in
our absence and must yet be hovering in the vicinity. See that he does
not effect another entrance, as his purpose is robbery if not murder!"
Ali signified by his eloquent pantomime that he had already taken it
upon himself to station the servants as his master directed, and that it
would be utterly impossible for any one to approach the palace without
being seen and seized.
As the faithful Nubian turned to retire, Monte-Cristo noticed that his
right hand was bandaged as if wounded, and inquired whether he had been
hurt in the conflict with the bandits. Ali explained that a dagger
thrust had cut his palm, but that the wound had been properly cared for
and would soon heal.
When the Count and his family were once more alone together, Haydee
threw herself at her husband's feet and humbly demanded pardon.
"What have you done to require pardon?" asked Monte-Cristo, in
astonishment. "Speak, but I forgive you beforehand.'
"Oh! my lord," said Haydee, still maintaining her kneeling posture
despite her husband's efforts to raise her, "oh! my lord, I have been
guilty of a despicable act, but my love for you and fears for your
safety must be my excuse. You left the letter you received so strangely
this morning lying upon your secretary. I opened it and hurriedly made
myself acquainted with its contents, for I had a premonition that some
terrible danger threatened you. Oh! my lord, pardon, pardon!"
Monte-Cristo raised her to her feet, and imprinted a kiss upon her
pallid brow.
"So then, it is to you, Haydee, that I owe my timely rescue from the
hands of Benedetto and his band of cut-throats! Had you committed even a
much more serious fault than peeping into my correspondence, that would
be more than sufficient to secure my full forgiveness. But do you know
that Esperance shot and killed the miscreant who held his pistol to my
temple and was about to blow out my brains?"
"Esperance?" said Haydee in bewilderment. "Did he not remain behind with
Zuleika and myself?"
"No, mamma," said the boy, holding his head proudly erect. "I could not
remain behind. I knew papa was in danger, and, taking a pistol that I
had seen Ali load this morning from the cabinet of fire-arms, I followed
the servants, arriving at the almond grove just in time."
Haydee ran to her son, and, taking him in her arms, pressed him fondly
to her heart, kissing him again and again.
"Oh! Esperance," she cried, "had I known you were in the midst of those
bloodthirsty cut-throats I should have died of terror! But you have
saved your father's life, my son, and I bless you for it!"
"He is a little hero," said Monte-Cristo, impressively.
Zuleika had thrown herself upon the divan, and, utterly worn out by the
excitement through which she had passed, was already wrapped in a deep
slumber. The Count, Haydee and Esperance, however, could not resign
themselves to sleep, and when the gray light of dawn appeared in the
eastern sky, they were still in the library and still watching.
Benedetto had not been seen again, and a diligent search of the entire
island, made by Ali and the servants, failed to reveal even the
slightest trace of him. He had evidently succeeded in finding some
fisherman's skiff and in it had made his escape.
This view of the case was confirmed a few hours later, when old Alexis
came to the palace and informed Monte-Cristo that his smack had vanished
during the night, having, in all probability, been carried off by
thieves.
"I knew," said the fisherman, "that the Island of Kylo was infested by
bandits, but I had no idea they would venture here. Now, however, I
thought I had better put you on your guard."
"I am much indebted to you, Alexis," said the Count; then, slipping a
purse of money into his hand, he added: "Take that and provide yourself
with a new boat."
Alexis touched his cap, bowed and was about to withdraw when
Monte-Cristo said to him, assuming a careless tone:
"By the way, my good fellow, have you ever chanced to meet any of the
bandits you mentioned?"
"Often, Excellency," replied Alexis.
"What kind of men are they?"
"Bold, bad wretches, whose hands have been more than once stained with
innocent blood."
"What is their strength?"
"They number about fifty."
"Do any women dwell among them?"
"Yes, Excellency, their wives and sweethearts."
"Who is the leader of the band?"
"A strange, morose man, who has not been long in their midst."
"Is he a Greek?"
"No, Excellency, he is a foreigner."
