If the Count of Monte Cristo had been for a long timefamiliar with the ways of Parisian society, he would haveappreciated better the significance of the step which M. deVillefort had taken. Standing well at court, whether theking regnant was of the older or younger branch, whether thegovernment was doctrinaire liberal, or conservative; lookedupon by all as a man of talent, since those who have neverexperienced a political check are generally so regarded;hated by many, but warmly supported by others, without beingreally liked by anybody, M. de Villefort held a highposition in the magistracy, and maintained his eminence likea Harlay or a Mole. His drawing-room, under the regeneratinginfluence of a young wife and a daughter by his firstmarriage, scarcely eighteen, was still one of thewell-regulated Paris salons where the worship of traditionalcustoms and the observance of rigid etiquette were carefullymaintained. A freezing politeness, a strict fidelity togovernment principles, a profound contempt for theories andtheorists, a deep-seated hatred of ideality, - these werethe elements of private and public life displayed by M. deVillefort.

He was not only a magistrate, he was almost a diplomatist.His relations with the former court, of which he alwaysspoke with dignity and respect, made him respected by thenew one, and he knew so many things, that not only was healways carefully considered, but sometimes consulted.Perhaps this would not have been so had it been possible toget rid of M. de Villefort; but, like the feudal barons whorebelled against their sovereign, he dwelt in an impregnablefortress. This fortress was his post as king's attorney, allthe advantages of which he exploited with marvellous skill,and which he would not have resigned but to be made deputy,and thus to replace neutrality by opposition. Ordinarily M.de Villefort made and returned very few visits. His wifevisited for him, and this was the received thing in theworld, where the weighty and multifarious occupations of themagistrate were accepted as an excuse for what was reallyonly calculated pride, a manifestation of professedsuperiority - in fact, the application of the axiom,"Pretend to think well of yourself, and the world will thinkwell of you," an axiom a hundred times more useful insociety nowadays than that of the Greeks, "Know thyself," aknowledge for which, in our days, we have substituted theless difficult and more advantageous science of knowingothers.

To his friends M. de Villefort was a powerful protector; tohis enemies, he was a silent, but bitter opponent; for thosewho were neither the one nor the other, he was a statue ofthe law-made man. He had a haughty bearing, a look eithersteady and impenetrable or insolently piercing andinquisitorial. Four successive revolutions had built andcemented the pedestal upon which his fortune was based. M.de Villefort had the reputation of being the least curiousand the least wearisome man in France. He gave a ball everyyear, at which he appeared for a quarter of an hour only, - that is to say, five and forty minutes less than the king isvisible at his balls. He was never seen at the theatres, atconcerts, or in any place of public resort. Occasionally,but seldom, he played at whist, and then care was taken toselect partners worthy of him - sometimes they wereambassadors, sometimes archbishops, or sometimes a prince,or a president, or some dowager duchess. Such was the manwhose carriage had just now stopped before the Count ofMonte Cristo's door. The valet de chambre announced M. deVillefort at the moment when the count, leaning over a largetable, was tracing on a map the route from St. Petersburg toChina.

The procureur entered with the same grave and measured stephe would have employed in entering a court of justice. Hewas the same man, or rather the development of the same man,whom we have heretofore seen as assistant attorney atMarseilles. Nature, according to her way, had made nodeviation in the path he had marked out for himself. Frombeing slender he had now become meagre; once pale, he wasnow yellow; his deep-set eyes were hollow, and the goldspectacles shielding his eyes seemed to be an integralportion of his face. He dressed entirely in black, with theexception of his white tie, and his funeral appearance wasonly mitigated by the slight line of red ribbon which passedalmost imperceptibly through his button-hole, and appearedlike a streak of blood traced with a delicate brush.Although master of himself, Monte Cristo, scrutinized withirrepressible curiosity the magistrate whose salute hereturned, and who, distrustful by habit, and especiallyincredulous as to social prodigies, was much more dispisedto look upon "the noble stranger," as Monte Cristo wasalready called, as an adventurer in search of new fields, oran escaped criminal, rather than as a prince of the HolySee, or a sultan of the Thousand and One Nights.

