The Count of Monte Cristo · Chapter
The Inquiry explained
M.
What happens
M. de Villefort, seeking to uncover the Count of Monte Cristo's secrets, initiates an investigation through M. de Boville. The inquiry leads to two aliases: the Abbé Busoni and Lord Wilmore. Villefort's agent visits both, but each encounter reveals only carefully crafted deceptions. Busoni speaks of Monte Cristo's charity and a single enemy, Lord Wilmore, while Wilmore claims a deadly feud with Monte Cristo. After the visits, Lord Wilmore removes his disguise to reveal himself as the Count of Monte Cristo, leaving Villefort unsettled but temporarily at ease.
Themes in this chapter
Identity and Transformation
Monte Cristo's use of multiple personas (Busoni, Wilmore) to manipulate the investigation highlights his mastery of disguise and deception.
Betrayal and Deception
Villefort's secret inquiry and Monte Cristo's elaborate counter-deceptions underscore the pervasive mistrust and hidden agendas.
Characters to notice
- Gérard de Villefort
Orders the investigation into Monte Cristo's past, driven by unease after the Auteuil dinner.
- Edmond Dantès
Appears under the aliases Abbé Busoni and Lord Wilmore, skillfully deceiving Villefort's agent.
- Abbé Busoni
One of Monte Cristo's personas, portrayed as a charitable Sicilian priest living modestly in Paris.
- Lord Wilmore
Another alias of Monte Cristo, depicted as an eccentric Englishman with a grudge against the count.
- M. de Boville
Former prison inspector now in police, tasked with gathering information on Monte Cristo.
Key passages
“M. de Villefort kept the promise he had made to Madame Danglars, to endeavor to find out how the Count of Monte Cristo had discovered the history of the house at Auteuil.”
Villefort followed through on his vow to Madame Danglars by investigating how Monte Cristo learned about the Auteuil house.
Sets the chapter's motive: Villefort's personal and professional curiosity.
“The person called the Count of Monte Cristo is an intimate acquaintance of Lord Wilmore, a rich foreigner, who is sometimes seen in Paris and who is there at this moment; he is also known to the Abbé Busoni, a Sicilian priest, of high repute in the East, where he has done much good.”
The investigation reveals Monte Cristo is connected to Lord Wilmore, a wealthy foreigner, and Abbé Busoni, a respected Sicilian priest.
First clue linking Monte Cristo to his aliases.
“Lord Wilmore, having heard the door close after him, returned to his bedroom, where with one hand he pulled off his light hair, his red whiskers, his false jaw, and his wound, to resume the black hair, dark complexion, and pearly teeth of the Count of Monte Cristo.”
After the agent left, Lord Wilmore removed his disguise to reveal himself as the Count of Monte Cristo.
Climactic reveal that Monte Cristo orchestrated the entire inquiry.