
Episode 8: The Last Two
Episode 8 | 53m 15sVideo has Audio Description
Edmond targets his final enemies, but after years of deceit, is love still possible for him?
With one enemy out of the way, Edmond works to ensure that the remaining two pay for their crimes against him. A possible future with Mercedes awaits, but after years of deceit, is he still the same man?
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Funding for MASTERPIECE is provided by Viking and Raymond James with additional support from public television viewers and contributors to The MASTERPIECE Trust, created to help ensure the series’ future.

Episode 8: The Last Two
Episode 8 | 53m 15sVideo has Audio Description
With one enemy out of the way, Edmond works to ensure that the remaining two pay for their crimes against him. A possible future with Mercedes awaits, but after years of deceit, is he still the same man?
See all videos with Audio DescriptionADProblems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Everything We Know So Far
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship♪ ♪ DANGLARS: Allow me to introduce you to my daughter.
Enchanted.
♪ ♪ My father wants me to marry the Count of Spada.
I have left everything to you, Valentine.
DOCTOR: The marchioness has been poisoned with brucine.
Who prepared this tea?
Valentine.
EDMOND: Tomorrow, Fernand will have questions to answer.
CHAIRMAN: You are a disgrace.
(gun fires) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (knock at door) Yes.
(door opens) The Count of Monte Cristo would like an audience with you, sir.
♪ ♪ (sighs) You must be devastated your daughter is facing a murder charge.
Uh, yes, yes.
(pats chair) Sit next to me, sir.
How is the family coping with this dreadful upheaval?
Not well, as you can imagine.
Mm, it's incomprehensible.
After reading the newspapers, I couldn't sleep.
Something about it all has been bothering me no end.
Brucine leaves no trace in the body, but is easily detected outside of the body, say, in a teapot, for instance.
That is where it was detected.
Yes, I read that.
And that's what's been keeping me awake at night.
See, I've met Valentine, and she didn't strike me as stupid.
Certainly not stupid enough to poison her grandmother and not dispose of the evidence afterwards.
I mean, how easy is it to wash a teapot and clean a cup?
Someone in my house poisoned the marchioness, and all evidence points to one person.
That's why I'm here, Monsieur Villefort.
Uh, I need to share something with you which is rather delicate.
When you last supped at my house in the country, your wife left the table in between courses, do you recall?
Vaguely.
Excuse me.
I'm just going to freshen up.
Mademoiselle Haydee, my protégée, saw her go down the stairs and into my laboratory.
EDMOND (voiceover): After you'd all left, I discovered one of my vials of poison was missing.
The one containing brucine.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ JACOPO: Monsieur Danglars.
Thank you.
So good of you to see me, Count.
Sit.
(chuckles) Today is the day.
Um, what day?
The day the, the option on the land expires.
Ah, that, yes.
Yes.
I, I'm sorry to ask this of you, Count, but... Can you not at the very least issue me with a post-dated check for your five million?
But I told you, Baron, once the Count of Spada presents you with his share of the investment, mine will follow.
(murmuring) I'm, I'm not quite sure you appreciate my position.
The cost of the land is nine million-- that's nearly double my share.
And now, without Fernand as my ally in government, there are rumors that the concession will be withdrawn if the sale of land doesn't go through.
Well, rumors are always just rumors, aren't they?
You know, I, I simply, I cannot risk such a vast amount on one venture.
We, we are talking swathes of land all the way from here to Calais.
The, the English engineers, the same who built the Manchester-Liverpool Railroad, need a deposit of 300,000 francs by, by Friday, or they will abandon the project.
If I don't have the writ... Baron, calm yourself.
How, how can I be calm... Baron... ...when there is so much at stake?
(catches breath) Some water, perhaps.
(hoarsely): Thank you.
(pouring) The engagement ceremony is on Thursday, is it not?
(gasps) Yes, sir.
Count Spada will sign-- he loves Eugenia.
And the moment he signs, he will place a check in your hand for five million.
(inhales) And then mine will follow.
But what if he has a change of heart?
Well, he has promised me he'll go through with it.
And if you make a promise to me, you keep it.
I do not take such things lightly.
No, no, no, I, I'm sure not.
Well, good.
Good, very... Excellent.
Well, thank, thank you.
(chuckles) (sighs) My God, I can breathe again.
(chuckles) Very well.
Good day to you, Count.
