1. And now the question that has been pleading to be asked over the last few chapters: why won’t the count simply let Maximilien in on his plan? He clearly perceives the depth of Maximilien’s anguish, hunting for him at the cemetery and then shadowing him back to Paris. He alone has the power to both understand Maximilien’s pain and erase it; is there any justification (apart from heightening the narrative stakes) for making him endure this torture?

2. At the end of the chapter, the narrator describes Maximilien as obeying the count like an “apostle”—is the count really a Jesus figure, saving souls?

Final sentence of chapter:

“Maximilien bent his head and obeyed, like a child or a disciple.”

previous chapter discussion

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