The Count of Monte Cristo Chapter 065: A Scene Between Husband and Wife: Morey's Boulevard, Lano's Revolutionary Road

Three young men broke up in the Place Louis XV. Morel walked along the boulevard, Châdo Lenoir took the revolutionary road, and Debray walked toward the docks.

Morrel and Châdo Lenolds were probably going to the "hearth", as they said in their sumptuously worded speeches on the podium of the House or in the neat scripts written at the Riccione Theatre; de Bree was not. When he reached the Louvre, he turned to the left and sped across The Place Carochar, across Rue Duque, into Mickdrie Road, and arrived at the same time as Monsieur Villefort's carriage. The baroness's carriage did not arrive earlier than he had to take Mr. and Mrs. Villefort to St. Honoror's Road before they could take her home. Debray, as if he was familiar with everything here, first went into the vestibule of the house, threw the reins to a servant, and then returned to the car door to pick up Madame Tenglar and reached out to lead her to her room. When the door closed and there were only two people left in the vestibule, Debray and the Baroness, he asked, "What's wrong with you, Emina?" The count told a story, to be more precise, a bizarre story, why are you so excited? ”

"Because I'm in a bad mood tonight, my friend." The Baroness said.

"No, Emina," replied Debray, "you can't convince me that. Because you were in a good mood when you first arrived at the Count's house. Of course Mr. Rowe, Mr. Tenglar, is a little unpleasant, but I know you have always ignored his bad temper. Someone must have offended you. Tell me, you know very well that I will not let anyone offend you. ”

"You are mistaken, Lucien, I assure you," replied Madame Tenglar, "that I am telling the truth, that he did have a bad temper today, but I did not take him seriously at all. ”

Madame Tenglar was clearly undergoing a kind of nervous stimulus that women often could not explain themselves, otherwise, as Debray had guessed, there must be some secret behind her agitation that she did not want to reveal to anyone.

He was well aware of the emotionally capricious nature of women, so he stopped asking questions and waited for a more appropriate opportunity, either to ask her again or to listen to her take the initiative to explain. The Baroness met her confidant maid, Aunt Cornelie, at the door of her room. "What is the lady doing?" she asked.

"She practiced all night and then went to bed." Connieri replied.

"But I seem to hear her playing the piano."

"That's Miss Rosie Amere, and she's still playing the piano after she goes to bed."

"Well," said Madame Tenglar, "come and remove my makeup." ”

They went into the bedroom. Debray was lying in a large sleeping chair when Mrs. Tenglar took Connery into her dressing room.

"My dear Mr. Debray," said Madame Tenglar behind the curtain, "you always complain that Eugenie does not speak to you at all. ”

"Madame," said Lucien, who was toying with a puppy that recognized him and was enjoying his caresses, "I am not alone in this complaint. I seem to remember hearing Marsef say the same thing, that he could not bring a word out of his fiancée's mouth. ”

"Really," said Madame Tenglar, "but I think that one day this will all change, and you will see her come into your office." ”

"My office?"

"I mean the minister.")

"What are you here for?"

"Come and ask the National Theatre to give her a letter of appointment. Really, I've never seen anyone as obsessed with music as she is. It's ridiculous for a high-society lady to be like this. ”

Debray smiled. "Well," he said, "if you and the Baron agree, let her come, and we can try to give her a letter of appointment, but she is a genius, and the little reward we have given is so pitiful." ”

"Go, Cornelly," said Madame Tenglar, "I don't need you here." ”

Conniery obeyed the order and walked out. After a while Madame Tenglar came out in a brightly coloured, baggy nightgown and sat down beside Debre. Then, with a thoughtful look, she began to stroke the long-haired, big-eared puppy. Lucien looked at her silently for a moment. "Come, Emina," he said after a while, "tell me frankly, you're troubled by something in your heart, aren't you?" ”

"Nothing," replied the Baroness. But she was almost out of breath, and she stood up and walked over to a large mirror. "The way I look tonight is terrible isn't it?" She said.

Debray stood up with a smile and was about to answer the words with action when the door suddenly opened. Mr. Tenglar appeared, and Debray hurriedly sat down again.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Madame Tenglar turned her head and looked at her husband with a look of consternation that she did not hide at all.

"Good night, ma'am!" The banker said, "Good night, Mr. Debray!" ”

The Baroness also thought that her husband had apologized for the harsh words he had said during the day. So he pretended to be serious and unhappy, ignored him, but turned to Debray. "Talk to me about something, Mr. Debray." She said.