Good day.
(exhales) You will be there on Thursday, will you not?
Oh, I wouldn't miss it for anything.
(clock chiming hour) (laughs softly) Mm-hmm-- hm.
MAID: The Count of Spada is here to see you, Mademoiselle Danglars.
VAMPA: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Thank you, thank you.
I have a lovely little surprise for you two.
Letters of introduction to the directors of the four top opera houses in Rome, written and signed by the Count of Monte Cristo, recommending you, Eugenia, as a future star of the opera.
(gasps softly) How exciting.
My father will never allow me to take the stage.
Yeah, but, if you're in Rome and he is here, how can he object?
Mm.
I'm curious, sir.
You are from Rome, and an opera connoisseur.
Why have you not written these letters yourself?
May I sit?
I have a little confession to make.
I am... I am not an opera connoisseur.
In fact, I don't like opera at all.
Uh... The Count of Monte Cristo, on the other hand, is very knowledgeable about opera, and his opinions on it are highly regarded.
This is most peculiar.
For God's sake, don't breathe a word of any of this to your father.
He's under so many illusions as it is, it's best to leave him in the dark.
Mm.
Now I shall leave you.
Have a lovely day, ladies, and I shall see you at the signing of the so-called marriage contract on Thursday.
If you have not already left for Rome, that is.
(chuckling) Adieu, you gorgeous women.
♪ Che farò senza Euridice?
♪ (hums) (chuckles) I'm starting to warm to that mad fool.
Let me see those.
Eugenia... With these, your... Your future is made.
(chuckles) Our future, darling.
Ours.
What do you think he meant by "if you've not already left for Rome"?
Edward-- Edward.
Stop toying with your food, please.
HELOISE: It's because he ate so much cake at teatime.
Can I go play, Mama?
HELOISE: Of course you can, Edward.
Gerard, why has Valentine's trial not yet begun?
I have asked the deputy prosecutor to delay it to... Why?
You know that if she's found guilty, she will forfeit her grandmother's inheritance, right?
Well, of course-- it will go to you.
Mm.
And from me, it will go to Edward.
I don't understand what that has to do with Valentine's trial.
We believe her lawyer's going to use that in her defense.
To plant a seed of doubt.
But the case is open and shut, is it not?
Mm, it appeared so, yes.
What has changed since she was arrested?
Some new information has come to light.
What information?
I'm not at liberty to say.
But I am your wife.
I know that.
Why did the police never search Valentine's room?
(scoffs softly): Strange that they didn't, don't you think?
♪ ♪ Perhaps they thought it was an open-and-shut case, as you do.
♪ ♪ Where's Madame?
She's taken Edward to his bible lesson.
Of course.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (objects shifting) (drawer opens) ♪ ♪ Mercedes.
Please, sit.
I don't know what to say.
About Fernand.
You achieved what you set out to achieve, didn't you?
Believe me, I did not want it to end that way.
You would have preferred to extend his suffering?
Edmond, really, you're playing with people lives.
The way they played with mine.
You must hate me.
I wouldn't know how to.
Do you have access to Fernand's finances?
Yes.
And no doubt he banked with Baron Danglars.
You must withdraw every franc from Fernand's accounts.
Today.
Ask for it half in cash, half in gold.
Why?
Because by day's end, Danglars will be ruined.
So, he's next.
You are consumed by this.
Will you be going back to Marseille?
It is my home.
Is it not yours?
I have no home.
Forgive me, but I must leave you.
I will call upon you soon, Mercedes.
Edmond, may I ask a personal question?
How did you become so wealthy if you stay all that time in prison?
I believe it was Providence.
What is your understanding of Providence?
In the overall sense, that destiny will ensure justice.
So you are the instrument of destiny.
(door closes) Leave us.
(door closes) How are you coping?
(door closes in distance) As you can imagine.
Are they feeding you well?
Well enough.
Sit.
Why are you here?
You didn't do it.
Did you?
I told you.
I'm in a terrible position here.
(people talking in background) Monsieur Beauchamp.
I have here... Oh.
...some rather interesting reading your publication may be intrigued by.
This is a record of activities on the Paris stock exchange dating back three years.
Correspondingly, I have here Baron Danglars' personal bank statements.
If you compare the dates on these two sets of documents, you will notice Baron Danglars made substantial withdrawals from his personal account on the same day his wife traded heavily in shares concerning certain commodities.
