Louis XVIII is meeting with his advisors at the palace of the Tuileries in Paris. One of them urges the king to meet with a man who has just arrived from Marseilles with news of a Bonapartist plot. The king agrees when he learns the man is Villefort, whom he trusts because Villefort is ambitious and determined to distance himself from his father.

While Villefort is explaining to the king that he has learned of a plot by Napoleon to return to the French mainland, the Minister of Police bursts in and informs the king that this has already happened, and that Napoleon is preparing to advance on Paris from the south. As the king prepares for a war council, he thanks Villefort for his warning, assures him he will be rewarded in the future, and gives Villefort his Cross of the Legion of Honor as a pledge of his gratitude.

During the Hundred Days of Napoleon’s second reign, Villefort’s father, Noirtier, uses his power at the Bonapartist court to protect his Royalist son. Villefort postpones his marriage to Mlle de Saint-Méran for political reasons, figuring he will need to marry a Bonapartist if Napoleon remains in power but not wanting to break ties with the Saint-Mérans in case the Bourbon monarchy is restored.