Debray had been slightly disturbed by the visit, but seeing that the Baroness was so calm and self-assured, he returned to normal and picked up a book with a mica-inlaid knife in the middle.

"Excuse me," said the banker, "so that you will be very tired, madame." It was not too early, it was already eleven o'clock, and Mr. Debray lived quite far from here. ”

Debray froze. This is not because there is anything striking about the tone of Mr. Tenglar's speech, which is calm and gentle, but in that calm and gentleness there is a certain unusual firmness, as if it were a sign that tonight he must go against his wife's wishes. The Baroness was also amazed and revealed from the look in her eyes, which would have certainly worked on her husband, but Tenggral had deliberately pretended to be preoccupied with the evening newspaper for the closing price of the bonds, so that the kind of gaze that had been shot at him this time had no effect on him.

"Monsieur Lucien," said the Baroness, "I assure you that I am not sleepy at all. I have so many things to tell you tonight, and you have to listen to me all night, even if you stand and doze off. ”

"I've listened to you, ma'am." Lucien answered quietly.

"My dear Debray," said the banker, "do not beg for self-inflicted hardships, and stay up all night listening to the stupid words of Madame Tenglar, for you will not be able to hear them tomorrow during the day, and tonight, with your permission, I will discuss a little serious matter with my wife." ”

This blow was aimed so accurately that it was like a blow to the head that Lucien and the Baroness took a breath of cool air. They looked at each other with inquiring eyes, as if they were asking each other for help in their counterattack. But their opponent was, after all, the head of the family, and his irresistible will prevailed, and the victory of being a husband was over.

"Don't think I'm driving you away, my dear Debray," Tenglar continued, "Oh no! I don't mean that! But there was an unexpected thing that made me have to ask my wife to talk to me a little bit, I rarely make such a request, I believe you will not think that I have any ill will. ”

Debray whispered something, then gave a salute and walked outside, hitting the door frame in a hurry, like Nadang in the Adali play.

"It's incredible," he said as the door behind him closed, "we often laugh at these husbands, but they can easily gain the upper hand over us." ”

When Lucien had gone, Tenglar sat down on the couch, closed the open book, pretended to be extremely angry, and began to play with the hump dog; but the little thing, because it did not like him as much as it did for Debray, wanted to bite him, and Tenglar grabbed the back of its neck and threw it on a sleeping chair against the opposite wall. The little thing howled in the process of being thrown, but as soon as it reached the chair, it curled up behind the cushion and remained motionless, stunned by this unusual treatment.

"Do you know, Sir," said the Baroness, "that you are progressing?" Usually you were just rude, but tonight you are simply cruel. ”

"That's because my temper today is worse than usual." Tenglar replied.

Emina looked at the banker with extreme contempt. This gaze would have angered the proud Tenglar as usual, but tonight he ignored it.

"What does your bad temper have to do with me?" The Baroness said that her husband's quiet attitude annoyed her. "What does this have to do with me? Your bad temper, take it to your bank. There are staff you pay to hire, go and vent to them. ”

"Madame," replied Tenglar, "your advice is wrong, so I cannot follow it. My bank is my source of wealth, and I don't want to block its flow or disturb its calm. My staff are loyal clerks who make money for me, and if I were to judge them on the basis of the money they earned for me, I wouldn't be too paid to them, so I wouldn't be angry with them. I am angry with those who eat my food, ride my horses, and corrupt my possessions. ”

"Who are those who have corrupted your possessions?" I ask you to be clear, Sir. ”

"Oh, you're relieved! I'm not playing dumb puzzles, you'll see what I mean in a moment. The people who corrupt my family's property are those who dug up my seven hundred thousand francs in an hour. ”

"I don't understand what you mean, sir." The baroness said, and tried desperately to hide her changed tone of voice and flushed face from excitement.

"On the contrary, you know very well," said Tenglar, "and if you have to say that you do not understand, I can tell you that I have just lost seven hundred thousand francs on Spanish bonds." ”

"That's the case," said the Baroness with a sneer from her nose, "that you think I should be responsible for this loss?" ”

"Isn't it?"

"You think it's my fault that you lost seven hundred thousand francs?"

"It's not mine anyway."

"I tell you one last time, Your Excellency," said the Baroness sharply, "that you will never mention the word money to me again. I never heard the word at my parents' house or at my ex-husband's house. ”

"Oh! I believe that because they are not worth a penny at all. ”

"I'm glad I didn't get into that tacky, didn't learn the banking idioms that chattered in my ear from morning to night. The sound of tinkering, counting and counting money was almost annoying to me. I know there's only one voice that's more annoying than that, and that's the voice you speak. ”

"Really!" Tenglar said. "Oh, that's strange to me, because I thought you were interested in my business!"

