This is a little dramatic tension between Mercedes and Edmond from the beginning of chapter 2.
At any rate, as I was comparing the two faces and hurrying away, bracing myself against the cold wind, Edmond Dantes hailed me from across the street, very bold I thought, for a young man who berated his crew for such casual and condescending behavior.
“Madamoiselle!” he called out. “Do you remember me?”
I made a curtsy because it seemed appropriate, because I owed him thanks for the favor of introducing me to the Morrels, and because it mocked him just a little bit. “I do,” I said. “I have just been to M. Morrel’s kitchens because of your excellent recommendation. I am a visitor there often now.”
“To sell fish?”
“And to do other small tasks.”
He took off his sailor’s cap. The ends of the small scarf rolled around his neck tried to escape into the air. “I am glad that it has worked out to be a suitable arrangement.”
After the words escaped my mouth, I realized that they could be misinterpreted to be coquettish. “Where have you been keeping yourself?”
“M. Morrel runs a trading company, and I am first mate on one of his ships. I have been on the Pharaon these past two months.”
“Your family does not see you much, I suppose,” I mused.
He nodded. “My father is my only family, and I spend as much time with him as I can when I am in Marseilles, which is precious little time. But I am keeping you in the cold, and I apologize.”
“I assume you are on your way to see M. Morrel?”
“He and I must go over some inventory. M. Morrel sometimes prefers to do this at his home rather than the office.”
“Yes, I could see that,” I smiled. “I rather often prefer to go over my own accounts in my home, rather than my office.” Dantes rewarded me with the smile, and the clouds of his face broke. “Well, I will not keep you from your pressing engagement.” I stepped up onto the side walk and walked past him.
“Madamoiselle!” he said. I turned. His voice was slightly shaky, as if he’d had to work up some courage to call my name. “I—” he swallowed and tried again. “I would like to be of some other use to you.”
I frowned. Sometimes when you were poor, certain assumptions were made about your virtue. “I can assure you, Sir, that I have no need for your favors.”
His cheeks reddened in embarrassment. This surprised me, because I did not expect that such a stern man could be deeply embarrassed. “I meant nothing untoward, Madamoiselle. Please excuse me for making the overture.” He bowed curtly, turned his back on me, and walked toward M. Morrel’s. I walked away from him. Strangely enough, I felt as though I was the one who had wronged him. My rational mind told me to let this misunderstanding go, that our paths would never cross again, that I shouldn’t give him the opportunity to explain himself because he was a French man and I shouldn’t trust him.
These suggestions from my rational mind seemed to paint me as the kind of person I did not wish to be. I raced to him, and I put my hand on the sleeve of his coat, woolen and cold. He was startled and he turned his full gaze on me and I pulled back my hand as though I had put it in my fireplace. “Yes?”
“I—I want to apologize for just now.”
“There is no need to apologize, Madamoiselle.”
This was all much too stiff and formal for me. “Yes, there is,” I said. “I am not at all like that! You see, I am alone in the world. I make an effort to comport myself and to be careful, but it is not always the right instinct. Actually, I wanted to thank you for being my benefactor, a favor of which I am keenly aware, and I want you to know that I know you have no dishonorable intent toward me, because my friend Mdm. Marchand speaks well of your father, and he speaks well of you, and she approves of you through him.” What a jumble of words! I didn’t want to present myself as cold, but I certainly hadn’t meant to present myself as an idiot. “At any rate, I apologize. I won’t keep you from your appointment with M. Morrel one moment longer. However, things are right between us. I hope when I see you again, you will greet me as before? I promise to be courteous, friendly, and not bite your head off.”
“As you will,” he said. I could see by his face that he had no idea what to make of me, and I decided that I would live with that, rather than the impression I had left him with seconds before. This would be the time, then, to retreat, and let Edmond Dantes decide that women of the Catalans were passing strange, and that next time, he should let his sailors do as they would when one of them passed by.
I crossed to the opposite side of the street and started to walk away quickly. “Wait!” he yelled, almost as I turned the corner. “Wait!” He raced up to me, panting. “I perceive,” he said, smiling, ‘that we are involved in a comedy of errors. Madamoiselle Mondego, I appreciate your apology, and offer mine. Clearly we are both on the wrong foot today.”
The ridiculousness of the situation was beginning to strike me as amusing. “Let us begin over,” I said. I curtsied. “It is very good to see you again, M. Dantes.”
He folded a hand neatly over his midsection and creased. “And I am honored to see you again.”
“May I inquire after your father?”
“He is in good health. Your family?”
“They are well, thanks be to God. Well, I look forward to seeing you again.”
“I wonder if you might meet me later this afternoon, at 4, for some chocolate. It is a cold day. I planned to stop and have some after my appointment with M. Morrel. If it is convenient?”
“Well,” I said, studying my hand, coyly. “I am not sure. I have several pressing engagements.”
“I quite understand. Perhaps some other—”
“Yes,” I interrupted. “I can meet you. I like warm chocolate very much.”
“I will see you soon.” He bowed one more time. I watched him watch away.
The chocolate would taste excellent on such a cold day. We would meet in a public place, and I would make sure that Mdm. Marchand would come as well. My mother would approve that there would be adequate chaperonage, and Mdm Marchand would also enjoy the treat. I would not appear forward in any way. I had to admit now, he appeared complicated to me, and I would be interested in satisfying my curiosity about him.
