Why does Monte Cristo go to such lengths to purchase Danglars’s horses?

This chapter witnesses the Count winning favor with the wives of both his archenemies. He plays with Danglars' desire for money, by buying his wife's horses from him, not because he actually desires the horses, but because he wishes to win Danglars' wife favor. He does this by returning the horses to her. This gesture also astounds and intimidates his enemy because the Count essentially throws away the huge sum of money for which he bought them. His ploy also widens the domestic schism that already exists in the Danglars' household, for husband and wife do not live in happy matrimony.