"Sir," said Villefort, in the squeaky tone assumed bymagistrates in their oratorical periods, and of which theycannot, or will not, divest themselves in society, "sir, thesignal service which you yesterday rendered to my wife andson has made it a duty for me to offer you my thanks. I havecome, therefore, to discharge this duty, and to express toyou my overwhelming gratitude." And as he said this, the"eye severe" of the magistrate had lost nothing of itshabitual arrogance. He spoke in a voice of theprocureur-general, with the rigid inflexibility of neck andshoulders which caused his flatterers to say (as we havebefore observed) that he was the living statue of the law.

"Monsieur," replied the count, with a chilling air, "I amvery happy to have been the means of preserving a son to hismother, for they say that the sentiment of maternity is themost holy of all; and the good fortune which occurred to me,monsieur, might have enabled you to dispense with a dutywhich, in its discharge, confers an undoubtedly great honor;for I am aware that M. de Villefort is not usually lavish ofthe favor which he now bestows on me, - a favor which,however estimable, is unequal to the satisfaction which Ihave in my own consciousness." Villefort, astonished at thisreply, which he by no means expected, started like a soldierwho feels the blow levelled at him over the armor he wears,and a curl of his disdainful lip indicated that from thatmoment he noted in the tablets of his brain that the Countof Monte Cristo was by no means a highly bred gentleman. Heglanced around. in order to seize on something on which theconversation might turn, and seemed to fall easily on atopic. He saw the map which Monte Cristo had been examiningwhen he entered, and said, "You seem geographically engaged,sir? It is a rich study for you, who, as I learn, have seenas many lands as are delineated on this map."

"Yes, sir," replied the count; "l have sought to make of thehuman race, taken in the mass, what you practice every dayon individuals - a physiological study. I have believed itwas much easier to descend from the whole to a part than toascend 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 begof you."

Monte Cristo pointed to a chair, which the procureur wasobliged to take the trouble to move forwards himself, whilethe count merely fell back into his own, on which he hadbeen kneeling when M. Villefort entered. Thus the count washalfway turned towards his visitor, having his back towardsthe window, his elbow resting on the geographical chartwhich furnished the theme of conversation for the moment, - a conversation which assumed, as in the case of theinterviews with Danglars and Morcerf, a turn analogous tothe persons, if not to the situation. "Ah, youphilosophize," replied Villefort, after a moment's silence,during which, like a wrestler who encounters a powerfulopponent, he took breath; "well, sir, really, if, like you,I had nothing else to do, I should seek a more amusingoccupation."

"Why, in truth, sir," was Monte Cristo's reply, "man is butan ugly caterpillar for him who studies him through a solarmicroscope; but you said, I think, that I had nothing elseto do. Now, really, let me ask, sir, have you? - do youbelieve you have anything to do? or to speak in plain terms,do you really think that what you do deserves being calledanything?"

Villefort's astonishment redoubled at this second thrust soforcibly made by his strange adversary. It was a long timesince the magistrate had heard a paradox so strong, orrather, to say the truth more exactly, it was the first timehe had ever heard of it. The procureur exerted himself toreply. "Sir," he responded, "you are a stranger, and Ibelieve you say yourself that a portion of your life hasbeen spent in Oriental countries, so you are not aware howhuman justice, so expeditions in barbarous countries, takeswith us a prudent and well-studied course."

"Oh, yes - yes, I do, sir; it is the pede claudo of theancients. I know all that, for it is with the justice of allcountries especially that I have occupied myself - it iswith the criminal procedure of all nations that I havecompared natural justice, and I must say, sir, that it isthe law of primitive nations, that is, the law ofretaliation, that I have most frequently found to beaccording to the law of God."

"If this law were adopted, sir," said the procureur, "itwould greatly simplify our legal codes, and in that case themagistrates would not (as you just observed) have much todo."

"It may, perhaps, come to this in time," observed MonteCristo; "you know that human inventions march from thecomplex to the simple, and simplicity is always perfection."

"In the meanwhile," continued the magistrate, "our codes arein full force, with all their contradictory enactmentsderived from Gallic customs, Roman laws, and Frank usages;the knowledge of all which, you will agree, is not to beacquired without extended labor; it needs tedious study toacquire this knowledge, and, when acquired, a strong powerof brain to retain it."

