The Count of Monte Cristo

Back Forward Menu

Chapter 41. The Presentation.

When Albert found himself alone with Monte Cristo, "My dear count,"
said he, "allow me to commence my services as cicerone by showing you
a specimen of a bachelor's apartment. You, who are accustomed to the
palaces of Italy, can amuse yourself by calculating in how many square
feet a young man who is not the worst lodged in Paris can live. As
we pass from one room to another, I will open the windows to let you
breathe." Monte Cristo had already seen the breakfast-room and the salon
on the ground-floor. Albert led him first to his atelier, which was, as
we have said, his favorite apartment. Monte Cristo quickly appreciated
all that Albert had collected here--old cabinets, Japanese porcelain,
Oriental stuffs, Venetian glass, arms from all parts of the
world--everything was familiar to him; and at the first glance he
recognized their date, their country, and their origin. Morcerf had
expected he should be the guide; on the contrary, it was he who, under
the count's guidance, followed a course of archaeology, mineralogy, and