man, or rather the development of the same man, whom we have
heretofore seen as assistant attorney at Marseilles. Nature,
according to her way, had made no deviation in the path he had
marked out for himself. From being slender he had now become
meagre; once pale, he was now yellow; his deep-set eyes were
hollow, and the gold spectacles shielding his eyes seemed to be an
integral portion of his face. He dressed entirely in black, with
the exception of his white tie, and his funeral appearance was only
mitigated by the slight line of red ribbon which passed almost
imperceptibly through his button-hole, and appeared like a streak
of blood traced with a delicate brush. Although master of himself,
Monte Cristo, scrutinized with irrepressible curiosity the
magistrate whose salute he returned, and who, distrustful by habit,
and especially incredulous as to social prodigies, was much more
despised to look upon "the noble stranger," as Monte Cristo was
already called, as an adventurer in search of new fields, or an
escaped criminal, rather than as a prince of the Holy See, or a
sultan of the Thousand and One Nights.
"Sir," said Villefort, in the squeaky tone assumed by
magistrates in their oratorical periods, and of which they cannot,
or will not, divest themselves in society, "sir, the signal service
which you yesterday rendered to my wife and son has made it a duty
for me to offer you my thanks. I have come, therefore, to discharge
this duty, and to express to you my overwhelming gratitude." And as
he said this, the "eye severe" of the magistrate had lost nothing
of its habitual arrogance. He spoke in a voice of the
procureur-general, with the rigid inflexibility of neck and
shoulders which caused his flatterers to say (as we have before
observed) that he was the living statue of the law.
"Monsieur," replied the count, with a chilling air, "I am very
happy to have been the means of preserving a son to his mother, for
they say that the sentiment of maternity is the most holy of all;they say that the sentiment of maternity is the most holy of all;
and the good fortune which occurred to me, monsieur, might have
enabled you to dispense with a duty which, in its discharge,
confers an undoubtedly great honor; for I am aware that M. de
Villefort is not usually lavish of the favor which he now bestows
on me, — a favor which, however estimable, is unequal to the
satisfaction which I have in my own consciousness." Villefort,
astonished at this reply, which he by no means expected, started
like a soldier who feels the blow levelled at him over the armor he
wears, and a curl of his disdainful lip indicated that from that
moment he noted in the tablets of his brain that the Count of Monte
Cristo was by no means a highly bred gentleman. He glanced around.
in order to seize on something on which the conversation might
turn, and seemed to fall easily on a topic. He saw the map which
Monte Cristo had been examining when he entered, and said, "You
seem geographically engaged, sir? It is a rich study for you, who,
as I learn, have seen as many lands as are delineated on this
map."
"Yes, sir," replied the count; "I have sought to make of the
human race, taken in the mass, what you practice every day on
individuals — a physiological study. I have believed it was much
easier to descend from the whole to a part than to ascend from a
part to the whole. It is an algebraic axiom, which makes us proceed
from a known to an unknown quantity, and not from an unknown to a
known; but sit down, sir, I beg of you."
Monte Cristo pointed to a chair, which the procureur was obliged
to take the trouble to move forwards himself, while the count
merely fell back into his own, on which he had been kneeling when
M. Villefort entered. Thus the count was halfway turned towards his
visitor, having his back towards the window, his elbow resting on
the geographical chart which furnished the theme of conversation
for the moment, — a conversation which assumed, as in the case offor the moment, — a conversation which assumed, as in the case of
the interviews with Danglars and Morcerf, a turn analogous to the
persons, if not to the situation. "Ah, you philosophize," replied
Villefort, after a moment's silence, during which, like a wrestler
who encounters a powerful opponent, he took breath; "well, sir,
really, if, like you, I had nothing else to do, I should seek a
more amusing occupation."
"Why, in truth, sir," was Monte Cristo's reply, "man is but an
ugly caterpillar for him who studies him through a solar
microscope; but you said, I think, that I had nothing else to do.
Now, really, let me ask, sir, have you? — do you believe you have
anything to do? or to speak in plain terms, do you really think
that what you do deserves being called anything?"
Villefort's astonishment redoubled at this second thrust so
forcibly made by his strange adversary. It was a long time since
the magistrate had heard a paradox so strong, or rather, to say the
truth more exactly, it was the first time he had ever heard of it.
The procureur exerted himself to reply. "Sir," he responded, "you
are a stranger, and I believe you say yourself that a portion of
your life has been spent in Oriental countries, so you are not
aware how human justice, so expeditions in barbarous countries,
takes with us a prudent and well-studied course."
"Oh, yes — yes, I do, sir; it is the pede claudo of the
ancients. I know all that, for it is with the justice of all
countries especially that I have occupied myself — it is with the
criminal procedure of all nations that I have compared natural
justice, and I must say, sir, that it is the law of primitive
nations, that is, the law of retaliation, that I have most
frequently found to be according to the law of God."
"If this law were adopted, sir," said the procureur, "it would
greatly simplify our legal codes, and in that case the magistrates
would not (as you just observed) have much to do."
"It may, perhaps, come to this in time," observed Monte Cristo;