"Me! Is it that makes you have this thought in your head? ”

"Yourself!"

"Ah! It's true! ”

"Not at all."

"I'd love to know what's going on here?"

"Ah, it's easy to say! In February, you first told me about Haiti's bonds. You say you dreamed of seeing a ship sail into the port of Havre. The ship brought news that a public debt that we thought was hopeless was about to be repaid. I thought that your dream was very premonitionable, so I immediately tried my best to buy a lot of Haitian bonds, and as a result I earned four hundred thousand francs, of which one hundred thousand was given to you truthfully. You can spend that money as much as you want. It's completely at your disposal. In March, the issue of railway construction rights occurred. Three companies requested to build, and each offered the same amount of assurances. You tell me that your instincts, even though you pretend to know nothing about speculation, I think it's the opposite, and I think your instincts are fully used in certain things, well, you tell me, your instincts make you believe that you should give the right to the one called the Southern Company. I bought two-thirds of the shares of that company; as you can foresee, the price of that stock suddenly tripled, and I made a million francs, and from that million I took two hundred and fifty thousand to give you private money. How did you spend all these two hundred and fifty thousand francs? ”

"When will you get to the point?" The Baroness spoke out loud, anger and irritability making her tremble.

"Be patient, ma'am! I'm going to talk about it. ”

"That's luck!"

"In April, when you went to dinner at the Minister's house, you heard a confidential conversation about the events in Spain, expelling Mr. Carlos. I bought some Spanish bonds. The expulsion did happen. It was the day when Charles V was re-ascending the throne, and I earned six hundred thousand francs. Of those six hundred thousand, you took fifty thousand Aiju. The money is yours and you can dispose of it at will, I don't ask, but you received half a million livres this year, and that's true after all. ”

"Well, sir, what happened later?"

"Ah, yes, what else? Well, then things all went bad. ”

"Really, the attitude with which you speak..."

"It's enough to say what I mean, and I just want to be able to do that." Well, three days later, you and Monsieur Debray were talking about politics, and you seemed to think that he had revealed to you something about Mr. Carlos's return to Spain. So I sold all my bonds. As soon as the news spread, the stock market was suddenly chaotic, and I was not selling but simply giving. The next day, the newspaper published that the news was false, and because of this false news, I lost seven hundred thousand francs at once. ”

"So what?"

"How about it! Since I gave you a quarter of the money I earned, I think you should also bear a quarter of my losses. A quarter of the seven hundred thousand francs is seventeen five thousand francs. ”

"Your words are utterly ridiculous, and I don't understand why Mr. Debray was involved in this matter."

"For if you cannot come up with the seventeen-five thousand francs which I have asked for, you will have to borrow them from your friend, and Monsieur Debray is one of yours."

"I don't want to face it!" The Baroness said loudly.

"Oh! Let's not dance, shout, put on a civilized drama, good lady, or I have to tell you that I see Debray here smiling and accepting the half a million livres you counted to him this year, and also telling him that he invented a gamble that even the most shrewd gamblers have never discovered, and that when you win, you don't have to pay the money, and you don't have to take the money out when you lose. ”

The Baroness was furious. "Bastard!" She shouted, "Do you dare to tell me you don't know what you're accusing me of now?" ”

"I didn't say I knew, and I didn't say I didn't know. I'm just asking you to think about how everything I've done in the last four years since we suspended our relationship, and whether it's always been consistent. Shortly after we separated, you suddenly had a whim to instruct you in the study of music with the baritone singer who had become a hit on stage for the first time in the Italian theater, and I was thinking of learning to dance with the very famous female dancer in England. I paid a hundred thousand francs for you and my respective studies. I did not say anything, for we must keep the house at peace, and a hundred thousand francs is not too much to give a noblewoman and a gentleman of high society proper musical education and knowledge of dancing. Well, soon you're tired of singing, and then whimsically want to study diplomacy with the minister's secretary. I'll let you study. You know, as long as you pay for your own tuition, what does it have to do with me? But today I find that you are out of my pocket, and that your study life may cost me seven hundred thousand francs a month. That's it, ma'am! Because it can't go on for this kind of thing anymore. Unless the diplomat can teach for free, then I can tolerate him, otherwise he will not want to step into my house again, you know, ma'am? ”

"Oh, that's too much, sir," Emina said loudly, choking, "you're so vulgar. ”

"But," said Tenglar, "I am glad to see that you are not clever either, and that you have automatically obeyed the maxim 'marry the chicken with the chicken.' ”

"This is an insult to me!"