"I agree with you entirely, sir; but all that even you knowwith respect to the French code, I know, not only inreference to that code, but as regards the codes of allnations. The English, Turkish, Japanese, Hindu laws, are asfamiliar to me as the French laws, and thus I was right,when I said to you, that relatively (you know thateverything is relative, sir) - that relatively to what Ihave done, you have very little to do; but that relativelyto all I have learned, you have yet a great deal to learn."

"But with what motive have you learned all this?" inquiredVillefort, in astonishment. Monte Cristo smiled. "Really,sir," he observed, "I see that in spite of the reputationwhich you have acquired as a superior man, you look ateverything from the material and vulgar view of society,beginning with man, and ending with man - that is to say,in the most restricted, most narrow view which it ispossible for human understanding to embrace."

"Pray, sir, explain yourself," said Villefort, more and moreastonished, "I really do - not - understand you - perfectly."

"I say, sir, that with the eyes fixed on the socialorganization of nations, you see only the springs of themachine, and lose sight of the sublime workman who makesthem act; I say that you do not recognize before you andaround you any but those office-holders whose commissionshave been signed by a minister or king; and that the menwhom God has put above those office-holders, ministers, andkings, by giving them a mission to follow out, instead of apost to fill - I say that they escape your narrow, limitedfield of observation. It is thus that human weakness fails,from its debilitated and imperfect organs. Tobias took theangel who restored him to light for an ordinary young man.The nations took Attila, who was doomed to destroy them, fora conqueror similar to other conquerors, and it wasnecessary for both to reveal their missions, that they mightbe known and acknowledged; one was compelled to say, `I amthe angel of the Lord'; and the other, `I am the hammer ofGod,' in order that the divine essence in both might berevealed."

"Then," said Villefort, more and more amazed, and reallysupposing he was speaking to a mystic or a madman, "youconsider yourself as one of those extraordinary beings whomyou have mentioned?"

"And why not?" said Monte Cristo coldly.

"Your pardon, sir," replied Villefort, quite astounded, "butyou will excuse me if, when I presented myself to you, I wasunaware that I should meet with a person whose knowledge andunderstanding so far surpass the usual knowledge andunderstanding of men. It is not usual with us corruptedwretches of civilization to find gentlemen like yourself,possessors, as you are, of immense fortune - at least, soit is said - and I beg you to observe that I do notinquire, I merely repeat; - it is not usual, I say, forsuch privileged and wealthy beings to waste their time inspeculations on the state of society, in philosophicalreveries, intended at best to console those whom fate hasdisinherited from the goods of this world."

"Really, sir," retorted the count, "have you attained theeminent situation in which you are, without having admitted,or even without having met with exceptions? and do you neveruse your eyes, which must have acquired so much finesse andcertainty, to divine, at a glance, the kind of man by whomyou are confronted? Should not a magistrate be not merelythe best administrator of the law, but the most craftyexpounder of the chicanery of his profession, a steel probeto search hearts, a touchstone to try the gold which in eachsoul is mingled with more or less of alloy?"

"Sir," said Villefort, "upon my word, you overcome me. Ireally never heard a person speak as you do."

"Because you remain eternally encircled in a round ofgeneral conditions, and have never dared to raise your wingsinto those upper spheres which God has peopled withinvisible or exceptional beings."

"And you allow then, sir, that spheres exist, and that thesemarked and invisible beings mingle amongst us?"

"Why should they not? Can you see the air you breathe, andyet without which you could not for a moment exist?"

"Then we do not see those beings to whom you allude?"

"Yes, we do; you see them whenever God pleases to allow themto assume a material form. You touch them, come in contactwith them, speak to them, and they reply to you."

"Ah," said Villefort, smiling, "I confess I should like tobe warned when one of these beings is in contact with me."

"You have been served as you desire, monsieur, for you werewarned just now, and I now again warn you."

"Then you yourself are one of these marked beings?"

