THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (CHAPS 74-75)

1001 Adventure and Mystery Stories For The Road

Jon Hagadorn

Arts, Fiction

4.7 • 520 Ratings

🗓️ 22 October 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

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Summary

Afterward, Villefort finds Franz and asks him to come to the Villefort residence very shortly, where he will be briefed on the situation with Valentine. When Franz does arrive there, Villefort tells him that Valentine has no objections to the match, that it was the dying wish of both Villefort grandparents that Franz be married to Valentine, and that the marriage can take place that day, as soon as Franz brings along as witnesses Albert and Chauteau-Renaud. Franz agrees to all this, returns with his witnesses in thirty minutes, and the notary stands before Franz, Valentine, and the Villefort family, ready to read out the contract to be signed. Villefort's wife, present in the corner of the room, looks especially pale during the proceedings.
Franz is ready to move forward in the marriage, and does not know that anything might be standing in his way. It is important to note that Franz and Valentine barely know one another, and that their "romance," therefore, has been almost entirely arranged, so as to benefit both families. Villefort is largely responsible for this. Such a marriage stands in sharp contrast to the genuine romance between Young Morrel and Valentine, and to the long-ago romance that Dantes and Mercedes once shared.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back, everyone to 1001 Stories for the Road.
0:27.3	This is your host and storyteller, John Haggard.
0:30.2	As we continue with the Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandra Dumas.
0:35.5	Today, chapter 74 and 75, beginning with Chapter 74, the Villefort
0:42.2	Family Vault. Two days after, a considerable crowd was assembled, towards 10 o'clock in the morning,
0:50.9	around the door of Nassur de Villefort's house, and a long file of morning
0:55.4	coaches and private carriages extended along the Foburg Saint-Honneret and the Rue de la Pippinier.
1:02.0	Among them was one of a very singular form, which appeared to have come from a distance.
1:07.3	It was a kind of covered wagon, painted black, and was one of the first to arrive.
1:12.7	Inquiry was made, and it was ascertained that, by a strange coincidence,
1:17.3	this carriage contained the corpse of the Marquis de Saint-Moran,
1:20.6	and that those who had come thinking to attend one funeral would follow two.
1:25.9	Their number was great.
1:30.4	The Marquis de Saint-Morin, one of the most zealous and faithful dignitaries of Louis X and King Charles Ten, had preserved a great
1:35.7	number of friends, and these added to the purstages whom the usages of society gave Billaport
1:41.1	acclaim on formed a considerable body.
1:51.0	Due information was given to the authorities, and permission obtained that the two funerals should take place at the same time. A second hearse, decked with the same
1:56.0	funereal pomp, was brought to M. DeVillefort's door, and the coffin removed into it from the
2:01.5	post wagon. The two bodies were to be interred in the cemetery of Paralachés, where
2:07.2	Monsieur de Villefort had long since had a tomb prepared for the reception of his family.
2:12.5	The remains of poor Reney was already deposited there, and now, after ten years of separation, her father
2:19.3	and mother were to be reunited with her. The Parisians, always curious, always affected by funereal
	...

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