The Count of Monte Cristo (Unabridged Penguin) by Alexandre Dumas

money back in your pocket – unless, of course, our neighbour needs some for himself, in which case it is at his disposal.’
    ‘Indeed not, my boy,’ said Caderousse. ‘I need nothing and, thank God, my business holds body and soul together. Keep your money, keep it; one can never have too much. Still, I am obliged for your offer, as much as if I had taken advantage of it.’
    ‘It was well meant,’ said Dantès.
    ‘I don’t doubt that it was. So, I learn that you are on good terms with Monsieur Morrel, sly one that you are?’
    ‘Monsieur Morrel has always been very good to me,’ Dantès answered.
    ‘In that case, you were wrong to refuse dinner with him.’
    ‘What do you mean: refuse dinner?’ Old Dantès asked. ‘Did he invite you to dinner?’
    ‘Yes, father,’ said Edmond, smiling at his father’s astonishment on learning of this high honour.
    ‘So why did you refuse, son?’ the old man asked.
    ‘So that I could come straight back here, father,’ the young man answered. ‘I was anxious to see you.’
    ‘He must have been put out by it, that good Monsieur Morrel,’ Caderousse remarked. ‘When one hopes to be made captain, it is a mistake to get on the wrong side of one’s owner.’
    ‘I explained the reason for my refusal and I hope he understood it.’
    ‘Even so, to be promoted to captain, one must flatter one’s bosses a little.’
    ‘I expect to become captain without that,’ Dantès retorted.
    ‘So much the better! All your old friends will be pleased for you and I know someone over there, behind the Citadelle de Saint-Nicholas, who will not be unhappy about it, either.’
    ‘Mercédès?’ the old man said.
    ‘Yes, father,’ Dantès resumed. ‘And, with your permission, now that I’ve seen you, now that I know you are well and that you have all you need, I would like to ask your leave to go and visit Les Catalans.’
    ‘Go, child,’ Old Dantès said. ‘And may God bless you as much in your wife as He has blessed me in my son.’
    ‘His wife!’ said Caderousse. ‘Hold on, old man, hold on! As far as I know, she’s not that yet!’
    ‘No,’ Edmond replied, ‘but in all probability she soon will be.’
    ‘Never mind,’ said Caderousse, ‘never mind. You have done well to hurry back, my boy.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Because Mercédès is a beautiful girl, and beautiful girls are never short of admirers, especially that one: there are dozens of them after her.’
    ‘Really?’ Edmond said with a smile, not entirely concealing a hint of unease.
    ‘Oh, yes,’ Caderousse continued, ‘and some with good prospects, too. But, of course, you are going to be a captain, so she’ll be sure not to refuse you.’
    ‘By which you mean,’ Dantès said, smiling, but barely concealing his anxiety, ‘that if I were not a captain…’
    ‘Ah! Ah!’ said Caderousse.
    ‘Come, now,’ the young man said. ‘I have a better opinion than you of women in general, and Mercédès in particular, and I am persuaded that, whether I were a captain or not, she would remain faithful to me.’
    ‘So much the better! When one is going to get married, it is always a good thing to have faith. But enough of that. Take my advice, lad: don’t waste any time in telling her of your return and letting her know about your aspirations.’
    ‘I am going at once,’ said Edmond.
    He embraced his father, nodded to Caderousse and left.
    Caderousse stayed a moment longer, then, taking his leave of the elder Dantès, followed the young man down and went to find Danglars who was waiting for him on the corner of the Rue Senac.
    ‘Well?’ Danglars asked. ‘Did you see him?’
    ‘I have just left them,’ said Caderousse.
    ‘And did he talk about his hope of being made captain?’
    ‘He spoke of it as though he had already been appointed.’
    ‘Patience!’ Danglars said. ‘It seems to me that he is in rather too much of a hurry.’
    ‘Why, it seems Monsieur Morrel has given him his word.’
    ‘So he is