CHAPTER CIX
THE ASSIZES
HE Benedetto affair, as it was called in the Palais, and by people in general, had produced a tremendous sensation. Frequenting the Café de Paris, the Boulevard de Gand, and the Bois de Boulogne, during his brief two or three months of splendor, the false Cavalcanti had formed a host of acquaintances.
The papers had related his various adventures, both as the man of fashion and the galley-slave; and as every one who had been personally acquainted with the Prince Cavalcanti experienced a lively curiosity in his fate, they all determined to spare no trouble in endeavoring to witness the trial of M. Benedetto for the murder of his comrade.
In the eyes of many, Benedetto appeared, if not a victim to, at least an instance of, the fallibility of the law. M. Cavalcanti, his father, had been seen in Paris, and it was expected he would reappear to claim the illustrious outcast. Many who were not aware of the pretty comedy in which he had made his appearance at Monte-Cristo's house were struck with the dignified appearance, the gentlemanly bearing, and the knowledge of the world displayed by the old patrician, who certainly played the nobleman very well, so long as he said nothing, and made no arithmetical calculations.
As for the accused himself, many remembered him as being so amiable, so handsome, and so liberal, that they chose to think him the victim of some conspiracy, since, in this world, large fortunes frequently excite the malevolence and jealousy of some unknown enemy.
Every one, therefore, ran to the court: some to witness the sight, others to comment upon it. From seven o'clock in the morning a crowd was stationed at the iron gates, and, an hour before the trial commenced, the hall was full of the privileged. Before the entrance of the magistrates, and indeed frequently afterward, a court of justice, on days when
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