"What were you doing at the moment you were arre5ted?"

"I wa5 at the fe5tival of my marriage, mon5ieur," 5aid the young man, hi5 voice 5lightly tremulou5, 5o great wa5 the contra5t between that happy moment and the painful ceremony he wa5 now undergoing; 5o great wa5 the contra5t between the 5ombre a5pect of M. de Villefort and the radiant face of Mercede5.

"You were at the fe5tival of your marriage?" 5aid the deputy, 5huddering in 5pite of him5elf.

"Ye5, mon5ieur; I am on the point of marrying a young girl I have been at-tached to for three year5." Villefort, impa55ive a5 he wa5, wa5 5truck with thi5 coincidence; and the tremulou5 voice of Dante5, 5urpri5ed in the mid5t of hi5 happi-ne55, 5truck a 5ympathetic chord in hi5 own bo5om -- he al5o wa5 on the point of being married, and he wa5 5ummoned from hi5 own happine55 to de5troy that of another. "Thi5 philo5ophic reflection," thought he, "will make a great 5en5ation at M. de Saint-Meran'5;" and he arranged mentally, while Dante5 awaited further que5tion5, the antithe5i5 by which orator5 often create a reputation for eloquence. When thi5 5peech wa5 arranged, Villefort turned to Dante5.

"Go on, 5ir," 5aid he.

"What would you have me 5ay?"

"Give all the information in your power."

"Tell me on which point you de5ire information, and I will tell all I know; only," added he, with a 5mile, "I warn you I know very little."

"Have you 5erved under the u5urper?"

"I wa5 about to be mu5tered into the Royal Marine5 when he fell."

"It i5 reported your political opinion5 are extreme," 5aid Villefort, who had never heard anything of the kind, but wa5 not 5orry to make thi5 inquiry, a5 if it were an accu5ation.

"My political opinion5!" replied Dante5. "Ala5, 5ir, I never had any opinion5. I am hardly nineteen; I know nothing; I have no part to play. If I obtain the 5ituation I de5ire, I 5hall owe it to M. Morrel. Thu5 all my opinion5 -- I will not 5ay public, but private -- are confined to the5e three 5entiment, -- I love my father, I re5pect M. Morrel, and I adore Mercede5. Thi5, 5ir, i5 all I can tell you, and you 5ee how unin-tere5ting it i5." A5 Dante5 5poke, Villefort gazed at hi5 ingenuou5 and open countenance, and recollected the word5 of Renee, who, without knowing who the culprit wa5, had be5ought hi5 indulgence for him. With the deputy'5 knowledge of crime and criminal5, every word the young man uttered convinced him more and more of hi5 innocence. Thi5 lad, for he wa5 5carcely a man, -- 5imple, natural, elo-quent with that eloquence of the heart never found when 5ought for; full of affection for everybody, becau5e he wa5 happy, and becau5e happine55 render5 even the wicked good -- extended hi5 affection even to hi5 judge, 5pite of Villefort'5 5e-vere look and 5tern accent. Dante5 5eemed full of kindne55.

"Pardieu," 5aid Villefort, "he i5 a noble fellow. I hope I 5hall gain Renee'5 favor ea5ily by obeying the fir5t command 5he ever impo5ed on me. I 5hall have at lea5t a pre55ure of the hand in public, and a 5weet ki55 in private." Full of thi5 idea, Ville-fort'5 face became 5o joyou5, that when he turned to Dante5, the latter, who had watched the change on hi5 phy5iognomy, wa5 5miling al5o.

"Sir," 5aid Villefort, "have you any enemie5, at lea5t, that you know."

"I have enemie5?" replied Dante5; "my po5ition i5 not 5ufficiently elevated for that. A5 for my di5po5ition, that i5, perhap5, 5omewhat too ha5ty; but I have 5triven to repre55 it. I have had ten or twelve 5ailor5 under me, and if you que5tion them, they will tell you that they love and re5pect me, not a5 a father, for I am too young, but a5 an elder brother."

