M. de Boville

M. de Boville, the inspector of prisons in Marseilles, is a minor but pivotal figure whose financial entanglement with the failing house of Morrel & Son provides the Count of Monte Cristo with the key to unlocking the secrets of Edmond Dantes' imprisonment. A man of despair and self-interest, de Boville's actions inadvertently serve the count's grand design of vengeance.

Position and Financial Crisis

De Boville holds the official post of inspector of prisons, a position he has occupied for fourteen years, giving him custody over the registers of entries and departures as well as special reports on every prisoner. His personal fortune, however, is deeply compromised. He has placed 200,000 francs — the entire dowry of his daughter, who is to be married in a fortnight — in the hands of Morrel & Son. The sum is payable in two halves: one on the 15th of the current month, and the other on the 15th of the following month. When Morrel informs him that if his ship, the Pharaon, does not arrive by the 15th, he will be unable to make the payment, de Boville is thrown into despair, declaring that the situation "looks more like bankruptcy" than a mere suspension of payment.

The Transaction with the Englishman

Into this crisis steps a man of about thirty or thirty-two, dressed in a bright blue frock coat, nankeen trousers, and a white waistcoat, with the appearance and accent of an Englishman. He presents himself as the chief clerk of the house of Thomson & French of Rome, claiming to hold a hundred thousand francs or thereabouts in Morrel's securities and expressing unease at reports of the firm's ruin. After first consulting the mayor, who directs him to de Boville as a larger creditor, the Englishman meets the inspector directly. De Boville, in a state of utter despair, confesses that he considers his 200,000 francs lost. The Englishman then offers to buy the debt at face value, producing a bundle of bank-notes that might have been twice the sum. De Boville, astonished, warns that the buyer will likely not realize six percent of the sum, but the Englishman dismisses this, stating that the house of Thomson & French may have "some motive to serve in hastening the ruin of a rival firm." The Englishman asks for a brokerage fee, but instead of a monetary commission, he requests access to the prison registers to learn particulars of a former prisoner, the Abbe Faria.

Revelation of Dantes' Fate

Once alone with the registers, the Englishman — who is, of course, the Count of Monte Cristo in disguise — easily finds the entries for Faria. But his true interest lies elsewhere. He turns the pages until he reaches the deposition concerning Edmond Dantes. There he finds everything arranged in due order: the accusation, the examination, Morrel's petition, and M. de Villefort's marginal notes. He quietly folds up the accusation — the very letter written by Danglars under the arbor of La Reserve — and places it in his pocket. Reading the examination, he notes that the name of Noirtier is not mentioned. He then peruses Morrel's application, dated 10th April 1815, in which, by the deputy procureur's advice, Morrel exaggerated Dantes' services to the imperial cause — services which Villefort's certificates rendered indispensable. The count sees through the whole scheme: this petition to Napoleon, kept back by Villefort, had become under the second restoration a terrible weapon against Dantes. He finds the final note in the register, written in Villefort's own hand: "Edmond Dantes. An inveterate Bonapartist; took an active part in the return from the Island of Elba. To be kept in strict solitary confinement, and to be closely watched and guarded." Beneath it, in another hand, is written: "See note above — nothing can be done." The count compares the writing and confirms that the incriminating note is in Villefort's handwriting.

Significance and Aftermath

De Boville, absorbed in his own relief at recovering his money, pays no attention to the Englishman's actions. He is reading his newspaper, Le Drapeau Blanc, and does not see the count fold up and pocket the accusation. Even if he had, the inspector is so grateful for the salvation of his 200,000 francs that he would not have opposed the count's actions. The transaction is completed: de Boville draws up the assignment of his debt, and the Englishman counts out the bank-notes. De Boville thus disappears from the narrative, his function fulfilled. He has served as the unwitting instrument through which Monte Cristo gains documentary proof of the conspiracy against Dantes, confirming the roles of Danglars, Fernand, and Villefort. The count's final letter to Maximilian Morrel, written at the end of the novel, mentions that the fortune reverting to Valentine from her father, now a madman, is to be given to the poor, a final echo of the financial machinations that de Boville's desperation once set in motion.