THE HUNDRED DAYS
Dante was taken away by the policeman, but instead of being set free, he was pushed into a cold, dingy room. What could this mean? Villefort had promised him his freedom, and here he was, still a prisoner.
Towards evening a policeman came and opened the door of the room.
'Come with me!' he said pushing Dante before him. Dante was put into a carriage and, after a short journey, was transferred to a rowing boat.
'Where are you taking me?' he asked.
'You will soon know,' was the only answer.
The boat left the harbour and pulled out to sea. The night was dark and Dante screwed up his eyes to see where they were going.
After a little while there was a scrapinng noise. The boat shuddered and stopped. They had reached an island in the sea. Still Dante did not realize where he was. Then he raised his eyes and saw above him in the darkness, the outline of the Chateau d'If.
Quickly Dante was rushed into the prison, down a flight of stairs and into a dark cell.
'It's all a mistake,' he cried, 'a terrible mistake!'
Then he thought of Mercedes waiting anxiously for his return. He must get word to her. He turned to the jailer.
'I am not a rich man,' he said, 'so I cannot offer you a great sum of money; but if you will carry a message to Marseilles and give it to a young girl named Mercedes, I will give you a hundred crowns.'
But the jailer would not listen to him.
'For that small sum,' he said, ' I might lose my job.'
Dante pleaded and threatened, but in vain. All he had for answer was the clanging of the cell door and the turning of the key in the lock.
While Dante was safely locked away in the Chateau d'If, Villefort hurried to Paris to warn King Louis XVIII of Napoleon's plan to land in France. When he was with the king, news arrived that Napoleon had already landed on the south coast.
During his stay in Paris Villefort had a visit from his Bonapartist father, Monsieur Noirtier. The Assistant State Prosecutor was not at all pleased to see the old gentleman. He hoped that no one had seen Monsieur Noirtier enter his hotel, or he did not wish to be connected with the Bonapartists in any way. He wanted Noirtier to leave as soon as possible.
So he told his father that all Bonapartists were being arrested and imprisoned. He advised his father to go into hiding for, if he stayed in Paris, he might be caught and put to death. His father looked at him, an expression of gratitude on his face.
'Thank you, my son,' he said. 'I feel that you have saved my life. One day, when Napoleon is back in power, I may be able to help you in return.'
Villefort's warning did not help the king, and he was forced to flee from France. Napoleon reached Paris and was once again the ruler of the country.
As soon as Napoleon was in power, Monsieur Morrel, the ship-owner, applied for Dante to be released from prison. If Dante was imprisoned for being a Bonapartist agent, surely now was the time for him to be set free.
But this was not to be, for Villefort was once again in Marseilles. True to his promise Monsieur Noirtier had protected his son. Although Villefort had once been a royalist, he had been allowed to stay in office. All other royalists were removed from their posts. Some were put into prison and some were executed. But this did not happen to Villefort, for his father had saved him. The State Prosecutor, Villefort's superior, was also a royalist. He was sent to prison and was never seen again and Villefort took his place. The Assistant State Prosecutor became the State Prosecutor.
Villefort knew that, if Dante were set free, then all his treachery would be revealed. So he took care to see that the young man remained a prisoner in the Chateau d'If. Whenever Monsieur Morrel came to ask for Dante's freedom, Villefort made promise but did nothing.
Villefort was not the only man who feared Dante's release. Danglars had watched Napoleon's return to power with alarm.
'Now Dante will be released,' he said to himself. 'He will search for me and will take his revenge. I must hide away in another country where he will not find me.'
So he left France and went to live in Spain.
As for Fernand Mondego, he spent all his time with Mercedes trying to win her love. He neither knew nor cared what had become of Dante. He could think only of the day when Mercedes might consent to be his wife.
Very soon, as a soldier, he was called to fight for Napoleon. When he said goodbye to Mercedes, she was very sad.
'If you are killed,' she said, ' I shall be alone in the world.'
Fernand was happy. So long as Dante did not return, Mercedes might one day be his wife.
Napoleon remained in power for a hundred days. Then he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo. As Villefort had hoped, Louis XVIII returned to the throne of France and Monsieur Morrel came no more to ask for Dante's release.
Now all hope was lost. Dante's old father knew that he would never see his son again. His money was finished and the scraps of food which he had been able to beg were gone. He had no spirit and no wish to go on living. Soon after Napoleon's downfall, he died of hunger in the arms of Mercedes, the girl who should have been his son's wife.
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