Page:The Count of Monte-Cristo (1887 Volume 3).djvu/223

Rh "Are you really frightened, madame?" said Monte-Cristo.

"Oh, no, sir," said Madame Danglars; "but you suppose scenes in a manner which gives them the appearance of reality."

"Ah, yes!" said Monte-Cristo, smiling; "it is all a matter of the

imagination. Why should we not imagine this the apartment of an honest family-woman? And this bed with red hangings, a bed visited by the goddess Lucina? And that mysterious staircase, the passage through which, not to disturb their sleep, the doctor and nurse pass, or even the father carrying the sleeping child?"