"A Frenchman?"
"Quite likely, though I am not sure."
"What is his name?"
"He calls himself Demetrius."
"Did he ever question you about me?"
"Yes, Excellency."
"And what did you reply?"
"I told him you were the Count of Monte-Cristo."
"Ah! What did he say then?"
"He said he had heard of you before."
"That will do, Alexis; I have all the information I require."
The fisherman again touched his cap, and, making a low bow, took his
departure.
Under ordinary circumstances Monte-Cristo would not have been disturbed
by the presence of bandits so near the Island of Salmis, but it became
an altogether different thing when those bandits were led by Benedetto.
A month passed, but in it nothing occurred calculated to break the
tranquillity of the Count and his family. The bandits had not reappeared
and Benedetto had given no sign of life. The faithful Ali no longer
deemed it necessary to maintain his precautions against surprise, and
the strict watch that had been kept up day and night ever since the
conflict in the almond grove was abandoned. Haydee, Zuleika and
Esperance resumed their usual mode of life, having apparently dismissed
the robbers from their minds, while even Monte-Cristo seemed free from
all uneasiness.
One night, while the Count was writing at a late hour in the library, he
yielded to fatigue and fell asleep over his papers. His slumber was
troubled with a strange and vivid dream.
A man in the picturesque garb of a Greek peasant, and wearing a mask on
his face, suddenly stood before him, with his arms folded upon his
breast. Monte-Cristo saw him distinctly, though unable to stir either
hand or foot. The singular visitant surveyed the Count long and
steadily. There was something vaguely familiar about him, but as to his
identity the sleeper could form no idea. At last he slowly removed the
mask, and recognition was instantaneous. The man was Danglars. He raised
his right hand, and, pointing with his forefinger at the Count, said
deliberately, with a hiss like some venomous serpent:
"Edmond Dantes, there is a bitter account open between us, and I am here
to force you to a bitter settlement!"
The light of the huge lamp, suspended from the ceiling, fell full upon
Danglars' countenance; it was as bloodless as that of a corpse, and the
eyes shone with a remorseless, vindictive glare. The banker continued in
the same hissing tone, his words penetrating to the very marrow of the
slumberer's bones:
"Count of Monte-Cristo, for by that name it still pleases you to be
called, listen to me. By the most ingenious and fiendish combinations
possible for a human being to contrive, you wrecked my fortune and with
it my hopes. You drove me ignominiously from Paris; in Rome you caused
me to be starved and robbed by Luigi Vampa and his brigands; then with
the malevolent magnanimity of an arch-demon you sent me forth into the
world a fugitive and an outcast. Count of Monte-Cristo, Edmond Dantes,
low-born sailor of Marseilles, modern Mephistopheles as you are, I will
be even with you! You have had your vengeance; now you shall feel mine!
Here in the Grecian Archipelago, on the Island of Salmis, I will torture
you through your dearest affections, and grind you to dust beneath my
heel!"
As Danglars finished, his features changed and became those of
Villefort, while his Greek peasant's garb was transformed into the
sombre habiliments of the Procureur du Roi. Villefort's face wore the
look of madness, but there was a freezing calmness in his voice as he
said:
"Edmond Dantes, Count of Monte-Cristo, gaze upon the ruin you have made.
Through you I was dragged down from my high position, exposed,
humiliated and deprived of reason. But although the mere wreck of my
former self, I am not utterly powerless, as you shall learn to your
cost. You raised up my infamous son, Benedetto, to be the instrument of
my destruction. Now, he shall work yours, and avenge his unhappy
father!"
The apparition paused, sighed deeply, and then resumed in a tone of
still greater menace:
"Count of Monte-Cristo, look well to your beloved wife, Haydee, look
well to your heroic son, Esperance, look well to your darling daughter,
Zuleika, for this night they are in frightful danger! Look well to your
fabulous riches, for they are threatened; look well to your stately and
magnificent palace, for already the element that shall devour it is
noiselessly and stealthily at work! Count of Monte-Cristo, farewell!"
