In France during the eighteenth century, Edmond Dantes along with his close friend Fernand Mondego stop in a strange land in search of rescue help for their captain, who has just attained brain fever. They meet Napoleon and ask for medical attention for their captain. Napoleon allows them to stay in his quarters. On the first night of their stay, Napoleon asks Edmond a favor. He requests he deliver a "harmless, personal letter to a friend" back in Marseilles where Edmond resides. However, because of Napoleon's great admiration for Edmond's loyalty to his captain, he entrusts Edmond not to speak of the letter to anyone. Sadly their captain passes on overnight leaving Edmond, Fernand and crew to continue on their way home.
Once Edmond arrives home he has a nice dinner with his soon-to-be wife and father celebrating the marriage and his new job as captain of the ship. Edmond gets arrested in the middle of dinner for treason and brought to a man named J.F. Villefort for questioning. Apparently the letter Edmond hadn't the chance to deliver contained Napoleon's army beach patrol times and locations. To Dantes' most painful surprise, Mondego was the one who had in fact reported Dantes for delivering the letter. The night Dantes was speaking with Napoleon, Mondego had seen the happenings. Along with the help of two accomplices, J.F. Villefort and Phillipe Danglar, Mondego was able to frame Dantes for treason. When Dantes asks why he did it, Mondego responds, "You're the son of a clerk; I'm not supposed to want to be you," (Mondego is the son of a Count). He is then taken to a horrible prison called the Chateau d'If, where he is barely fed, bored to the point of wanting suicide and whipped on every anniversary of his arrival. After a few years of torture, an elder man, Abbe Faria (a priest), digs his way into Edmond's cell. They make a deal that if Edmond helps Faria to dig an escape he will in return, educate Edmond.
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