THE COUNT OF MONTE-CRISTO.
303
I lost no time in hastening to Corsica, but when I arrived at Rogliano I found a house of mourning, the consequences of a scene so horrible that the neighbors remember it to this day. By my advice, my poor sister had refused to comply with the demands of Benedetto, who was continually tormenting her for all the money in the house. One morning he threatened her, and disappeared throughout the whole of the day, leaving Assunta, who loved him as if he were her own child, to weep over his absence. Evening came, and still she watched for his return.;
Benedetto and His Foster-Mother.
"As the eleventh hour struck, he entered with two of the companions of his follies. As poor Assunta rose to clasp her truant in her arms,