"You're right. Let's look at the facts first and analyze them calmly and rationally. I have never interfered in your affairs except for your own good, and I hope you will treat me the same way. You say you have no interest in my purse, that's best. You can dispose of your own money bag as you please, but don't try to stuff or hollow me out. Moreover, how do I know if this is a political ruse, that the Minister, annoyed by my position in the opposition and jealous of my general sympathy, colluded with Mr. Debray to try to bankrupt me? ”

"How is this possible?"

"Why is it impossible? Who has ever heard of such a thing? A fake urgent report! That's simply impossible. The news of the two urgent reports was diametrically opposed! It was deliberately teasing me, I'm sure. ”

"Your Excellency," said the Baroness in a low voice, "you do not seem to know that the employee has been dismissed, that they are even going to convict him, and that an order has been issued to arrest him. If he hadn't escaped beforehand, he would have been caught, and his escape would have proved that he was either mad or that he knew he was guilty. It was a misunderstanding. ”

"Yes, this misunderstanding made the fools laugh, kept the minister awake all night, made the minister's secretary blacken a few pieces of paper, but cost me seven hundred thousand francs."

"But, Sir," said Emina suddenly, "if, as you say, all this was caused by Mr. Debre, then why don't you go directly to him and tell me about it!" You blame men, but why only rush women? ”

"Am I familiar with Mr. Debray?" Am I trying to get to know him? Did I ask him to give any advice? Did I believe his nonsense? Am I trying to speculate? No, you did it all, not me. ”

"But, it seems to me, since you have received benefits before..."

Tenglar shrugged. "What a fool to have played a few intrigues and been pretentious as a genius without being used as a talking point by the Parisians!" He said out loud. "You know, even if you can hide your unruly behavior from your husband, it's just a little cleverness, and half of the women in the world will play a little clever." 」 Because in general, husbands are reluctant to face this up. But I don't. I face it squarely, and I always face it. You think you can speak eloquently, and you believe that you have hidden from me. However, in the past sixteen years, you may have concealed a little, but your every move, your mistake, has not once escaped my eyes. The result? As a result, thank me for pretending to be confused, and none of your friends, from Monsieur Villefort to Monsieur Debray, did not tremble in front of me. There is no one who does not regard me as the head of the family, and my only request is that you respect that title, and to be honest, none of them dare to talk about me as much as I talk about them today. I can tolerate you making people think I'm hateful, but I will never allow you to make people think I'm ridiculous, and most importantly, I will never let you ruin my family. ”

The baroness could have barely restrained herself, but as soon as she heard the mention of Villefort's name, her face immediately turned pale, and she jumped up like a spring and straightened her hands as if to drive away a ghost. She took two or three steps closer to her husband, as if to expose the secret he did not know now at once, so that he would not have to go to the trouble of carrying out the obnoxious plan step by step, because every time he had a plan, it was always revealed at once. "Mr. Villefort! What do you mean? ”

"I mean: your ex-husband, Mr. Negani, because he was neither a philosopher nor a banker, and perhaps a philosopher and a banker, after nine months away, found that you were six months pregnant, and when he saw that his opponent was a prosecutor and that there would be no good result in fighting him, he died in sorrow. I was cruel. Not only did I tolerate this, but I also boasted about it, which is why I was successful in business. Why didn't he kill you and kill himself? Because he has no money. My life belongs to my money. Monsieur Debray cost me seven hundred thousand francs, asked him to share in that loss, and we went as usual. Otherwise, let him declare bankruptcy for the sake of the seventeen-five thousand livres, and like all those who declare bankruptcy, he will not appear again. I confess that he is a very cute man when his information is accurate, but when his information is inaccurate, there are fifty better people in the world than him. ”

Madame Danglar's feet were nailed to the place where she stood, but she struggled to accept the final blow. She collapsed in a chair and thought of Villefort, of the dinner, of the series of unfortunate events that had turned her peaceful home into the object of verbal intercourse in recent days. Tenglar didn't even look at her, though she tried to pretend to faint. He said no more words, closed the bedroom door with his hand, and went back to his own room. When Madame Tenglar recovered from that semi-comatose state, she felt as if she had had a nightmare.