On the brink of suicide over his ruin, Morrel is saved at the final instant by a mysterious benefactor's purse and the restored Pharaon.
Despite the reprieve granted by the agent of Thomson & French, Morrel's other creditors press him, and by the 5th of September he faces 287,500 francs due with barely 15,000 to his name. Refused help even by the now-rich Danglars, he resolves to die rather than dishonor a name unblemished for three generations, extracting from his son Maximilian Morrel a promise to live and support the family. Pistol at his lips as eleven strikes, he is saved by Julie Morrel, who bursts in with a red silk purse—his own old purse—holding the receipted bill and a diamond dowry, sent by the unknown 'Sinbad the Sailor'.
Moments later the Pharaon, thought lost, sails whole into harbor. Overwhelmed, Morrel weeps amid the cheering city, seeking in vain the benefactor who has restored both his fortune and his life.
A merchant of fifty, aged far beyond his years by sorrow, white-haired and deep-furrowed, his once-firm gaze grown irresolute—then transfigured by joy and disbelief.
The rescued benefactor, spared ruin and death by Dantès's hidden gratitude.