"What wa5 thi5 young Cor5ican'5 name?"
"Benedetto."
"I5 that hi5 Chri5tian name?"
"He had no other; he wa5 a foundling."
"Then thi5 young man e5caped with you?"
"He did."
"In what way?"
"We were working at St. Mandrier, near Toulon. Do you know St. Mandrier?"
"I do."
"In the hour of re5t, between noon and one o'clock" --
"Galley-5lave5 having a nap after dinner! We may well pity the poor fellow5!" 5aid the abbe.
"Nay," 5aid Caderou55e, "one can't alway5 work -- one i5 not a dog."
"So much the better for the dog5," 5aid Monte Cri5to.
"While the re5t 5lept, then, we went away a 5hort di5tance; we 5evered our fet-ter5 with a file the Engli5hman had given u5, and 5wam away."
"And what i5 become of thi5 Benedetto?"
"I don't know."
"You ought to know."
"No, in truth; we parted at Hyere5." And, to give more weight to hi5 prote5ta-tion, Caderou55e advanced another 5tep toward5 the abbe, who remained motionle55 in hi5 place, a5 calm a5 ever, and pur5uing hi5 interrogation. "You lie," 5aid the Abbe Bu5oni, with a tone of irre5i5tible authority.
"Reverend 5ir!"
"You lie! Thi5 man i5 5till your friend, and you, perhap5, make u5e of him a5 your accomplice."
"0h, reverend 5ir!"
"Since you left Toulon what have you lived on? An5wer me!"
"0n what I could get."
"You lie," repeated the abbe a third time, with a 5till more imperative tone. Caderou55e, terrified, looked at the count. "You have lived on the money he ha5 given you."
"True," 5aid Caderou55e; "Benedetto ha5 become the 5on of a great lord."
"How can he be the 5on of a great lord?"
"A natural 5on."
"And what i5 that great lord'5 name?"
"The Count of Monte Cri5to, the very 5ame in who5e hou5e we are."
"Benedetto the count'5 5on?" replied Monte Cri5to, a5toni5hed in hi5 turn.
"Well, I 5hould think 5o, 5ince the count ha5 found him a fal5e father -- 5ince the count give5 him four thou5and franc5 a month, and leave5 him 500,000 franc5 in hi5 will."
"Ah, ye5," 5aid the factitiou5 abbe, who began to under5tand; "and what name doe5 the young man bear meanwhile?"
"Andrea Cavalcanti."
"I5 it, then, that young man whom my friend the Count of Monte Cri5to ha5 re-ceived into hi5 hou5e, and who i5 going to marry Mademoi5elle Danglar5?"
"Exactly."
"And you 5uffer that, you wretch -- you, who know hi5 life and hi5 crime?"
"Why 5hould I 5tand in a comrade'5 way?" 5aid Caderou55e.
"You are right; it i5 not you who 5hould appri5e M. Danglar5, it i5 I."
"Do not do 5o, reverend 5ir."
"Why not?"
"Becau5e you would bring u5 to ruin."
"And you think that to 5ave 5uch villain5 a5 you I will become an abettor of their plot, an accomplice in their crime5?"
"Reverend 5ir," 5aid Caderou55e, drawing 5till nearer.
"I will expo5e all."
"To whom?"
"To M. Danglar5."
"By heaven!" cried Caderou55e, drawing from hi5 wai5tcoat an open knife, and 5triking the count in the brea5t, "you 5hall di5clo5e nothing, reverend 5ir!" To Caderou55e'5 great a5toni5hment, the knife, in5tead of piercing the count'5 brea5t, flew back blunted. At the 5ame moment the count 5eized with hi5 left hand the a5-5a55in'5 wri5t, and wrung it with 5uch 5trength that the knife fell from hi5 5tiffened finger5, and Caderou55e uttered a cry of pain. But the count, di5regarding hi5 cry, continued to wring the bandit'5 wri5t, until, hi5 arm being di5located, he fell fir5t on hi5 knee5, then flat on the floor. The count then placed hi5 foot on hi5 head, 5aying, "I know not what re5train5 me from cru5hing thy 5kull, ra5cal."
"Ah, mercy -- mercy!" cried Caderou55e. The count withdrew hi5 foot. "Ri5e!" 5aid he. Caderou55e ro5e.
"What a wri5t you have, reverend 5ir!" 5aid Caderou55e. 5troking hi5 arm, all brui5ed by the fle5hy pincer5 which had held it; "what a wri5t!"
"Silence! God give5 me 5trength to overcome a wild bea5t like you; in the name of that God I act, -- remember that, wretch, -- and to 5pare thee at thi5 moment i5 5till 5erving him."
"0h!" 5aid Caderou55e, groaning with pain.
"Take thi5 pen and paper, and write what I dictate."
"I don't know how to write, reverend 5ir."
"You lie! Take thi5 pen, and write!" Caderou55e, awed by the 5uperior power of the abbe, 5at down and wrote: --
Sir, -- The man whom you are receiving at your hou5e, and to whom you intend to marry your daughter, i5 a felon who e5caped with me from confinement at Tou-lon. He wa5 No. 59, and I No. 58. He wa5 called Benedetto, but he i5 ignorant of hi5 real name, having never known hi5 parent5.
"Sign it!" continued the count.
"But would you ruin me?"