"Yes, monsieur, I believe so; for until now, no man hasfound himself in a position similar to mine. The dominionsof kings are limited either by mountains or rivers, or achange of manners, or an alteration of language. My kingdomis bounded only by the world, for I am not an Italian, or aFrenchman, or a Hindu, or an American, or a Spaniard - I ama cosmopolite. No country can say it saw my birth. God aloneknows what country will see me die. I adopt all customs,speak all languages. You believe me to be a Frenchman, for Ispeak French with the same facility and purity as yourself.Well, Ali, my Nubian, believes me to be an Arab; Bertuccio,my steward, takes me for a Roman; Haidee, my slave, thinksme a Greek. You may, therefore, comprehend, that being of nocountry, asking no protection from any government,acknowledging no man as my brother, not one of the scruplesthat arrest the powerful, or the obstacles which paralyzethe weak, paralyzes or arrests me. I have only twoadversaries - I will not say two conquerors, for withperseverance I subdue even them, - they are time anddistance. There is a third, and the most terrible - that ismy condition as a mortal being. This alone can stop me in myonward career, before I have attained the goal at which Iaim, for all the rest I have reduced to mathematical terms.What men call the chances of fate - namely, ruin, change,circumstances - I have fully anticipated, and if any ofthese should overtake me, yet it will not overwhelm me.Unless I die, I shall always be what I am, and therefore itis that I utter the things you have never heard, even fromthe mouths of kings - for kings have need, and otherpersons have fear of you. For who is there who does not sayto himself, in a society as incongruously organized as ours,`Perhaps some day I shall have to do with the king'sattorney'?"

"But can you not say that, sir? The moment you become aninhabitant of France, you are naturally subjected to theFrench law."

"I know it sir," replied Monte Cristo; "but when I visit acountry I begin to study, by all the means which areavailable, the men from whom I may have anything to hope orto fear, till I know them as well as, perhaps better than,they know themselves. It follows from this, that the king'sattorney, be he who he may, with whom I should have to deal,would assuredly be more embarrassed than I should."

"That is to say," replied Villefort with hesitation, "thathuman nature being weak, every man, according to your creed,has committed faults."

"Faults or crimes," responded Monte Cristo with a negligentair.

"And that you alone, amongst the men whom you do notrecognize as your brothers - for you have said so,"observed Villefort in a tone that faltered somewhat - "youalone are perfect."

"No, not perfect," was the count's reply; "onlyimpenetrable, that's all. But let us leave off this strain,sir, if the tone of it is displeasing to you; I am no moredisturbed by your justice than are you by my second-sight."

"No, no, - by no means," said Villefort, who was afraid ofseeming to abandon his ground. "No; by your brilliant andalmost sublime conversation you have elevated me above theordinary level; we no longer talk, we rise to dissertation.But you know how the theologians in their collegiate chairs,and philosophers in their controversies, occasionally saycruel truths; let us suppose for the moment that we aretheologizing in a social way, or even philosophically, and Iwill say to you, rude as it may seem, `My brother, yousacrifice greatly to pride; you may be above others, butabove you there is God.'"

"Above us all, sir," was Monte Cristo's response, in a toneand with an emphasis so deep that Villefort involuntarilyshuddered. "I have my pride for men - serpents always readyto threaten every one who would pass without crushing themunder foot. But I lay aside that pride before God, who hastaken me from nothing to make me what I am."

"Then, count, I admire you," said Villefort, who, for thefirst time in this strange conversation, used thearistocratic form to the unknown personage, whom, until now,he had only called monsieur. "Yes, and I say to you, if youare really strong, really superior, really pious, orimpenetrable, which you were right in saying amounts to thesame thing - then be proud, sir, for that is thecharacteristic of predominance. Yet you have unquestionablysome ambition."

"I have, sir."

"And what may it be?"

"I too, as happens to every man once in his life, have beentaken by Satan into the highest mountain in the earth, andwhen there he showed me all the kingdoms of the world, andas he said before, so said he to me, `Child of earth, whatwouldst thou have to make thee adore me?' I reflected long,for a gnawing ambition had long preyed upon me, and then Ireplied, `Listen, - I have always heard of providence, andyet I have never seen him, or anything that resembles him,or which can make me believe that he exists. I wish to beprovidence myself, for I feel that the most beautiful,noblest, most sublime thing in the world, is to recompenseand punish.' Satan bowed his head, and groaned. `Youmistake,' he said, `providence does exist, only you havenever seen him, because the child of God is as invisible asthe parent. You have seen nothing that resembles him,because he works by secret springs, and moves by hiddenways. All I can do for you is to make you one of the agentsof that providence.' The bargain was concluded. I maysacrifice my soul, but what matters it?" added Monte Cristo."If the thing were to do again, I would again do it."Villefort looked at Monte Cristo with extreme amazement."Count," he inquired, "have you any relations?"

