The Count of Monte Cristo Chapter 89

A Nocturnal Interview

• Mercédès is now really scared about this duel.
• She visits the Count, and the Count shows her the document Fernand sent the police so many years before, falsely accusing Edmond Dantès of a crime he did not commit.
• Mercédès is completely undone, she pleads for the Count's forgiveness, and she clearly still loves Edmond Dantès with every fiber of her being.
• She asks the Count to spare her son's life at the duel the next day.
• The Count is melted by Mercédès display of love and affection, and he agrees to spare her son's life. But the duel must go on (it is a question of honor and reputation), and so the only possible solution is that he, the Count, must die the next day.