Chapter 110 Chapter 110 Indictment

The judge took his seat in silence, and the jurors sat down one after another. M. de Villefort, the object of everyone's attention, might even be said to be the object of admiration, sat in an armchair and looked around with calm eyes.Everyone looked at that serious and stern face in amazement, and his private sadness could not be expressed from his face. Everyone couldn't help feeling a sense of terror when they saw a person who was not moved by human emotions. ’ said the presiding judge, ‘Take the accused. " Hearing these words, everyone's attention became more concentrated, and all eyes were fixed on the door through which Benedetto was about to enter.The door opened and the accused appeared.All present could see the expression on his face. There was no emotion in his face that stops the heart or makes people pale.His two hands are placed beautifully, one hand is pressing the hat, the other is on the opening of the vest, the fingers do not tremble at all, his eyes are calm, even bright.After entering the courtroom, he glanced at the judge and jurors, and then let his eyes rest on the presiding judge and the prosecutor.Next to Andrei sat his lawyer, because Andrei did not have a lawyer himself, his lawyer was appointed by the court, and he seemed to think that this was an insignificant matter for which there was no need to hire a lawyer.The lawyer, a fair-haired youth, was a hundred times more excited than the defendant.

The presiding judge announced the reading of the indictment. The indictment took up a long time. At that time, everyone's attention was almost on Andre, and Andre ignored everyone with the indifference of a Spartan. attention.Villefort's words were more concise and eloquent than ever.He described the whole story of the crime vividly and vividly: the prisoner's previous experience, his changes, and the crimes he committed since childhood, all of which were written by the prosecutor with great effort.Based on this indictment alone, without waiting for the verdict, everyone thought that Benedetto was finished.André listened to the successive charges in Villefort's indictment.M. de Villefort glanced at him from time to time, no doubt he was carrying out his usual psychological offensive on the prisoner, but although he looked at the defendant from time to time, he could not make him bow his head, and the indictment was finally read.

"Defendant," said the presiding judge, "what is your name?" Andre stood up. "Forgive me, Your Excellency," he said in a clear voice, "I see that you have followed the ordinary procedure of a trial, which I shall not be able to comply with. I demand—and will soon prove my demand It is justified - to make an exception. I beg you to allow me to follow a different procedure in answering, willing to answer. All questions you ask. The presiding judge looked at the jurors in amazement, and the jurors turned to the prosecutor.The whole court was silent because of surprise, but Andre remained calm.

"Your age?" said the presiding judge, "will you answer this question?" "This question, like the others, is willing to answer, Your Honor, but will not answer it until the due time." "Your age?" the presiding judge repeated the question. "I am twenty-one, or rather, I shall be twenty-one in a few days, for I was born on the night of September 27, 1817." M. de Villefort, who was busy taking notes, looked up at the date. "Where were you born?" the judge continued. "Adour near Paris." M. de Villefort raised his head a second time, looked at Benedetto as if he had seen the head of Medusa, and his face became pale.Benedetto dabbed his lips with a fine white cotton handkerchief.

"Your Job?" "At first I made counterfeit money," Andrey replied calmly, "then I stole, and more recently I killed people." Angry commotion broke out in the courtroom.The judges were also stunned, and the jurors showed disgusted expressions. It was unexpected that a respectable person could be so brazen.M. de Villefort pressed his hand to his brow, which at first turned white, then turned red, so that at last it was hot to the touch.Then he got up suddenly, looked around in a daze, and tried to catch his breath. "Have you lost anything, Monsieur the Prosecutor?" asked Benedetto with his amiable smile.M. de Villefort made no answer, but sank into his chair.

"And now, defendant, will you give your name?" said the presiding judge. "The cruelty with which you enumerated your charges, the pride with which you pleaded guilty -- the courts will punish you severely, legally and morally, and this is presumably your delay in declaring your The reason for your name is that you want to use your name as a culmination of your pride." "Excellent, Your Excellency, you have read my mind," said Benedetto, in the softest voice and the most polite manner possible. "That is indeed why I ask you to change the procedure of the interrogation. "

The astonishment of the people has reached the point where it cannot be added.The defendant's attitude was no longer deceitful or pompous.Emotional people had a premonition that thunder would burst from the depths of darkness. "Well!" said the presiding judge, "your name?" "I can't tell you my surname, because I don't know what my surname is, but I know my father's name, and I can tell you that." A painful dizziness blinded Villefort.Big drops of sweat rolled down his face, and he grabbed the manuscript paper with trembling hands, "Then, tell your father's name," said the presiding judge.

There was no sound in the huge court, and everyone waited with bated breath. "My father is a prosecutor." Andre replied calmly. "Prosecutor?" said the presiding judge, stunned, not noticing the panic on M. de Villefort's face. "Prosecutor?" "Yes, if you want to know his name, I can tell you—his name is Villefort." The excitement of the people, pent up for so long, was now bursting like thunder from every breast, and the judge had no intention of stopping the tumult.Shouting, insulting, jeering, waving of arms and fists at the expressionless Benedetto, and the running of the bailiffs, as is always the case with every commotion, lasted for five minutes, the judge and the gendarmes. Only then did the court restore silence.In the midst of this commotion, the presiding judge was heard shouting: "Defendant, are you going to tease the court? You are going to be unique in this deteriorating age, and dare to set a precedent of contempt of court before your fellow citizens." ?”

Several people gathered around M. de Villefort, who was almost slumped in his chair, to comfort him, encourage him, express concern and sympathy for him.Everything in the court was orderly again, except for one place where a group of people were commotioning.It is said that a lady passed out, they gave her smelling salts, and now she is awake. During the turmoil, Andre always looked at everyone with a smile, and then, with one hand on the oak railing of the dock, he made a graceful gesture and said: "Gentlemen, God does not allow me to insult the court and do it in this horrible place." They asked my age, and I said it. They asked me where I was born, and I answered. They asked my name, which I couldn't tell because my parents abandoned me. I cannot give my own name, because I have no name at all, but I know my father's. Now, I repeat, my father is M. de Villefort, and I would like to prove it correct.