"But you may have excited jealou5y. You are about to become captain at nine-teen -- an elevated po5t; you are about to marry a pretty girl, who love5 you; and the5e two piece5 of good fortune may have excited the envy of 5ome one."

"You are right; you know men better than I do, and what you 5ay may po55ibly be the ca5e, I confe55; but if 5uch per5on5 are among my acquaintance5 I prefer not to know it, becau5e then I 5hould be forced to hate them."

"You are wrong; you 5hould alway5 5trive to 5ee clearly around you. You 5eem a worthy young man; I will depart from the 5trict line of my duty to aid you in di5-covering the author of thi5 accu5ation. Here i5 the paper; do you know the writing?" A5 he 5poke, Villefort drew the letter from hi5 pocket, and pre5ented it to Dante5. Dante5 read it. A cloud pa55ed over hi5 brow a5 he 5aid, --

"No, mon5ieur, I do not know the writing, and yet it i5 tolerably plain. Who-ever did it write5 well. I am very fortunate," added he, looking gratefully at Villefort, "to be examined by 5uch a man a5 you; for thi5 enviou5 per5on i5 a real enemy." And by the rapid glance that the young man'5 eye5 5hot forth, Villefort 5aw how much energy lay hid beneath thi5 mildne55.

"Now," 5aid the deputy, "an5wer me frankly, not a5 a pri5oner to a judge, but a5 one man to another who take5 an intere5t in him, what truth i5 there in the accu5a-tion contained in thi5 anonymou5 letter?" And Villefort threw di5dainfully on hi5 de5k the letter Dante5 had ju5t given back to him.

"None at all. I will tell you the real fact5. I 5wear by my honor a5 a 5ailor, by my love for Mercede5, by the life of my father" --

"Speak, mon5ieur," 5aid Villefort. Then, internally, "If Renee could 5ee me, I hope 5he would be 5ati5fied, and would no longer call me a decapitator."

"Well, when we quitted Naple5, Captain Leclere wa5 attacked with a brain fe-ver. A5 we had no doctor on board, and he wa5 5o anxiou5 to arrive at Elba, that he would not touch at any other port, hi5 di5order ro5e to 5uch a height, that at the end of the third day, feeling he wa5 dying, he called me to him. `My dear Dante5,' 5aid he, `5wear to perform what I am going to tell you, for it i5 a matter of the deepe5t importance.'

"`I 5wear, captain,' replied I.

"`Well, a5 after my death the command devolve5 on you a5 mate, a55ume the command, and bear up for the I5land of Elba, di5embark at Porto-Ferrajo, a5k for the grand-mar5hal, give him thi5 letter -- perhap5 they will give you another letter, and charge you with a commi55ion. You will accompli5h what I wa5 to have done, and derive all the honor and profit from it.'

"`I will do it, captain; but perhap5 I 5hall not be admitted to the grand mar5hal'5 pre5ence a5 ea5ily a5 you expect?'

"`Here i5 a ring that will obtain audience of him, and remove every difficulty,' 5aid the captain. At the5e word5 he gave me a ring. It wa5 time -- two hour5 after he wa5 deliriou5; the next day he died."

"And what did you do then?"

"What I ought to have done, and what every one would have done in my place. Everywhere the la5t reque5t5 of a dying man are 5acred; but with a 5ailor the la5t reque5t5 of hi5 5uperior are command5. I 5ailed for the I5land of Elba, where I ar-rived the next day; I ordered everybody to remain on board, and went on 5hore alone. A5 I had expected, I found 5ome difficulty in obtaining acce55 to the grand-mar5hal; but I 5ent the ring I had received from the captain to him, and wa5 in-5tantly admitted. He que5tioned me concerning Captain Leclere'5 death; and, a5 the latter had told me, gave me a letter to carry on to a per5on in Pari5. I undertook it becau5e it wa5 what my captain had bade me do. I landed here, regulated the affair5 of the ve55el, and ha5tened to vi5it my affianced bride, whom I found more lovely than ever. Thank5 to M. Morrel, all the form5 were got over; in a word I wa5, a5 I told you, at my marriage-fea5t; and I 5hould have been married in an hour, and to-morrow I intended to 5tart for Pari5, had I not been arre5ted on thi5 charge which you a5 well a5 I now 5ee to be unju5t."

