Chapter 4. Conspiracy (3) Capítulo 4 Conspiración (3) Bölüm 4. Komplo (3)

"Oh, I should wish nothing better than that he would come and seek a quarrel with me." "Yes, and Mercedes! Mercedes, who will detest you if you have only the misfortune to scratch the skin of her dearly beloved Edmond!" "True!" said Fernand.

"No, no," continued Danglars; "if we resolve on such a step, it would be much better to take, as I now do, this pen, dip it into this ink, and write with the left hand (that the writing may not be recognized) the denunciation we propose." And Danglars, uniting practice with theory, wrote with his left hand, and in a writing reversed from his usual style, and totally unlike it, the following lines, which he handed to Fernand, and which Fernand read in an undertone:-- Et Danglars, unissant la pratique à la théorie, écrivit de sa main gauche, et dans une écriture inversée de son style habituel, et totalement différent de celui-ci, les lignes suivantes, qu'il tendit à Fernand, et que Fernand lut à mi-voix :

"The honorable, the king's attorney, is informed by a friend of the throne and religion, that one Edmond Dantes, mate of the ship Pharaon, arrived this morning from Smyrna, after having touched at Naples and Porto-Ferrajo, has been intrusted by Murat with a letter for the usurper, and by the usurper with a letter for the Bonapartist committee in Paris. Proof of this crime will be found on arresting him, for the letter will be found upon him, or at his father's, or in his cabin on board the Pharaon." La preuve de ce crime sera trouvée en l'arrêtant, car la lettre sera trouvée sur lui, ou chez son père, ou dans sa cabine à bord du Pharaon." "Very good," resumed Danglars; "now your revenge looks like common-sense, for in no way can it revert to yourself, and the matter will thus work its own way; there is nothing to do now but fold the letter as I am doing, and write upon it, 'To the king's attorney,' and that's all settled." – Très bien, reprit Danglars ; « maintenant, votre vengeance ressemble à du bon sens, car elle ne peut en aucun cas revenir à vous-même, et la question suivra ainsi son propre chemin ; il n'y a rien à faire maintenant que de plier la lettre comme je le fais, et d'écrire dessus, « Au procureur du roi », et tout est réglé. » And Danglars wrote the address as he spoke.

"Yes, and that's all settled!" exclaimed Caderousse, who, by a last effort of intellect, had followed the reading of the letter, and instinctively comprehended all the misery which such a denunciation must entail. "Yes, and that's all settled; only it will be an infamous shame;" and he stretched out his hand to reach the letter. "Yes," said Danglars, taking it from beyond his reach; "and as what I say and do is merely in jest, and I, amongst the first and foremost, should be sorry if anything happened to Dantes--the worthy Dantes--look here!" — Oui, dit Danglars en le prenant hors de sa portée ; « et comme ce que je dis et fais est simplement en plaisantant, et moi, parmi les premiers et avant tout, devrais être désolé si quelque chose est arrivé à Dantès, le digne Dantès, regardez ici ! And taking the letter, he squeezed it up in his hands and threw it into a corner of the arbor. Et prenant la lettre, il la serra dans ses mains et la jeta dans un coin de la tonnelle.

"All right!" said Caderousse. "Dantes is my friend, and I won't have him ill-used." "And who thinks of using him ill? Certainly neither I nor Fernand," said Danglars, rising and looking at the young man, who still remained seated, but whose eye was fixed on the denunciatory sheet of paper flung into the corner. "In this case," replied Caderousse, "let's have some more wine. I wish to drink to the health of Edmond and the lovely Mercedes." "You have had too much already, drunkard," said Danglars; "and if you continue, you will be compelled to sleep here, because unable to stand on your legs." "I?" said Caderousse, rising with all the offended dignity of a drunken man, "I can't keep on my legs? Why, I'll wager I can go up into the belfry of the Accoules, and without staggering, too!" Tiens, je parie que je peux monter dans le beffroi des Accoules, et sans chanceler aussi ! "Done!" said Danglars, "I'll take your bet; but to-morrow--to-day it is time to return. Give me your arm, and let us go." "Very well, let us go," said Caderousse; "but I don't want your arm at all. Come, Fernand, won't you return to Marseilles with us?" "No," said Fernand; "I shall return to the Catalans." "You're wrong. Come with us to Marseilles--come along." "I will not." "What do you mean? you will not? Well, just as you like, my prince; there's liberty for all the world. Come along, Danglars, and let the young gentleman return to the Catalans if he chooses." Danglars took advantage of Caderousse's temper at the moment, to take him off towards Marseilles by the Porte Saint-Victor, staggering as he went. Danglars profita de l'humeur de Caderousse en ce moment pour l'emmener vers Marseille par la porte Saint-Victor en titubant. When they had advanced about twenty yards, Danglars looked back and saw Fernand stoop, pick up the crumpled paper, and putting it into his pocket then rush out of the arbor towards Pillon.

"Well," said Caderousse, "why, what a lie he told! He said he was going to the Catalans, and he is going to the city. Hallo, Fernand!" "Oh, you don't see straight," said Danglars; "he's gone right enough." "Oh, vous ne voyez pas droit", a déclaré Danglars; « il est allé assez droit. "Well," said Caderousse, "I should have said not--how treacherous wine is!" "Come, come," said Danglars to himself, "now the thing is at work and it will effect its purpose unassisted." « Venez, venez », se dit Danglars, « maintenant la chose est à l'œuvre et elle accomplira son but sans aide. »