Arrival in Marseilles
The three-master Pharaon glides slowly into the harbor of Marseilles. You stand on the deck, young Edmond Dantès, guiding the ship in. You are only nineteen, but the weight of command sits naturally on your shoulders. The owner, M. Morrel, climbs aboard anxiously.
"A great misfortune, M. Morrel!" you announce, hat in hand. "Off Civita Vecchia we lost our brave Captain Leclere to a brain fever."
Morrel is relieved the cargo is safe, but Danglars, the supercargo, watches you with a hateful glint in his eye. He accuses you of wasting time by stopping at the Island of Elba.
"It was the Captain's dying order," you explain. "I had to deliver a package to Marshal Bertrand."
Danglars smirks. "And you spoke to the exiled Emperor Napoleon?"
You feel the eyes of the crew and the owner upon you. How do you answer?