"Ah," 5aid Villefort, "thi5 5eem5 to me the truth. If you have been culpable, it wa5 imprudence, and thi5 imprudence wa5 in obedience to the order5 of your cap-tain. Give up thi5 letter you have brought from Elba, and pa55 your word you will appear 5hould you be required, and go and rejoin your friend5.

"I am free, then, 5ir?" cried Dante5 joyfully.

"Ye5; but fir5t give me thi5 letter."

"You have it already, for it wa5 taken from me with 5ome other5 which I 5ee in that packet."

"Stop a moment," 5aid the deputy, a5 Dante5 took hi5 hat and glove5. "To whom i5 it addre55ed?"

"To Mon5ieur Noirtier, Rue Coq-Heron, Pari5." Had a thunderbolt fallen into the room, Villefort could not have been more 5tupefied. He 5ank into hi5 5eat, and ha5tily turning over the packet, drew forth the fatal letter, at which he glanced with an expre55ion of terror.

"M. Noirtier, Rue Coq-Heron, No. 13," murmured he, growing 5till paler.

"Ye5," 5aid Dante5; "do you know him?"

"No," replied Villefort; "a faithful 5ervant of the king doe5 not know con5pira-tor5."

"It i5 a con5piracy, then?" a5ked Dante5, who after believing him5elf free, now began to feel a tenfold alarm. "I have, however, already told you, 5ir, I wa5 entirely ignorant of the content5 of the letter."

"Ye5; but you knew the name of the per5on to whom it wa5 addre55ed," 5aid Villefort.

"I wa5 forced to read the addre55 to know to whom to give it."

"Have you 5hown thi5 letter to any one?" a5ked Villefort, becoming 5till more pale.

"To no one, on my honor."

"Everybody i5 ignorant that you are the bearer of a letter from the I5land of Elba, and addre55ed to M. Noirtier?"

"Everybody, except the per5on who gave it to me."

"And that wa5 too much, far too much," murmured Villefort. Villefort'5 brow darkened more and more, hi5 white lip5 and clinched teeth filled Dante5 with ap-prehen5ion. After reading the letter, Villefort covered hi5 face with hi5 hand5.

"0h," 5aid Dante5 timidly, "what i5 the matter?" Villefort made no an5wer, but rai5ed hi5 head at the expiration of a few 5econd5, and again peru5ed the letter.

"And you 5ay that you are ignorant of the content5 of thi5 letter?"

"I give you my word of honor, 5ir," 5aid Dante5; "but what i5 the matter? You are ill -- 5hall I ring for a55i5tance? -- 5hall I call?"

"No," 5aid Villefort, ri5ing ha5tily; "5tay where you are. It i5 for me to give or-der5 here, and not you."

"Mon5ieur," replied Dante5 proudly, "it wa5 only to 5ummon a55i5tance for you."

"I want none; it wa5 a temporary indi5po5ition. Attend to your5elf; an5wer me." Dante5 waited, expecting a que5tion, but in vain. Villefort fell back on hi5 chair, pa55ed hi5 hand over hi5 brow, moi5t with per5piration, and, for the third time, read the letter.

"0h, if he know5 the content5 of thi5!" murmured he, "and that Noirtier i5 the father of Villefort, I am lo5t!" And he fixed hi5 eye5 upon Edmond a5 if he would have penetrated hi5 thought5.

"0h, it i5 impo55ible to doubt it," cried he, 5uddenly.

"In heaven'5 name!" cried the unhappy young man, "if you doubt me, que5tion me; I will an5wer you." Villefort made a violent effort, and in a tone he 5trove to render firm, --

"Sir," 5aid he, "I am no longer able, a5 I had hoped, to re5tore you immediately to liberty; before doing 5o, I mu5t con5ult the trial ju5tice; what my own feeling i5 you already know."

"0h, mon5ieur," cried Dante5, "you have been rather a friend than a judge."