There was something unquestionable about the young man's attitude, a sense of confidence and a sense of sincerity calming the agitation.Immediately, all eyes were on the prosecutor, who sat motionless like a corpse just struck by lightning. "Gentlemen!" said Andrei, who silenced the room with his voice and manner, "I must show you evidence and explain what I just said. "But," said the presiding judge angrily, "at the preliminary hearing you presented yourself as Benedetto, stated that you were an orphan, and claimed that you were originally from Corsica."

"That's what I said casually, in order to give me the opportunity to publish the fact just now, otherwise someone would have to stop me. I repeat now, I said it on September 27, 1817. I was born in the evening at Ardour. I am the son of M. de Villefort, the prosecutor. I can tell you the details. I was born at 28, rue Fontaine, in a room with red curtains. I My father picked me up, told my mother that I was dead, wrapped me in a swaddle with an 'H' and an 'N' embroidered on it, carried me to the back garden, and buried me alive there .” Those in the court shuddered as they watched the prisoner speak with increasing confidence, while M. de Villefort grew more and more alarmed. "But how do you know these things?" asked the presiding judge. "Let me tell you, Lord Judge. There was a man who had sworn to avenge my father. He had been looking for a chance to kill him. That night, he sneaked into the garden where my father buried me. Hide Behind the bushes, he saw my father bury something in the ground, and at this moment he went up and stabbed him, and then he thought there was a treasure hidden in it. So he opened the ground, but found that I was still alive. The man took me Taken to the foster home, where I was numbered fifty-seven. Three months later, his sister-in-law came to Paris from Logriano and took me away, claiming that I was her son. So, although I was born in Paris, I grew up in Corsica." There was such a silence in the courtroom that, at this moment, people outside might think that there was no one in the courtroom, because there was no sound from inside at that time. "Go on!" said the judge. "Of course," continued Benedetto, "the people who raised me loved me and I could have lived a happy life with them, but my evil nature surpassed what my stepmother instilled in me. Virtue. I became worse and worse until I sinned. One day, when I was cursing God for making me so bad and dooming me to such an unfortunate fate, my stepfather said to me: 'Don't blaspheme, wretch Son! Because God did not have any malice when he gave you life. The sin was done by your father, and he brought you to life and die in hell.' From then on, I no longer cursed God, but cursed my father .for this I have said those things which you condemn, and for this I have filled the court with terror. If these words aggravate my crime, punish me; if you believe, since I landed Since that day, my fate has been miserable, painful and sad, so please forgive me." "But what about your mother?" asked the presiding judge. "My mother thought I was dead, she was innocent. I don't know her name. I don't want to know." At that moment a shrill cry, followed by a sob, uttered from the lady who had once fainted, and the lady was now in a state of violent hysteria.When he was led out of the courtroom, the thick veil which covered her face fell, and Madame Danglars' true face was revealed.Villefort, in his trance, deaf and brain-swollen, recognized her, and got up. "Evidence! Evidence!" said the presiding judge. "Remember: this kind of statement must be supported by the clearest evidence." "Evidence?" said Benedetto, laughing. "Do you want evidence?" "yes." "Well, then, look at M. de Villefort first, and then ask me for evidence." Everyone turned to look at the prosecutor. The prosecutor couldn't stand the eyes of so many people staring at him alone.He staggered to the center of the courtroom, his hair disheveled and his face covered in blood from his fingernails.There was a long-lasting murmur in the audience. "Father," said Benedetto, "they asked me for evidence. Do you want me to give them?" "No, no," stammered M. de Villefort, in a hoarse voice, "no, no need!" "Why not?" cried the presiding judge, "What do you mean?" "What I mean is: I don't think I can fight the deadly weight that falls on me, gentlemen.—I'm in the hands of a vengeful god! No need for evidence, what the young man said It's all true." A dismal silence permeated the whole place, as if presaging some nasty natural phenomenon, and everyone shuddered with alarm. "What! M. de Villefort," cried the presiding judge, "have you lost your head? What! Is your reason still? Your mind has evidently been bewildered by a singular, terrible, and unexpected slander. Come , regain your sanity." The prosecutor lowered his head, his teeth chattered like a man in a fever, but his face was as pale as a dead man's. "I have not lost my mind, sir," said he, "you can see that it is only my body that is out of order. I admit all the crimes that the young man has charged me, and from now on I will listen to the next prosecutor. What to do with me." When he had finished these few words in a hoarse, strangled voice, he staggered towards the door, which was mechanically opened by a bailiff.The whole audience was dumbfounded with astonishment, and this opening of the trial was the culmination of a series of terrible events which had been stirring Parisian society for a fortnight. "Oh," said Beauchamp, "who's to say now that the scene is unnatural?" "Oh!" said Chateau-Renoir, "I would rather end his life with a pistol, as M. de Morcerf did. That would be more comfortable than this catastrophe." "Then he is guilty of murder," said Beauchamp. "I used to want to marry his daughter!" said Debray. "It's a good thing she's dead, poor girl!" "Everyone, the interrogation is suspended," said the presiding judge. "This case has been postponed to the next court session. The case will be re-examined by another judge." As for André, he was still calm and more interesting than before, and he was escorted out of the courtroom by the bailiffs, who could not help paying him some respect. "Well, what do you think of the matter, my good man?" asked Debray the deputy, thrusting a louis d'or into his hand. "The sentence may be commuted as appropriate." He replied.