"Yes; this morning we breakfasted with him; we rode in his carriage all day, and now we have taken possession of his box.""You know him, then?"
"Yes, and no."
"How so?"
"It is a long story."
'Tell it to me."
"It would frighten you too much."
"So much the more reason."
"At least wait until the story has a conclusion.""Very well; I prefer complete histories; but tell me how you made his acquaintance? Did any one introduce you to him?""No; it was he who introduced himself to us.""When?"
"Last night, after we left you."
"Through what medium?"
"The very prosaic one of our landlord."
"He is staying, then, at the Hotel de Londres with you?""Not only in the same hotel, but on the same floor.""What is his name -- for, of course, you know?""The Count of Monte Cristo."
"That is not a family name?"
"No, it is the name of the island he has purchased.""And he is a count?"
"A Tuscan count."
"Well, we must put up with that," said the countess, who was herself from one of the oldest Venetian families."What sort of a man is he?""Ask the Vicomte de Morcerf."
"You hear, M.de Morcerf, I am referred to you," said the countess.
"We should be very hard to please, madam," returned Albert, "did we not think him delightful.A friend of ten years'
standing could not have done more for us, or with a more perfect courtesy.""Come," observed the countess, smiling, "I see my vampire is only some millionaire, who has taken the appearance of Lara in order to avoid being confounded with M.de Rothschild;and you have seen her?"
"Her?"
"The beautiful Greek of yesterday."
"No; we heard, I think, the sound of her guzla, but she remained perfectly invisible.""When you say invisible," interrupted Albert, "it is only to keep up the mystery; for whom do you take the blue domino at the window with the white curtains?""Where was this window with white hangings?" asked the countess.
"At the Rospoli Palace."
"The count had three windows at the Rospoli Palace?""Yes.Did you pass through the Corso?"
"Yes."
"Well, did you notice two windows hung with yellow damask, and one with white damask with a red cross? Those were the count's windows?""Why, he must be a nabob.Do you know what those three windows were worth?""Two or three hundred Roman crowns?"
"Two or three thousand."
"The deuce."
"Does his island produce him such a revenue?""It does not bring him a baiocco."
"Then why did he purchase it?"
"For a whim."
"He is an original, then?"
"In reality," observed Albert, "he seemed to me somewhat eccentric; were he at Paris, and a frequenter of the theatres, I should say he was a poor devil literally mad.
This morning he made two or three exits worthy of Didier or Anthony." At this moment a fresh visitor entered, and, according to custom, Franz gave up his seat to him.This circumstance had, moreover, the effect of changing the conversation; an hour afterwards the two friends returned to their hotel.Signor Pastrini had already set about procuring their disguises for the morrow; and he assured them that they would be perfectly satisfied.The next morning, at nine o'clock, he entered Franz's room, followed by a tailor, who had eight or ten Roman peasant costumes on his arm; they selected two exactly alike, and charged the tailor to sew on each of their hats about twenty yards of ribbon, and to procure them two of the long silk sashes of different colors with which the lower orders decorate themselves on fete-days.Albert was impatient to see how he looked in his new dress -- a jacket and breeches of blue velvet, silk stockings with clocks, shoes with buckles, and a silk waistcoat.This picturesque attire set him off to great advantage; and when he had bound the scarf around his waist, and when his hat, placed coquettishly on one side, let fall on his shoulder a stream of ribbons, Franz was forced to confess that costume has much to do with the physical superiority we accord to certain nations.The Turks used to be so picturesque with their long and flowing robes, but are they not now hideous with their blue frocks buttoned up to the chin, and their red caps, which make them look like a bottle of wine with a red seal? Franz complimented Albert, who looked at himself in the glass with an unequivocal smile of satisfaction.They were thus engaged when the Count of Monte Cristo entered.
"Gentlemen," said he, "although a companion is agreeable, perfect freedom is sometimes still more agreeable.I come to say that to-day, and for the remainder of the Carnival, Ileave the carriage entirely at your disposal.The host will tell you I have three or four more, so that you will not inconvenience me in any way.Make use of it, I pray you, for your pleasure or your business."The young men wished to decline, but they could find no good reason for refusing an offer which was so agreeable to them.
The Count of Monte Cristo remained a quarter of an hour with them, conversing on all subjects with the greatest ease.He was, as we have already said, perfectly well acquainted with the literature of all countries.A glance at the walls of his salon proved to Franz and Albert that he was a connoisseur of pictures.A few words he let fall showed them that he was no stranger to the sciences, and he seemed much occupied with chemistry.The two friends did not venture to return the count the breakfast he had given them; it would have been too absurd to offer him in exchange for his excellent table the very inferior one of Signor Pastrini.