"No, sir, I am alone in the world."

"So much the worse."

"Why?" asked Monte Cristo.

"Because then you might witness a spectacle calculated tobreak down your pride. You say you fear nothing but death?"

"I did not say that I feared it; I only said that deathalone could check the execution of my plans."

"And old age?"

"My end will be achieved before I grow old."

"And madness?"

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

"Sir," continued Villefort, "there is something to fearbesides death, old age, and madness. For instance, there isapoplexy - that lightning-stroke which strikes but does notdestroy you, and yet which brings everything to an end. Youare still yourself as now, and yet you are yourself nolonger; you who, like Ariel, verge on the angelic, are butan inert mass, which, like Caliban, verges on the brutal;and this is called in human tongues, as I tell you, neithermore nor less than apoplexy. Come, if so you will, count,and continue this conversation at my house, any day you maybe willing to see an adversary capable of understanding andanxious to refute you, and I will show you my father, M.Noirtier de Villefort, one of the most fiery Jacobins of theFrench Revolution; that is to say, he had the mostremarkable audacity, seconded by a most powerfulorganization - a man who has not, perhaps, like yourselfseen all the kingdoms of the earth, but who has helped tooverturn one of the greatest; in fact, a man who believedhimself, like you, one of the envoys, not of God, but of asupreme being; not of providence, but of fate. Well, sir,the rupture of a blood-vessel on the lobe of the brain hasdestroyed all this, not in a day, not in an hour, but in asecond. M. Noirtier, who, on the previous night, was the oldJacobin, the old senator, the old Carbonaro, laughing at theguillotine, the cannon, and the dagger - M. Noirtier,playing with revolutions - M. Noirtier, for whom France wasa vast chess-board, from which pawns, rooks, knights, andqueens were to disappear, so that the king was checkmated - M. Noirtier, the redoubtable, was the next morning `poor M.Noirtier,' the helpless old man, at the tender mercies ofthe weakest creature in the household, that is, hisgrandchild, Valentine; a dumb and frozen carcass, in fact,living painlessly on, that time may be given for his frameto decompose without his consciousness of its decay."

"Alas, sir," said Monte Cristo "this spectacle is neitherstrange to my eye nor my thought. I am something of aphysician, and have, like my fellows, sought more than oncefor the soul in living and in dead matter; yet, likeprovidence, it has remained invisible to my eyes, althoughpresent to my heart. A hundred writers since Socrates,Seneca, St. Augustine, and Gall, have made, in verse andprose, the comparison you have made, and yet I can wellunderstand that a father's sufferings may effect greatchanges in the mind of a son. I will call on you, sir, sinceyou bid me contemplate, for the advantage of my pride, thisterrible spectacle, which must have been so great a sourceof sorrow to your family."

"It would have been so unquestionably, had not God given meso large a compensation. In contrast with the old man, whois dragging his way to the tomb, are two children justentering into life - Valentine, the daughter by my firstwife - Mademoiselle Renee de Saint-Meran - and Edward, theboy whose life you have this day saved."

"And what is your deduction from this compensation, sir?"inquired Monte Cristo.

"My deduction is," replied Villefort, "that my father, ledaway by his passions, has committed some fault unknown tohuman justice, but marked by the justice of God. That God,desirous in his mercy to punish but one person, has visitedthis justice on him alone." Monte Cristo with a smile on hislips, uttered in the depths of his soul a groan which wouldhave made Villefort fly had he but heard it. "Adieu, sir,"said the magistrate, who had risen from his seat; "I leaveyou, bearing a remembrance of you - a remembrance ofesteem, which I hope will not be disagreeable to you whenyou know me better; for I am not a man to bore my friends,as you will learn. Besides, you have made an eternal friendof Madame de Villefort." The count bowed, and contentedhimself with seeing Villefort to the door of his cabinet,the procureur being escorted to his carriage by two footmen,who, on a signal from their master, followed him with everymark of attention. When he had gone, Monte Cristo breathed aprofound sigh, and said, - "Enough of this poison, let menow seek the antidote." Then sounding his bell, he said toAli, who entered, "I am going to madam's chamber - have thecarriage ready at one o'clock."