Shares which more than doubled in value two or three days later, when official news of those commodities became public knowledge.
You will notice a pattern that keeps repeating itself from the day Lucien Debray was appointed secretary to the minister of the Interior.
Are you following me?
I'm trying to.
I have underlined in red the relevant transactions for your convenience.
I trust you will not reveal the source of this information to anyone.
Mm, we never reveal our sources if asked not to.
Then I shall leave you to it.
I have duplicates of the documents which I will deliver to the police, as any concerned citizen would.
Good day to you, Monsieur Beauchamp.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (lock turns) ♪ ♪ Mama.
(yelps) What are you doing up here?
Ah, darling, nothing.
How are preparation going downstairs?
Champagne and caviar just arrived.
Excellent.
It's all so exciting, isn't it?
Yes.
Let's go downstairs.
(people talking in background) (horse nickers) (people talking in background) My brother's passport-- a sister traveling with her brother will not arouse suspicion.
(chuckles) And the carriage?
Parked on the back side of the house, awaiting us.
(people talking in background) You have the check written out and signed?
In my pocket.
And I have mine in mine.
Mm.
Excellent.
(scissors cutting) (whispering): I love it.
♪ ♪ (panting) (whimpers) (pounding on door) (talking indistinctly) (people talking in background) ♪ ♪ Excuse me... (speaks softly) Hello.
The police know about our little trick with the stock exchange.
I want my share from the last transaction.
Go and get it for me.
What, what are you talking about?
Beauchamp tipped me off.
The police have proof you've been trading using inside information.
Inside information I've given you.
(softly): Oh, my God!
Go and get me my money.
(exhales) I'm leaving Paris today.
♪ ♪ (lock turns) ♪ ♪ EUGENIA: My mother is going to be furious.
LOUISE: I should think so.
Not just about me absconding.
I found where she hides the key to her safe and raided it.
For traveling expenses.
It's gone!
DEBRAY: What do you mean?
Everything is gone-- stolen from my safe.
(both sigh) (glass tapping) (conversations stop) DANGLARS: Ladies and gentlemen, it is time.
The long wait for my daughter to marry is finally over.
(guests chuckling) Uh, my notary has drawn up the contracts to the approval of both parties, and all that remains is for them to sign.
Could the Count of Spada, uh, please sign first?
Yes.
Sure.
But where is Mademoiselle Danglars?
She should be here, no?
(guests murmur softly) Um... Hermine, could, uh, could you, um, fetch Eugenia, if you will?
Sure.
(chuckles) (knocking softly) Eugenia?
(knocking loudly) Eugenia.
Can you please open the door?
Open the door.
(knocking) (guests murmuring) (knocking on door) Open the door!
What seems to be the problem, Baroness?
I, I assume my daughter is having a, an attack of prenuptial nerves.
(banging) Open this door!
Just, just, step aside, Hermine, step aside.
(gasps) ♪ ♪ This is your daughter's hair, Baron.
(footsteps approaching in distance) ROBERT: I am Chief Inspector Robert-- let me in.
♪ ♪ I have here warrants of arrest for the secretary of the minister of the Interior, Monsieur Lucien Debray, the banker Baron Danglars, and his wife, Hermine.
This is outrageous.
Get out of my house!
Not without you and your accomplices, Baron.
You have been charged with a very serious offense.
Charged with what?
Illegal trading, sir, on the stock exchange, using confidential government information.
(guests murmuring) Get your hands off me!
Don't touch me!
Where are you taking me?
ROBERT: To La Force prison, madame, where it seems you belong.
Do something, you stupid fool!
Make them stop!
Leave me!
Don't touch me!
Leave me!
ROBERT: This way, Baron.
♪ ♪ HERMINE (wailing): Let me go!
(guests murmuring) Do you know how embarrassing this is for me?
Well, I can only imagine.
(guests murmuring) (birds chirping) (bell tolling) Get the boy out.
Escort him into the courtroom-- come on.
EDMOND (voiceover): The midwife.
Does she know about the boy?
She knows Gaston is up for murder.
She doesn't know the trial starts tomorrow?
Not yet.
Good.
'Cause if she has too much time to think about it, she won't testify.
She knows the police are after her for the murder of the orderly you killed in the asylum.
Of course.
Wherever she's staying tonight must be a safe place.
