The Countdown of Monte Cristo

The Death of Old Dantès (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 26 – Part 13)

The abbé presses for the truth, and Caderousse gives it with a grim pause: Edmond’s father did not die of illness, but of starvation. The words strike like a thunderbolt—too cruel to believe, and yet undeniable. A man left to waste away in grief and hunger, while others lived steps away. The abbé recoils in outrage, unable to contain his horror at such neglect. At this moment, another voice interrupts: La Carconte, pale and haggard, descends the stairs. From her post on the steps, she has heard everything, and cuts in bitterly—Caderousse should never have spoken at all. What use is it, she implies, to dig up the past? But the abbé’s questioning has only just begun.
 
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The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years.

The Inheritance Divided (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 26 – Part 12)

The abbé continues Edmond’s final instructions.
The diamond, he says, was to be sold and its value divided into five equal shares: for Caderousse, for Danglars, for Fernand, for Mercédès—and for Edmond’s father. But the old man is gone, and the mention of his death shakes Caderousse with conflicting passions. The priest presses further, asking how the elder Dantès died. Caderousse, his voice thick with guilt and sorrow, admits the truth: the poor man had wasted away, abandoned and starving, broken by grief and neglect. Each word drags Edmond’s memory closer, and the abbé’s eyes linger, measuring Caderousse’s story against the weight of hidden knowledge.
 
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The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years.

The Diamond Revealed (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 26 – Part 11)

The abbé places temptation directly before Caderousse.
From his pocket he draws a small black box—and inside, a glittering diamond, worth fifty thousand francs. Caderousse can scarcely breathe, his eyes locked on the stone as if it could already be his.
The priest explains: the diamond was left in trust. Dantès had once counted four loyal friends, and wished the stone to be shared among them—or given whole to whichever among them proved most worthy. He names the first: Caderousse. He names another: Danglars. And then, even his rival, Fernand. Each name strikes Caderousse with visible unease, as if ghosts have returned to judge him.
 
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The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years.

The Diamond of Dantès (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 26 – Part 10)

The abbé presses further into the mystery of Edmond Dantès’ imprisonment.
He reveals that even on his deathbed, Edmond swore before God that he never knew why he was arrested. In his final wish, he begged the abbé to clear his name, to remove any stain from his memory.
Then comes a revelation: a wealthy Englishman, once Edmond’s fellow prisoner, left him a diamond of immense value as repayment for kindness in captivity. Instead of using it to bribe his jailers, Edmond had preserved it, believing it might one day give him a future.
Across the table, Caderousse grows heavier with gloom as the abbé’s steady gaze fixes on him, unrelenting.
 
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The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years.

The Fate of Dantès (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 26 – Part 9)

The abbé delivers the cruelest truth: Edmond Dantès is dead.
He tells Caderousse that he died in prison, hopeless and broken, before even reaching thirty.
Caderousse, stricken, wipes at his brow and his eyes with his red handkerchief. His voice breaks as he murmurs that he has sincerely lamented Edmond’s fate, swearing that once-envied good fortune had turned to tragedy.
But the abbé watches in silence, his steady gaze fixed on the innkeeper’s every reaction. His words are as much a probe as they are a revelation.
 
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The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years.

The Name of Dantès (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 26 – Part 8)

The abbé’s words strike at the heart of memory.
He tells Caderousse that the good are rewarded and the wicked punished—but then presses with a question: did he once know a sailor named Edmond Dantès?
The reaction is immediate. Caderousse’s face flushes as he insists that Edmond was his close friend, his voice rising with urgency. “What has become of poor Edmond?” he demands. “Is he alive? Is he free? Is he happy?”
The priest does not yet answer. He only watches, calm and piercing, as the weight of the name begins to stir old truths.
 
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The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years.

Wine, Honesty, and Old Secrets (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 26 – Part 7)

The abbé’s questions press deeper.
Caderousse admits to once being a tailor, though trade and fortune have both long since vanished. Hoping to please his unusual guest, he produces one of his few remaining bottles of wine, only to find himself under the kind of gaze that strips away excuses.
When asked if he is alone, Caderousse mentions his ailing wife upstairs, but insists that, whatever his poverty, he is at least an honest man. The priest listens, silent and steady, as though weighing the claim against truths only he seems to know.
 
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The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years.

A Stranger Questions Caderousse (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 26 – Part 6)

At the Pont du Gard Inn, the knock at the door stirs up more than dust.
A snarling black dog greets the newcomer, but Caderousse himself rushes to make amends, offering wine and apologies when he realizes the unexpected visitor is a priest. The abbé’s Italian-accented words cut straight to the heart of recognition: he knows Caderousse’s name, his past, even his former address in the Allées de Meilhan.
Why such pointed questions? And what business could a foreign priest possibly have with a ruined innkeeper who thought himself forgotten?
 
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The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years.