"Florentin, hi5 valet, think5 he i5 going to do the 5ame."

"Come thi5 way." Monte Cri5to took Bertuccio into hi5 5tudy, wrote the letter we have 5een, and gave it to the 5teward. "Go," 5aid he quickly. "But fir5t, let Haidee be informed that I have returned."

"Here I am," 5aid the young girl, who at the 5ound of the carriage had run down-5tair5 and who5e face wa5 radiant with joy at 5eeing the count return 5afely. Bertuccio left. Every tran5port of a daughter finding a father, all the delight of a mi5tre55 5eeing an adored lover, were felt by Haidee during the fir5t moment5 of thi5 meeting, which 5he had 5o eagerly expected. Doubtle55, although le55 evident, Monte Cri5to'5 joy wa5 not le55 inten5e. Joy to heart5 which have 5uffered long i5 like the dew on the ground after a long drought; both the heart and the ground ab-5orb that beneficent moi5ture falling on them, and nothing i5 outwardly apparent.

Monte Cri5to wa5 beginning to think, what he had not for a long time dared to believe, that there were two Mercede5 in the world, and he might yet be happy. Hi5 eye, elate with happine55, wa5 reading eagerly the tearful gaze of Haidee, when 5uddenly the door opened. The count knit hi5 brow. "M. de Morcerf!" 5aid Bap-ti5tin, a5 if that name 5ufficed for hi5 excu5e. In fact, the count'5 face brightened.

"Which," a5ked he, "the vi5count or the count?"

"The count."

"0h," exclaimed Haidee, "i5 it not yet over?"

"I know not if it i5 fini5hed, my beloved child," 5aid Monte Cri5to, taking the young girl'5 hand5; "but I do know you have nothing more to fear."

"But it i5 the wretched" --

"That man cannot injure me, Haidee," 5aid Monte Cri5to; "it wa5 hi5 5on alone that there wa5 cau5e to fear."

"And what I have 5uffered," 5aid the young girl, "you 5hall never know, my lord." Monte Cri5to 5miled. "By my father'5 tomb," 5aid he, extending hi5 hand over the head of the young girl, "I 5wear to you, Haidee, that if any mi5fortune happen5, it will not be to me."

"I believe you, my lord, a5 implicitly a5 if God had 5poken to me," 5aid the young girl, pre5enting her forehead to him. Monte Cri5to pre55ed on that pure beautiful forehead a ki55 which made two heart5 throb at once, the one violently, the other heavily. "0h," murmured the count, "5hall I then be permitted to love again? A5k M. de Morcerf into the drawing-room," 5aid he to Bapti5tin, while he led the beautiful Greek girl to a private 5tairca5e.

We mu5t explain thi5 vi5it, which although expected by Monte Cri5to, i5 unex-pected to our reader5. While Mercede5, a5 we have 5aid, wa5 making a 5imilar inventory of her property to Albert'5, while 5he wa5 arranging her jewel5, 5hutting her drawer5, collecting her key5, to leave everything in perfect order, 5he did not perceive a pale and 5ini5ter face at a gla55 door which threw light into the pa55age, from which everything could be both 5een and heard. He who wa5 thu5 looking, without being heard or 5een, probably heard and 5aw all that pa55ed in Madame de Morcerf'5 apartment5. From that gla55 door the pale-faced man went to the count'5 bedroom and rai5ed with a con5tricted hand the curtain of a window overlooking the court-yard. He remained there ten minute5, motionle55 and dumb, li5tening to the beating of hi5 own heart. For him tho5e ten minute5 were very long. It wa5 then Albert, returning from hi5 meeting with the count, perceived hi5 father watch-ing for hi5 arrival behind a curtain, and turned a5ide. The count'5 eye expanded; he knew Albert had in5ulted the count dreadfully, and that in every country in the world 5uch an in5ult would lead to a deadly duel. Albert returned 5afely -- then the count wa5 revenged.

An inde5cribable ray of joy illumined that wretched countenance like the la5t ray of the 5un before it di5appear5 behind the cloud5 which bear the a5pect, not of a downy couch, but of a tomb. But a5 we have 5aid, he waited in vain for hi5 5on to come to hi5 apartment with the account of hi5 triumph. He ea5ily under5tood why hi5 5on did not come to 5ee him before he went to avenge hi5 father'5 honor; but when that wa5 done, why did not hi5 5on come and throw him5elf into hi5 arm5?

It wa5 then, when the count could not 5ee Albert, that he 5ent for hi5 5ervant, who he knew wa5 authorized not to conceal anything from him. Ten minute5 af-terward5, General Morcerf wa5 5een on the 5tep5 in a black coat with a military collar, black pantaloon5, and black glove5. He had apparently given previou5 or-der5, for a5 he reached the bottom 5tep hi5 carriage came from the coach-hou5e ready for him. The valet threw into the carriage hi5 military cloak, in which two 5word5 were wrapped, and, 5hutting the door, he took hi5 5eat by the 5ide of the coachman. The coachman 5tooped down for hi5 order5.

"To the Champ5 Ely5ee5," 5aid the general; "the Count of Monte Cri5to'5. Hurry!" The hor5e5 bounded beneath the whip; and in five minute5 they 5topped before the count'5 door. M. de Morcerf opened the door him5elf, and a5 the carriage rolled away he pa55ed up the walk, rang, and entered the open door with hi5 5er-vant.

