er, Captain
Joliette discarding his pseudonym and appearing as Albert de Morcerf.
Paris had talked over and wondered at all this for a week, and then had
completely forgotten it, turning its fickle attention to newer and more
engrossing sensations. Albert's marriage and the legacy healed the
breach between Eugenie and the Count of Monte-Cristo, and the young
couple, together with the real Mlle. d' Armilly, had been added to the
happy family in the mansion of the Rue du Helder.

The Viscount Giovanni Massetti had appeared in Paris. Immediately after
his reckless visit to Zuleika in the convent garden and his wild
interview with her there, he had gone to the Count of Monte-Cristo,
avowed his love for Haydee's child and solicited her hand in marriage.
He had been told to wait a year, a period he had passed he scarcely knew
how, but it had been an eternity to him, an eternity fraught with
restless anxiety, with alternations between ardent hope and the depths
of despair. The expiration of his probation found him in the mansion of
the Rue du Helder, renewing his earnest suit with the Count, who had
granted him permission to win his daughter if he could. The young
Italian had at once sought Zuleika, who had welcomed him as her lover
and betrothed. Then a clash had suddenly arisen; Esperance had expressed
his abhorrence of his sister's suitor, had given mysterious hints that
had recalled the half-forgotten Roman scandal, and a separation between
Giovanni and Zuleika had ensued, the former refusing to speak out and
clear himself, pleading his terrible oath of silence. In the course of
his vague, unsatisfactory disclosures, Esperance had unguardedly
mentioned the name of Luigi Vampa, and the Count of Monte-Cristo had
written to the brigand chief, requesting such information as he
possessed in regard to the impenetrable mystery. Vampa's reply had been
a fearful arraignment of the youthful Viscount, but Zuleika could not
believe her lover the depraved and guilty wretch the brigand chief
represented him to be, asserting that there was something yet
unexplained, something that would effectually exculpate him could it be
reached. The Count of Monte-Cristo had at first inclined to the belief
that Massetti was merely the victim of circumstances, of some remarkable
coincidence, but Vampa's letter scattered this belief to the winds and
he demanded that the Viscount should conclusively prove his innocence.
Zuleika had meanwhile banished he