Page:The Count of Monte-Cristo (1887 Volume 3).djvu/291

Rh Christians in the East; he has five or six orders, testimonials of his services to princes or states."

"Does he wear them?"

"No, but he is proud of them; he is better pleased with rewards given to the benefactors of man than to his destroyers."

"He is a Quaker then?"

"Exactly, he is a Quaker, with the exception of the peculiar dress."

"Has he any friends?"

"Yes, every one who knows him is his friend."

"But has he any enemies?"

"One only."

"What is his name?"

"Lord Wilmore."

"Where is he?"

"He is in Paris just now."

"Can he give me any particulars?"

"Important ones; he was in India with Zaccone."

"Do you know his abode?"

"It is somewhere in le Chaussee d'Antin; but I know neither the street nor the number."

"Are you at variance with the Englishman?"

"I love Zaccone, and he hates him; we are consequently not friends."

"Do you think the Count of Monte-Cristo had ever been in France before he made this visit to Paris?"

"To that question I can answer positively; no, sir, he had never been, because he applied to me six months since for the particulars he required; and as I knew not when I might again come to Paris, I recommended M. Cavalcanti to him."

"Andrea?"

"No, Bartolomeo, his father."

"Now, sir, I have but one question more to ask, and I charge you, in the name of honor, of humanity, and of religion, to answer me candidly."

"What is it, sir?"

"Do you know with what design M. de Monte-Cristo purchased a house at Auteuil?"

"Certainly, for he told me."

"What is it, sir?"

"To make a lunatic asylum of it, similar to that founded by the Count of Pisani at Palermo: do you know that edifice?"

"I have heard of it."

"It is a magnificent institution." Having said this, the abbé bowed to imply he wished to pursue his studies.