Stories to remember - Chapter 34

THE DENUNCIATION

The President of the Upper House called the doorkeeper.

'Is there anyone outside in the lobby?' he said.

'Yes, sir,' replied the doorkeeper, 'there is a woman with a servant.'

There was a little gasp of surprise in the House when it was heard that the witness was a woman.

'Show her in!' said the President.

When the woman came in, her face was hidden by a veil. The President asked her to sit down. She did so, and then removed her veil. The members of the Upper House were even more surprised to see that she was a young and beautiful girl. It was Haydee.

'Madam,' said the President, 'you say you were a witness when Ali Tebelin died, and that you can tell us what happened to his wife and daughter.'

'Yes.'

'Who are you?'

She drew herself up proudly. 'I am Haydee, the daughter of Ali Tebelin, Pacha of Janina.'

For a moment, there was no sound but the startled drawing-in of breath. Then the President looked hard at Haydee.

'Can you prove this?' he asked.

'I can,' said Haydee. 'Here is my birth certificate and here is another certificate, the certificate of the sale of my mother and myself as slaves.'

She handed these documents, which were written in Arabic, to the President. He saw that the seals were genuine. Then an interpreter came forward to read the papers to the House. When he had translated the birth certificate, he read out the sale certificate :

I, El Kobbir, slave merchant to his Highness the Sultan of Turkey, confirm that I have this day sold to the Count of Monte Cristo, in exchange for an emerald valued at eight hundred thousand francs, the young slave named Haydee, daughter of the late Prince Ali Tebelin, Pacha of Janina. This slave was sold to me, with her mother, for four hundred thousand francs, by a French colonel in the service of Prince Ali Tebelin, named Fernand Mondego. Her mother died on arrival at Constantinople.

                                                                                                          Signed-----El Kobbir

Next to the merchant's signature, there was the seal of the Sultan of Turkey.

The President now spoke to the Count Morcerf.

'Do you recognise this lady as the daughter of Ali Tebelin?'

'No, I do not,' said Morcerf, standing up. 'This must be a plot, made up by my enemies, to ruin me.'

Haydee, who had not noticed Morcerf before he stood up, now looked at him and said, 'You say you do not know me, but fortunately I know you. You are Fernand Mondego, the French officer who commanded the troops of my noble father! It is you who surrendered the fort of Janina! It is you who came back from the Sultan with a false message, saying that my father was pardoned! It is you who killed my father! It is you who ordered the soldiers to kill Selim! It is you who sold my mother and me to the merchant, El Kobbir! Assassin ! Assassin ! Assassin ! You have still your master's blood on your brow ! Look, gentlemen, all!'

Haydee pointed to him and all eyes were turned on the Count Morcerf's forehead. He himself passed his hand across his brow, as if he felt Ali Tebelin's blood still upon it.

'You recognise the Count Morcerf as the officer Fernand Mondego?' asked the President.

'Indeed I do!' replied Haydee. 'After my father's death, my mother told me to look well at that man. She said to me, " You were free; you had a beloved father; you would have been almost a queen. That man has made you a slave. He has murdered your father. He has sold us into misery. Look at him! Look well at his right hand. It has a large scar. If you forget his face, you will always know him by that hand, into which have fallen, one by one, the golden coins of the merchant, El Kobbir!" Let him say now, if he does not recognise me.'

Every word she spoke fell like a dagger on Morcerf. He tried to hide his scarred hand inside his coat.

'Count Morcerf,' said the President, 'would you like us to continue with this inquiry? Do you wish to answer the charges made by this young lady?'

'No,' said Morcerf.

'Then she has spoken the truth?'

Morcerf said nothing. He tore open his coat which seemed to stifle him, and he ran out of the room like a madman.

'Gentlemen,' the President said, 'do you find the Count guilty?'

'Yes,' cried the members, 'Guilty! Guilty!'.

When the judgement had been passed, Haydee drew her veil over her face and bowed to the President and the members of the House. Then she left the room without saying another word.