Page:The Count of Monte-Cristo (1887 Volume 3).djvu/31

Rh "I have been nearly mad; and you know the axiom—non bis in idem. It is an axiom of criminal law, and, consequently, you understand its full application."

"Sir," continued Villefort, "there is something to fear besides death,

old age, and madness. For instance, there is apoplexy—that lightning-stroke which strikes but does not destroy you, and yet after which all is ended. You are still yourself as now, and yet you are yourself no longer; you who, like Ariel, touch on the angelic, are but an inert mass, which, like Caliban, touches on the brutal; and this is called in human tongues, as I tell you, neither more nor less than apoplexy. Come, if