The time: February 1815. The place: Marseilles, France. The Pharaon, a three-masted sailing ship coming from Italy, is docking. Like all dockings, this one attracts a large crowd, but this particular ship draws a great crowd because it belongs to a wealthy man of Marseilles, Monsieur Morrel. Strangely, there is a quiet, solemn air about the approaching ship, even though the pilot seems to have her in perfect control. Suddenly, we see a man being rowed out to the ship, where he hails a tall, dark, and slender young man, Edmond Dantès, on board the Pharaon. The man in the rowboat is Monsieur Morrel, the ship's owner, and he inquires about the gloomy mood of the sailors; he is told that their captain died of brain fever, but that the cargo is safe. The handsome young man then gives orders to lower the top sails and invites Morrel aboard. Monsieur Danglars, the purser, comes forward to give Morrel further information about the voyage.
Danglars, a rather melancholy, oily man of about twenty-five, laments the loss of the ship's captain, a man who spent his life at sea. Morrel remarks that a life at sea doesn't necessarily guarantee one's worth as a sailor; he cites young Dantès' obvious skill and relish for sailoring. Danglars' face darkens. Dantès, he says, took command of the ship with no authority and then lingered a day at the Isle of Elba instead of sailing on a straight course for Marseilles. Morrel calls to Dantès and asks him if this is true. Dantès explains that he was carrying out an order of the late Captain Leclère — to deliver a package to a Marshal Bertrand.
