The Count's steward visits the jailed Benedetto—the foundling he once nursed—warns him against the count, and gravely promises to reveal his father the next day.
Bertuccio, the Corsican steward of the Count of Monte Cristo (Edmond Dantès), comes to the 'Lions' Den' of La Force to see Andrea Cavalcanti—the foundling Benedetto he once took in and reared, his 'adopted' or foster father. Arranging a private room with the keeper, he confronts the young man's insolent probing about who has secretly funded and ennobled him. Bertuccio refuses to name his patron, and rebukes Benedetto sharply for daring to speak the count's name, warning that he has 'fallen into terrible hands... do not play with the thunderbolt.' Grave and unshakably calm, he tells Benedetto he has come precisely to reveal the secret the youth craves above all—the identity of his true father—but the interview is broken off by the examining magistrate before he can speak it.
Promising to return the next day and to leave money at the gate, Bertuccio departs, holding in reserve the revelation that will detonate at Benedetto's trial.
A grave, dark-faced Corsican of middle age with intelligent features, dressed soberly, his manner steady, solemn, and unshakably calm.
The count's steward who visits Benedetto in prison and holds the secret of his parentage.