THE BALL AND THE BEGGAR
A few days later, Monte Cristo was invited to a ball at the home of the Count and Countess Morcerf. Many people were there, including the Danglars family and also Andrea Cavalcanti. Cavalcanti danced with Eugenie Danglars almost the whole evening.
'Aren't you jealous?' Monte Cristo asked Albert Morcerf.
'You know very well that I don't want to marry Eugenie,' replied Albert. 'If she and Cavalcanti like one another, it suits me very well.'
'I think that Baron Danglars will be pleased about it too, now,' said Monte Cristo.
'Do you mean that he would prefer Andrea Cavalcanti to me for his son-in-law?' asked Albert, surprised.
'That's what he told me the other day,' replied the Count.
Just then Mercedes came towards them.
'Good evening,' she said to Monte Cristo. 'Is it true that you have seen so much, travelled so far, and suffered so deeply, as my son has told me?'
'I have suffered deeply, madame,' answered Monte Cristo.
'Have you no sister, no son, no father?'
'I have no one.'
'How can you live without anyone to make your life worth living?'
'That is not my fault, madame. When I was young, in Malta, I loved a young girl. We were going to be married, but war came and I was taken away from her. I thought she loved me well enough to wait for me, but when I returned, she was married to someone else.'
'And did you ever see her again?'
'No, I never returned to the country where she lived.'
'Malta?'
'Yes, Malta.'
'Is she still in Malta?'
'I think so.'
'And have you forgiven her for all she has made you suffer?'
'Yes, I have pardoned her.'
'But only her; do you still hate those who separated you from her?'
'Hate them--not at all-- why should I ?' answered the Count. And his mouth moved in a wry smile.
When the ball was over, the guests left, one after the other in their carriages. Andrea Cavalcanti had bought his carriage only a few days ago, with some of the money given to him by Monte Cristo. It was new and shining and it was driven by a groom in a smart uniform. The carriage drove up to the door and, as Andrea was stepping into it, a hand touched his shoulder. The young man turned around to see who wanted to speak to him. He saw an old man dressed in torn and filthy clothes. A red handkerchief was tied round his head and his face was covered with a dirty grey beard.
Andrea's groom jumped down from the carriage to push this intruder away from his master.
'You have no right to beg here,' said the groom.
The unknown old man smiled cunningly.
'I am not begging, my fine fellow,' he said. 'I only wanted to speak to your master, who asked me to do something for him last week.'
'What do you want?' said Andrea, nervously.
'I'm very tired,' said the old man, 'and not having eaten as good a dinner as you have, I can hardly walk.'
'Yes, but tell me what you want,' said Andrea again.
'Well, because I am tired and cannot walk, I want you to give me a ride in your fine carriage. Do you understand, Benedetto?'
The young man took a step backwards when he heard this name and he looked surprised. Then he said to his groom, 'Yes, this man is right. I did ask him to do something for me. Let him get into the carriage. I will drive, and you can go home.'
The astonished groom went away, and Andrea drove off with the old man in his carriage. When they had gone some distance and he was sure that they could not be seen or heard, he stopped the carriage and turned to the stranger.
'Now, Caderousse, tell me why you have come to disturb me,' he said.
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