A desolate road. A noonday sun. And an unexpected rider.

In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 26 continues as a solitary figure approaches the Pont du Gard Inn. Mounted on a Hungarian horse and dressed in the black robes of a priest, the stranger advances with calm purpose, undeterred by the barren, sun-scorched road that few others would choose to travel.

At the inn’s threshold, he dismounts, ties his horse, and knocks three times with his iron-tipped cane — a signal that will change the quiet monotony of Caderousse’s life into something far more consequential.

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The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years.