Because if Villefort finds out she's here... ...she's a dead woman.
She will be safe.
Tomorrow morning, you tell her you're taking her to court, that we need her to testify.
To point out Villefort as the father of the boy.
Tell her there'll be a carriage waiting outside, that the moment her testimony is over, we'll whisk her away back to Talamone, to safety.
And if she refuses to testify?
This is the last one, Jacopo.
I don't care what it takes.
HELOISE: Good morning, dear.
Morning.
Valentine is going to be released from custody today.
Impossible.
There is insufficient evidence to convict her.
Insufficient?
She made the marchioness the tea.
She delivered it to the poor woman.
There's a witness, Heloise.
There's a witness who will testify on seeing you entering the Count of Monte Cristo's cellar on the night we last supped there.
And after we left, Count went down into his laboratory and found that a vial of brucine had been stolen.
This vial.
♪ ♪ You hid this in Valentine's chest of drawers for me to find, didn't you?
Answer me.
As you reminded me the other day... ...no one is above the law.
♪ ♪ What are you going to do?
Hm?
The same as I did with Valentine.
I'm going to report what I know to the relevant authority.
(softly): Gerard, wait.
(aloud): Gerard?
Gerard, wait.
(shouting): Gerard, wait!
Mama, what's wrong?
(sighs) Nothing, darling.
Go back and play in your room.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ LAWYER: When you first set eyes on the boy, had he already stabbed Inspector Boville?
Yes.
WOMAN (calling): What's going on down there?!
(Gaston gasps) (panting, whimpering) WOMAN (voiceover): There was no one else on the street but them two.
JUDGE: Do you have any further questions for this witness?
LAWYER: No, Your Lordship.
The defense has concluded.
JUDGE: Very well.
You may go-- thank you.
Will the accused please rise?
The facts in this case are simple and straightforward.
I find the accused guilty as charged.
Is there anyone who would like to say anything before I pass sentence?
LAWYER: I have someone I would like to put on the stand, Your Lordship, with a view to providing the court with what may be mitigating circumstances, if the court will allow it, of course.
JUDGE: Monsieur Villefort?
The prosecution has no objection, Your Lordship.
JUDGE: Very well.
I call to the stand Sabrine Laurent.
(door opens) ♪ ♪ (door closes) (softly): This is why I invited you.
ORDERLY: Raise your right hand.
Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, so help you God?
SABRINE: I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth.
LAWYER: Sabrine Laurent, what is your relationship to the accused?
SABRINE: I am his foster mother.
Could you tell this court how you came to be Gaston's foster mother?
I am a midwife, and 16 years ago, I delivered Gaston into this world.
(Hermine screaming, panting) How long?
It is close.
Do you remember the name of the father of the child?
♪ ♪ The father was Monsieur Villefort.
(audience gasps, exclaiming) The chief prosecutor, that man sitting there.
(audience murmuring) Is this some sort of joke?
LAWYER: No, Your Lordship.
JUDGE: Silence!
Silence in the court!
(conversations stop) LAWYER: And the mother who was giving birth that night, do you know her identity?
GERARD: You do realize... (breath shuddering) ...that if this ever comes out, it will be the end of me.
(sighs) Hermine Danglars.
(audience gasps, exclaiming) (pounds desk) (audience gasps and murmurs) JUDGE: Silence!
(gavel banging) (conversations stop) This is nonsense.
The prosecution objects to, to this witness.
I believe we can allow it, Monsieur Villefort, considering it explains something about the accu... No, no!
This has nothing, nothing to do with the murder of Inspector Boville, sir!
Will you please sit down, Monsieur Villefort?
Go on.
LAWYER: Could you tell us what happened after the child was born?
Monsieur Villefort paid me for my services and ushered me out of the house, where he threatened me if I should ever tell anyone.
I thought something was amiss, so I went around the side, into the garden.
LAWYER: And what did you see then?
(grunts) (shovel digging, Gerard grunting) (panting) ♪ ♪ (panting) ♪ ♪ (dirt shifting) SABRINE (voiceover, trembling): Inside was the baby, alive.
(audience gasps, murmuring) (exclaiming) JUDGE: Silence!
Or I will have you expelled.
(murmuring fades) Monsieur Villefort, are you aware that the accused is your son?
♪ ♪ Monsieur Villefort, I asked you a question.
Do you recognize the lady on the stand?
