"True," said Madame de Villefort, with an intonation of voice which it is impossible to describe; "is it not unjust shamefully unjust? Poor Edward is as much M. Noirtier's grandchild as Valentine, and yet, if she had not been going to marry M. Franz, M. Noirtier would have left her all his money; Edward, too, will bear the family name; and, supposing Valentine to be disinherited by her grandfather, she will still be three times richer than he."
The count listened and said no more.
"M. le Comte," said Villefort, "we will not entertain you any longer with our family misfortunes. It is true that my patrimony will go to endow the poor who to-day are really the rich, and my father will have deprived me of my lawful inheritance without any reason for doing so; but I shall have the satisfaction of knowing that I have acted like a man of sense and feeling. M. d'Epinay, to whom I had promised the interest of this sum, shall receive it, even if I endure the most cruel privations."
"However," said Madame de Villefort, returning to the one idea which incessantly occupied her mind, "perhaps it would be better to represent this unlucky affair to M. d'Epinay, in order to give him the opportunity of himself renouncing his claim to the hand of Mademoiselle de Villefort."
"Ah, that would be a great pity," said Villefort.
"A great pity," said Monte-Cristo.
"Undoubtedly," said Villefort, moderating the tones of his voice; "a marriage, once concerted and then broken off, throws a sort of discredit on a young lady; then, again, the old reports, which I was so anxious to put an end to, will instantly gain ground, no, it will all go well; M. d'Epinay, if he is an honorable man, will consider himself more than ever pledged to Mademoiselle de Villefort; unless he were actuated by a decided feeling of avarice; but that is impossible."
"I agree with M. de Villefort," said Monte-Cristo, fixing his eyes on Madame de Villefort; "and if I were sufficiently intimate with him to allow of giving my advice, I would persuade him, since I have been told M. d'Epinay is coming back, to settle this affair at once, beyond all possibility of revocation. I will answer for the success of a project which will reflect so much honor on M. de Villefort."
The procureur du roi rose, delighted with the proposition, but his wife slightly changed color.
"Well, that is all that I wanted, and I will be guided by a counselor such as you are," said he, extending his hand to Monte-Cristo. "Therefore, let every one here look upon what has passed to-day as if it had not happened. There is no change in our original plans."
