Stories to remember - Chapter 10

FARIA SOLVES THE MYSTERY

Dante wondered whether a person so wise and clever as the Abbe Faria could perhaps help him to clear up the mystery of his own misfortunes.

He told the priest the story of his wedding day. He told him how the soldiers had arrested him and how he had been locked up inn the Chateau d'If after the Assistant State Prosecutor had promised to set him free. He asked if Faria could understand what had happened.

'Why am I a prisoner?' he asked. 'I am innocent.'

When Dante had finished speaking, Faria thought carefully. Then he said, 'If you wish to discover the person behind a bad action, you must first try to find out who would benefit by it. Now, in your case, who would profit by your disappearance?'

'No one,' replied Dante 'I was not important.'

'Everyone is of some importance to somebody else,' said Faria. 'You say that you were about to be made captain of the Pharaon, and were to be married to a young and lovely girl. Could anyone have wanted to stop these two things from happening? Did anyone wish you not to become the captain of the Pharaon?'

'No, I think that the sailors would have liked it,' replied Dante. 'There was only one man who ever quarreled with me. That was Danglars, the supercargo.

'And if you had become captain, would you have kept this man on as supercargo?'

'No, for I often found that his accounts were full of mistakes.'

'Now we are getting somewhere,' said Faria. 'And when you landed on the island of Elba, you were given a letter to take to Paris. Did anyone see you bringing this letter back to the ship?'

'Anyone might have seen me,' replied Dante, 'for I had it in my hand.'

'Then it is quite clear to me,' said Faria, 'that Danglars must have seen you with this letter. He had something to do with the accusation which was sent to the State Prosecutor. You must have a very good heart and a trusting nature if you did not suspect him from the start.'

'Oh, what a villain he must be!' said Dante.

'Now,' continued Faria, 'what about your marriage to Mercedes? Was anyone interested in preventing that?'

'Well,' replied Dante, 'her cousin Fernand loved her, but he knew nothing of the things mentioned in the letter. I am sure now that only Danglars could have written it.'

'But did Danglars know Fernand?' asked the priest.

'No,.....yes, he did. Now I remember!'

'What?'

'I saw them both sitting together with my neighbour Caderousse, on the terrace at La Reserve. It was the day we arrived at Marseilles. I was walking with Mercedes and --- I never thought of it before, but there were pens and ink and paper on the table before them --- of course, that explains it all.'

'Are you satisfied?' asked Father Faria.

'Oh yes, now I understand it all,' replied Dante, 'but there is still something I would like to know. How have I been condemned to imprisonment without a trial?'

'That is a different matter,' said the priest. 'You told me that it was not the State Prosecutor who questioned you, but his assistant; a young man of about twenty-seven years. He was probably very ambitious. How did he treat you?'

'He was very kind to me.'

'But did he change his manner at all during the examination?'

'Yes, when he read the letter that I had to take from Elba to Paris, he seemed worried to think of the danger I was in.'

'The danger you were in? Are you sure that it was your misfortune he was worried about?' asked Faria.

'Why, yes,' said Dante, 'he proved that he wanted to help me by burning the letter.'

'Are you sure he burned it?'

'He did so before my eyes, saying that he was destroying the only proof against me.'

'That action was almost too kind to be natural. Do you think he could have had any interest himself in destroying the letter?'

'Well,' said Dante, 'he did make me promise never to speak of it to anyone, and on no account to mention the name of the person to whom it was addressed. I remember that name well. It was Noirtier.'

'Noirtier!' repeated Faria after him. 'Noirtier! I knew a French diplomat of that name in Italy. He had been a nobleman before the Revolution, and had changed his name. Do you remember the name of the Assistant State Prosecutor?'

'Yes, it was Villefort,' replied Dante.

Faria burst out laughing.

'No wonder that good man destroyed your letter and told you, for your own good, never to mention the name of Noirtier. Do you know who this Noirtier was? It was his own father. Noirtier de Villefort.'