At the age of nineteen, Edmond Dant s seems to have the perfect life. He is about to become the captain of a ship, he is engaged to a beautiful and kind young woman, Merc d s, and he is well liked by almost everyone who knows him. This perfect life, however, stirs up dangerous jealousy among some of Dant s's so-called friends. Danglars, the treasurer of Dant s's ship, envies Dant s's early career success; Fernand Mondego is in love with Dant s's fianc e and so covets his amorous success; his neighbor Caderousse is simply envious that Dant s is so much luckier in life than he is. Together, these three men draft a letter accusing Dant s of treason. There is some truth to their accusations: as a favor to his recently deceased captain, Dant s is carrying a letter from Napoleon to a group of Bonapartist sympathizers in Paris. Though Dant s himself has no political leanings, the undertaking is enough to implicate him for treason. On the day of his wedding, Dant s is arrested for his alleged crimes.