♪ ♪ (whispering indistinctly) Speak up, sir, I can't hear you.
I said, I said, um... ♪ ♪ (chuckles) No one, no one is above the law.
Including myself.
I am... I am withdrawing from this case.
(audience exclaiming) JUDGE: Silence!
Please!
Silence!
Silence!
(maid sobbing) What is it?
(crying) Oh.
No!
No!
No, no, no, no... Edward-- Edward.
Edward?
Edward, breathe.
Breathe, breathe, breathe.
Breathe-- open your eyes.
Breathe, breathe-- come on, son.
Come on, Edward, breathe.
Open your eyes-- open your eyes, son.
(voice breaking): Breathe.
Breathe!
(sobbing) (sobbing) Help!
Someone help me!
(sobbing) (gasps) ♪ ♪ GERARD: Breathe.
(sobbing) (crying) (Gerard sobs) Lord, forgive me.
What are you doing here?
I, uh... I came to show you something.
But it's no longer necessary.
♪ ♪ (breath trembling) (breath trembles) (groans) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (people talking in background) ♪ ♪ (knock at door) Come in.
Gentlemen, my contract with you is over.
Tomorrow, you are going back to Talamone.
I want to thank you for the fine service you have rendered me.
(exhales) Your work here is done?
What is left I can do myself.
You can take the carriage and all the horses.
I won't be needing them.
(exhales) Where, where are you going to go now?
Well, I'm going to travel.
Ettore wants to remain in your service.
(exhales): No.
No, you must go back with Jacopo.
Every year, both of you will receive a sum of money from me through the post.
And, uh, when the money stops coming in, it means I am dead.
Well... Don't die too soon.
(chuckles) Tell me, Jacopo, I'm, I'm, uh, I'm curious.
When you first met Caderousse, you suggested cutting out his eyes and then his tongue, so he couldn't scream.
Would you really have done that?
You know, Count, my whole life, I have lived by half-truths.
I find it works for me.
Yeah, that means you wouldn't have.
If I say no, you will think it's a half-truth.
If I say yes, same thing.
(chuckles) (coins jingling) For board and lodging on the road.
It is not half-truth when I say it has been a, a pleasure, big pleasure, to serve you, Edmond.
Thank you, Jacopo.
Ettore feels the same.
(chuckles) Thank you, Ettore.
Oh, when you send the money, send a little letter with it, letting me know what you're up to.
When I get home, I'm going to learn how to read and write.
I will.
♪ ♪ JAILER: For you, Danglars.
Baron Danglars, if you please.
Take the letter and shut up.
(door closes) (lock turns) (chuckles) EDMOND: Dear Baron Danglars, You might be surprised to learn that my real name is Edmond Dantès.
The other letter enclosed, which you wrote with the help of Fernand Mondego, which he then had delivered to Monsieur Villefort, caused me to spend 15 years of great suffering in the dungeons of the Castle d'If.
The same amount of time I believe you will spend in La Force prison for crimes you actually committed.
Unlike mine, which were entirely fabricated.
I wish you a miserable stay there.
Yours sincerely... "The Count of Monte Cristo."
You bastard.
(voice breaking): You damned bastard.
♪ ♪ (screams) ♪ ♪ (birds chirping) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Edmond.
I was told below Catalan woman comes up here every morning to look out over the sea.
You see the Castle d'If?
Thinking of you was what kept me alive in there.
We were going to have a honeymoon in Paris, do you remember?
(chuckles): I do, yes.
It's out of the question now.
For both of us.
I came here to tell you I'm leaving today.
Leaving France.
Will you be gone long?
I may never come back.
There was a priest I met in there.
A wise old man.
He said to me, "If you're planning revenge, dig your own grave first."
He was right.
♪ ♪ Love can heal.
♪ ♪ Do you know what a Forsyte is?
♪ ♪ A Forsyte is a London elite.
JUNE: In this family... (exhales) ...I have an obligation to marry well.
ANN: Free of scandal.
Where do you suggest our loyalties lie?
ANN: And inconvenient truths.
I loved you.
♪ ♪ You would not have been allowed to love me.
It would be catastrophic.
♪ ♪ Are you prepared?
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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
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Funding for MASTERPIECE is provided by Viking and Raymond James with additional support from public television viewers and contributors to The MASTERPIECE Trust, created to help ensure the series’ future.
