A heart-rending shriek rang in the sleeper's ears, a mighty flash
dazzled his eyes, and, with a grim smile upon his pallid countenance,
Villefort vanished.
Monte-Cristo awoke with a quick start and passed his hand across his
forehead, as if dazed; then he leaped to his feet and glanced
breathlessly about him. Danglars and Villefort had been only the idle
coinage of his brain, but the heart-rending shriek, the mighty flash,
they were, indeed, stern realities--the shriek was Haydee's, and the
flash was fire!
"My God!" cried Monte-Cristo, standing for an instant rooted to the
spot, "can it be possible that this dream is the truth after all, and
that I am even now to feel the vengeance of those two men?"
He sprang into the spacious hall that was as light as day, and, as he
did so, the figure of a man rushed by him--it was Benedetto, and in his
hand he held a long knife dripping with blood. The Count turned and
pursued him, snatching a dagger from a table as he ran. At the door
leading to the lawn, he grasped him firmly by the shoulder and held him.
"Murderer!" he shouted, "whose blood is that upon your knife?"
"The blood of Haydee, the Greek slave!" hissed Benedetto, with a glare
of ferocious triumph, "the blood of Haydee, your wife! Edmond Dantes, I
am even with you!"
Monte-Cristo struck at the assassin with his dagger, but Benedetto
eluded the blow, and raising his own weapon inflicted a frightful gash
upon the Count's cheek.
A terrible struggle ensued. Monte-Cristo was possessed of wonderful
strength and activity, but in both these respects the two desperate
antagonists seemed fairly matched. Three times did the Count bury his
dagger in Benedetto's body, but, though the assassin's blood gushed
copiously from his wounds, he continued to fight with the utmost
determination. At length the men grappled in a supreme, deadly effort,
but Monte-Cristo, making a false step, slipped on the blood-spattered
marble floor, and Benedetto, with the quickness of thought, hurling him
backward, freed himself and bounding through the open doorway vanished
in the darkness beyond.
The Count uttered a groan of despair as he saw Haydee's self-confessed
murderer escape him, and staggered to his feet; the fierce conflict with
Benedetto had exhausted him, and he stood for an instant panting and
breathless. The shrieks had now grown fainter and the hall was full of
smoke. During all this time neither Ali nor any of the servants under
him had appeared, a circumstance that, to Monte-Cristo, seemed
inexplicable. He, however, did not pause to give it thought, but dashed
up the stairway and strove to reach his wife's apartment; blinding,
stifling clouds of smoke, through which penetrated the glare of the
conflagration, drove him back again and again, but he renewed his
attempts to force a passage with undaunted energy and courage. Finally,
compressing his lips and holding his nostrils with the thumb and
forefinger of his right hand, he gave a headlong plunge, and succeeded
in reaching Haydee's door; it was open, displaying a scene that caused
the Count's heart to sink within him; the whole chamber was one sea of
flame; fiery tongues, like so many writhing and hissing serpents, were
licking and consuming the costly tapestry, the richly carved furniture
and the magnificent objects of art; the curtains of the bed were
blazing, and upon the couch lay the senseless form of the wife of
Monte-Cristo, the pallor of her faultless countenance contrasting
painfully with the ruddy glow of the devouring element. In Haydee's
breast was a gaping wound, from which her life blood was slowly oozing
in ruby drops.
Rendered utterly reckless by the terrible sight, the Count madly rushed
to the couch, tore his beloved Haydee from it, and, clasping her tightly
against his bosom, staggered into the corridor with his precious
burden. There the smoke had increased in volume and density, but,
summoning all his resolution and endurance to his aid, he plunged
through it, and finally was successful in reaching the library.
