Chapter 27 - Caderousse’s Story

Summary

Edmond Dantès, disguised as an Italian abbé, visits Gaspard Caderousse at his dilapidated inn to extract the full truth behind his imprisonment. Caderousse recounts the tragic fate of Dantès’s father, who died of starvation after refusing charity, and details the crimes of Danglars and Fernand, who orchestrated the denunciation and subsequent betrayal. He further explains how these men rose to wealth and nobility—Danglars as a financier and Fernand as the Comte de Morcerf—while Mercédès married Fernand and raised their son Albert, and Morrel faced ruin. Convinced by Caderousse's sworn testimony, the abbé gifts him the diamond bequeathed by Dantès, worth fifty thousand francs, and departs, leaving Caderousse to wonder if the jewel is a fake.

Characters

• Caderousse — Caderousse, now an impoverished innkeeper, agrees to recount the truth about his friends under the abbé’s promise of secrecy. He details the starvation death of Old Dantès, the ruin of Monsieur Morrel, and the rise of Danglars and Fernand to wealth and nobility. After swearing on a crucifix and the New Testament, he accepts a diamond worth fifty thousand francs from the abbé, then leaves to verify its authenticity at the fair.
• Edmond / Dantès (the abbé, the priest, Monsieur l'Abbé, the stranger) — Disguised as an Italian abbé with an unusual accent, Dantès questions Caderousse about the events leading to his arrest. He listens to the accounts of his father’s death and his friends' betrayals, verifying the truth before gifting Caderousse the diamond intended for his friends and departing the inn.
• La Carconte — La Carconte, Caderousse’s sickly wife, listens in from the staircase during the conversation. After the abbé leaves, she expresses suspicion that the diamond might be fake, suggesting it is a trick to extract secrets, which momentarily destabilizes Caderousse before he rushes to the fair.