LI. The Army of the Reserves.
LII. The Trial.
LIII. In which Amelie Keeps Her Word.
LIV. The Confession.
LV. Invulnerable.
LVI. Conclusion.

AN INTRODUCTORY WORD TO THE READER

Just about a year ago my old friend, Jules Simon, author of "Devoir,"
came to me with a request that I write a novel for the "Journal pour
Tous." I gave him the outline of a novel which I had in mind. The
subject pleased him, and the contract was signed on the spot.

The action occurred between 1791 and 1793, and the first chapter opened
at Varennes the evening of the king's arrest.

Only, impatient as was the "Journal pour Tous," I demanded a fortnight
of Jules Simon before beginning my novel. I wished to go to Varennes; I
was not acquainted with the locality, and I confess there is one thing I
cannot do; I am unable to write a novel or a drama about localities with
which I am not familiar.

In order to write "Christine" I went to Fontainebleau; in writing "Henri
III." I went to Blois; for "Les Trois Mousquetaires" I went to Boulogne
and Bethune; for "Monte-Cristo" I returned to the Catalans and the
Chateau d'If; for "Isaac Laquedem" I revisited Rome; and I certainly
spent more time studying Jerusalem and Corinth from a distance than if I
had gone there.

This gives such a character of veracity to all that I write, that the
personages whom I create become eventually such integral parts of the
places in which I planted them that, as a consequence, many end by
believing in their actual existence. There are even some people who
claim to have known them.

In this connection, dear readers, I am going to tell you something
in confidence--only do not repeat it. I do not wish to injure honest
fathers of families who live by this little industry, but if you go to
Marseilles you will be shown there the house of Morel on the Cours, the
house of Mercedes at the Catalans, and the dungeons of Dantes and Faria
at the Chateau d'If.

When I staged "Monte-Cristo" at the Theatre-Historique, I wrote to
Marseilles for a plan of the Chateau d'If, which was sent to me. This
drawing was for the use of the scene painter. The artist to whom I had
recourse forwarded me the desired plan. He even did better than I would
have dared ask of him; he wrote beneath it: "View of the Chateau d'If,
from the side where Dantes was thrown into the sea."

I have learned since that a worthy man, a guide attached to the Chateau
d'I