We Sing to the Deaf (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 10)

In this episode of The Countdown of Monte Cristo, we remain in the king’s study as Duke Blacas grows increasingly alarmed—and King Louis XVIII grows increasingly bored. Annotating Horace and tossing out Latin epigrams, the king brushes aside warnings of Bonapartist unrest with literary flair and ironic detachment.

It’s a battle of priorities: one man pleads for caution, the other for quiet. But beneath the surface of jest lies the pulse of a monarchy out of sync with its moment.

Key Events:

• Louis XVIII interrupts political warnings to annotate Latin poetry

• Blacas attempts to warn the king of southern unrest and Bonapartist activity

• The king’s phrases—Canimus surdis, Pastor quum traheret—reveal intellectual distraction

• Blacas subtly tries to use Villefort as a scapegoat

• Political urgency is reduced to wordplay and gesture

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