Chapter 1-5

Chapter 11-15

Chapter 21-25

Chapter 67: When Villefort returns, he finds both his wife and their son dead, having ingested the deadly poison.  Soon the count arrives at the scene, first disguised as the priest, but eventually revealing his identity to Villefort, who is stunned and saddened into insanity.  Yet when Monte Cristo sees that their son is dead too, he feels that he has gone too far in punishing Villefort and his family.  This marks a transformation for the count.

Dumas narrates, "Monte Cristo paled at the horrible sight.  He realized that he had gone beyond the limits of rightful vengeance and that he could no longer say, 'God is for me and with me.'"  

Chapter 68: Monte Cristo and Maximilien decide to leave Paris together.  While Maximilien cries over his loss, the count visits Mercedes for the last time.  He admits the change in his person since the time she knew him as a lover, saying, "From the kind, trusting, and forgiving man I had once been, I made myself vindictive, crafty, and cruel, or, rather, impassive like deaf and blind Fate itself."

Chapter 69: Monte Cristo returns to his cell at Chateau d'If, talking to the tour guide as he re-lives the experiences of prison life.  After the tour, the count leaves for Italy, making Maximilien promise that he will meet him on the isle of Monte Cristo on the fifth of October.

Chapter 70: Danglars goes to Rome to receive the five million francs which he stole from a French hospital.  In Rome, his carriage is kidnapped by Luigi the Bandit, and he is imprisoned in the same catacombs in which Albert stayed.