Then, with the swiftness of a flash of lightning, the husband was
replaced by the father, and Monte-Cristo, for the first time since
Haydee's shrieks had awakened him from his dream, thought of his
children. Where were they and what had happened to them? The Count felt
a cold perspiration break out upon his forehead, and a feeling of
unspeakable dread took entire possession of him. Haydee demanded
immediate attention, but Esperance and Zuleika must instantly be found
and rescued. At the top of his voice Monte-Cristo shouted for Ali, but
no reply was returned. Fearing to leave Haydee for even a moment, the
Count strode about the library like a caged wild animal, still holding
her in his arms. He shouted again and again until he was hoarse, calling
distractedly upon Esperance, Zuleika and all the servants in turn.
At last an answering shout came suddenly from the lawn, and old Alexis,
followed by several fishermen, leaped into the library through an open
window.
Resigning Haydee to Alexis, the Count, accompanied by the fishermen,
fairly flew to the apartment of his children, situated on a corridor in
another portion of the palace. There Esperance and Zuleika were
discovered gagged and bound; they lay upon the floor of their chamber,
while Ali, who had been treated in like manner, was extended near them.
To release the prisoners was but the work of a moment, and then it was
learned that all the servants under Ali were confined in their
dormitory. They, as well as Monte-Cristo's children and the Nubian, had
been suddenly seized by a party of rough-looking Greeks, evidently a
portion of Benedetto's band.
Meanwhile the flames had spread from Haydee's chamber to the adjoining
quarters of the edifice, and the entire palace seemed doomed, for to
check the conflagration appeared impossible, but so happy had the Count
been made by the recovery of his son and daughter, unharmed, that he
gave himself no concern about the probable destruction of his
magnificent property.
Seizing his children, he directed Ali and the fishermen to release the
captive servants, and hastily returned to the library. As he entered the
room Haydee uttered a low groan and opened her eyes; she was lying on a
divan, where old Alexis had placed her. Esperance and Zuleika sprang to
her side; she took each by the hand, and as she did so they saw the
wound in her breast. Zuleika burst into tears. Esperance compressed his
lips and grew deadly pale.
"My loved ones," said Haydee, faintly, "I feel that I am about to leave
you forever, perhaps in a few moments. Be good children and obey your
father in all things. Esperance, Zuleika, stoop and kiss me."
They did as she desired; her lips were already purple and cold; the
stamp of death was upon her features. Suddenly her frame was convulsed
and her eyes assumed a glassy look.
"Monte-Cristo, my husband, where are you?" she said, in a broken voice.
"Here, Haydee," answered the Count, approaching.
He strove to appear calm, but could not control his emotion.
"Nearer, nearer, Edmond," said Haydee, growing weaker and weaker.
The Count sank on his knees beside his dying wife and put his arms about
her neck.
"Oh! Haydee, Haydee," he sobbed; "thrice accursed be the infamous wretch
who has done this!"
"Edmond, my children, farewell," gasped Haydee; "I am going to a better
land!"
The death rattle was in her throat; she raised herself with a mighty
effort, gazed lovingly at her husband and children, and strove to speak
again, but could not; then a flickering shade of violet passed over her
countenance, and she fell back dead.
Esperance and Zuleika stood as if stunned; Monte-Cristo was overwhelmed
with grief and despair.
"The whole palace is in flames! Save yourselves, save yourselves!"
cried a fisherman, rushing into the library, followed by his companions,
Ali and the servants.
Monte-Cristo leaped to his feet, seizing the corpse of Haydee and
raising it in his arms. Ali grasped Esperance and Zuleika, and the
entire party hastened from the burning edifice. They were not an instant
too soon, for as they quitted the library the tempest of fire burst into
it, accompanied by torrents of smoke. The fishermen and servants,
commanded by the Nubian, had made every effort to save the doomed
mansion, but in vain.
Monte-Cristo and his children found refuge in the hut of Alexis, to
which Haydee's body was reverently borne.
The wife of Monte-Cristo was buried on the Island of Salmis, and over
her remains her husband erected a massive monument.
Shortly afterwards the Count, Esperance and Zuleika, attended by the
faithful Ali, quitted the Island and took passage on a vessel bound for
France.