What happened to the Captian of the pharaon prior to its arrival in France. what effect does this have on Dantes?

The ship's captain, Captain Leclère, had come down with an "apoplectic fever" and died. Dentes rises to the challenge of bringing the ship home. He also is intent on carrying out Leclère's last wishes: to deliver a package to Marshal Bertrand, one of Napoleon's Marshals.