Conspiracy between Danglars and Fernand Mondego

The conspiracy between Danglars and Fernand Mondego was the secret alliance that produced the anonymous denunciation letter which sent Edmond Dantes to the Chateau d'If, setting the entire plot of The Count of Monte Cristo in motion. Danglars, the supercargo of the Pharaon, and Fernand, a Catalan fisherman who loved Dantes' betrothed Mercedes, each had separate motives for destroying Dantes, but they acted together in a single, decisive act of betrayal. Their collaboration, forged in a moment of shared jealousy and ambition, created the false accusation of Bonapartist conspiracy that destroyed Dantes' life and set the stage for his eventual return as the Count of Monte Cristo.

The Conspirators and Their Motives

Danglars, the Pharaon's supercargo, was a man of twenty-five or twenty-six, of unprepossessing countenance, obsequious to his superiors and insolent to his subordinates, and as much disliked by the crew as Edmond Dantes was beloved by them. He resented Dantes' imminent promotion to captain, a position that would have given Dantes authority over him. Fernand Mondego, a tall, strapping Catalan with a red complexion and fierce air, was consumed by his unrequited love for Mercedes, who had declared that she loved Edmond Dantes and would marry no other. Fernand had told Mercedes that if Dantes were dead, he would die too, and had threatened to cross his Catalan knife with Dantes' dirk. These two men, each nursing a private grievance, found common cause at the arbor of La Reserve on the eve of Dantes' betrothal feast.

The Formation of the Plot

The conspiracy was conceived and executed at La Reserve, where Danglars and Caderousse were drinking under an arbor when Fernand, having just been rejected by Mercedes, rushed past in despair. Danglars called him over, and as Caderousse grew increasingly drunk, Danglars proposed the scheme. He suggested that if someone were to denounce Dantes to the king's procureur as a Bonapartist agent, the marriage would be prevented and Dantes imprisoned. When Fernand eagerly offered to denounce Dantes himself, Danglars pointed out the danger: Fernand would have to sign his declaration and be confronted with the accused. Instead, Danglars, writing with his left hand to disguise his handwriting, composed the denunciation letter himself. The letter stated that Edmond Dantes, mate of the Pharaon, had been entrusted by Murat with a letter for the usurper and by the usurper with a letter for the Bonapartist committee in Paris, and that proof would be found upon him. Danglars then folded the letter, addressed it "To the king's attorney," and threw it into a corner of the arbor, pretending it was a jest. After Danglars and Caderousse left, Fernand picked up the crumpled paper and put it into his pocket, then rushed out of the arbor towards Pillon, thus completing the delivery of the fatal letter.

The Execution and Consequences

The denunciation letter reached the office of the king's attorney, and since the procureur was absent, his secretary opened it and ordered Dantes' arrest. Dantes was seized at his wedding feast at La Reserve, just as he was about to marry Mercedes. The arrest was carried out by a magistrate with four soldiers, and Dantes was taken to the Palais de Justice, where he was examined by the deputy procureur, Gerard de Villefort. Villefort, recognizing that the letter was addressed to his own father, Noirtier, a known Bonapartist, burned the letter to protect his career and condemned Dantes to indefinite imprisonment in the Chateau d'If. Dantes remained there for fourteen years, unaware of the identity of his accusers until the Abbe Faria helped him deduce that Danglars had written the letter and Fernand had posted it. The conspiracy thus achieved its immediate goal: Dantes was removed, Fernand eventually married Mercedes, and Danglars rose to become a wealthy banker. But the act also created the engine of their eventual destruction, for Dantes, transformed into the Count of Monte Cristo, returned to Paris to exact a methodical and devastating revenge on both men.