8th of September

The 8th of September marks a decisive turning point in the life of Giovanni Bertuccio, the Corsican steward who later serves the Count of Monte Cristo. On this date, precisely three months and five days after the murder of the jeweller Joannes at the Pont du Gard inn, Bertuccio, who had been arrested and imprisoned for that crime, received a visit from the Abbe Busoni — in reality the Count of Monte Cristo in disguise. This encounter, which took place in the prison at Nimes, transformed Bertuccio's fate and set him on the path toward his eventual role as the count's trusted steward.

The Prison Visit and Confession

Bertuccio had been languishing in prison for two months, resigned to what seemed his inevitable condemnation for the murder of Joannes, when the Abbe Busoni presented himself at the prison doors. The abbe stated that he understood one of the prisoners wished to speak to him, having learned at Marseilles the particulars of Bertuccio's imprisonment. Bertuccio, who had never ventured to believe he would see the abbe again, welcomed him with eagerness and related the whole of what he had seen and heard at the inn. When he came to the history of the diamond, he felt nervous, but to his inexpressible astonishment, the abbe confirmed it in every particular and seemed to place entire belief in all he said. Won by the abbe's mild charity and seeing that he was acquainted with all the habits and customs of Corsica, Bertuccio besought him to receive his confession under the seal of which he recounted the Auteuil affair in all its details, as well as every other transaction of his life.

The Consequences of the Confession

Bertuccio's voluntary confession of the assassination at Auteuil proved to the abbe that he had not committed the murder of which he stood accused. When the abbe quitted him, he bade Bertuccio be of good courage and to rely upon his doing all in his power to convince the judges of his innocence. The rigors of Bertuccio's imprisonment were alleviated by many trifling though acceptable indulgences, and he was told that his trial was to be postponed to the following assizes. In the interim, providence caused the apprehension of Caderousse, who was discovered in some distant country and brought back to France, where he made a full confession, refusing to make the fact of his wife's having suggested and arranged the murder any excuse for his own guilt. Caderousse was sentenced to the galleys for life, and Bertuccio was immediately set at liberty.

The Recommendation to Monte Cristo

After his release, the Abbe Busoni took an evident interest in all that concerned Bertuccio. He warned Bertuccio that his mode of life as a smuggler would be the ruin of him and advised him to give it up. When Bertuccio asked how he was to maintain himself and his poor sister, the abbe replied that a person whose confessor he was, and who entertained a high regard for him, had applied to him to procure a confidential servant. The abbe asked if Bertuccio would like such a post, and when Bertuccio eagerly accepted, he gave him a letter of introduction. Bertuccio swore solemnly that the abbe should never have reason to repent his recommendation, but the abbe stopped him, saying he knew and admired the Corsican nature too well to fear him. The abbe then rapidly wrote the few lines that Bertuccio brought to the Count of Monte Cristo, upon receipt of which the count deigned to receive Bertuccio into his service. Bertuccio later proudly asked whether the count had ever had cause to repent having done so, and the count replied that he had not, taking pleasure in saying that Bertuccio had served him faithfully.