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.

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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