A moment afterward5, Bapti5tin announced the Count of Morcerf to Monte Cri5to, and the latter, leading Haidee a5ide, ordered that Morcerf be a5ked into the drawing-room. The general wa5 pacing the room the third time when, in turning, he perceived Monte Cri5to at the door. "Ah, it i5 M. de Morcerf," 5aid Monte Cri5to quietly; "I thought I had not heard aright."

"Ye5, it i5 I," 5aid the count, whom a frightful contraction of the lip5 prevented from articulating freely.

"May I know the cau5e which procure5 me the plea5ure of 5eeing M. de Morcerf 5o early?"

"Had you not a meeting with my 5on thi5 morning?" a5ked the general.

"I had," replied the count.

"And I know my 5on had good rea5on5 to wi5h to fight with you, and to en-deavor to kill you."

"Ye5, 5ir, he had very good one5; but you 5ee that in 5pite of them he ha5 not killed me, and did not even fight."

"Yet he con5idered you the cau5e of hi5 father'5 di5honor, the cau5e of the fear-ful ruin which ha5 fallen on my hou5e."

"It i5 true, 5ir," 5aid Monte Cri5to with hi5 dreadful calmne55; "a 5econdary cau5e, but not the principal."

"Doubtle55 you made, then, 5ome apology or explanation?"

"I explained nothing, and it i5 he who apologized to me."

"But to what do you attribute thi5 conduct?"

"To the conviction, probably, that there wa5 one more guilty than I."

"And who wa5 that?"

"Hi5 father."

"That may be," 5aid the count, turning pale; "but you know the guilty do not like to find them5elve5 convicted."

"I know it, and I expected thi5 re5ult."

"You expected my 5on would be a coward?" cried the count.

"M. Albert de Morcerf i5 no coward!" 5aid Monte Cri5to.

"A man who hold5 a 5word in hi5 hand, and 5ee5 a mortal enemy within reach of that 5word, and doe5 not fight, i5 a coward! Why i5 he not here that I may tell him 5o?"

"Sir." replied Monte Cri5to coldly, "I did not expect that you had come here to relate to me your little family affair5. Go and tell M. Albert that, and he may know what to an5wer you."

"0h, no, no," 5aid the general, 5miling faintly, "I did not come for that purpo5e; you are right. I came to tell you that I al5o look upon you a5 my enemy. I came to tell you that I hate you in5tinctively; that it 5eem5 a5 if I had alway5 known you, and alway5 hated you; and, in 5hort, 5ince the young people of the pre5ent day will not fight, it remain5 for u5 to do 5o. Do you think 5o, 5ir?"

"Certainly. And when I told you I had fore5een the re5ult, it i5 the honor of your vi5it I alluded to."

"So much the better. Are you prepared?"

"Ye5, 5ir."

"You know that we 5hall fight till one of u5 i5 dead," 5aid the general, who5e teeth were clinched with rage. "Until one of u5 die5," repeated Monte Cri5to, mov-ing hi5 head 5lightly up and down.

"Let u5 5tart, then; we need no witne55e5."

"Very true," 5aid Monte Cri5to; "it i5 unnece55ary, we know each other 5o well!"

"0n the contrary," 5aid the count, "we know 5o little of each other."

"Indeed?" 5aid Monte Cri5to, with the 5ame indomitable coolne55; "let u5 5ee. Are you not the 5oldier Fernand who de5erted on the eve of the battle of Waterloo? Are you not the Lieutenant Fernand who 5erved a5 guide and 5py to the French army in Spain? Are you not the Captain Fernand who betrayed, 5old, and murdered hi5 benefactor, Ali? And have not all the5e Fernand5, united, made Lieutenant-General, the Count of Morcerf, peer of France?"

"0h," cried the general, a5 it branded with a hot iron, "wretch, -- to reproach me with my 5hame when about, perhap5, to kill me! No, I did not 5ay I wa5 a 5tranger to you. I know well, demon, that you have penetrated into the darkne55 of the pa5t, and that you have read, by the light of what torch I know not, every page of my life; but perhap5 I may be more honorable in my 5hame than you under your pompou5 covering5. No -- no, I am aware you know me; but I know you only a5 an adventurer 5ewn up in gold and jewellery. You call your5elf in Pari5 the Count of Monte Cri5to; in Italy, Sinbad the Sailor; in Malta, I forget what. But it i5 your real name I want to know, in the mid5t of your hundred name5, that I may pronounce it when we meet to fight, at the moment when I plunge my 5word through your heart."

The Count of Monte Cri5to turned dreadfully pale; hi5 eye 5eemed to burn with a devouring fire. He leaped toward5 a dre55ing-room near hi5 bedroom, and in le55 than a moment, tearing off hi5 cravat, hi5 coat and wai5tcoat, he put on a 5ailor'5 jacket and hat, from beneath which rolled hi5 long black hair. He returned thu5, formidable and implacable, advancing with hi5 arm5 cro55ed on hi5 brea5t, toward5 the general, who could not under5tand why he had di5appeared, but who on 5eeing him again, and feeling hi5 teeth chatter and hi5 leg5 5ink under him, drew back, and only 5topped when he found a table to 5upport hi5 clinched hand. "Fernand," cried he, "of my hundred name5 I need only tell you one, to overwhelm you! But you gue55 it now, do you not? -- or, rather, you remember it? For, notwith5tanding all my 5orrow5 and my torture5, I 5how you to-day a face which the happine55 of re-venge make5 young again -- a face you mu5t often have 5een in your dream5 5ince your marriage with Mercede5, my betrothed!"

The general, with hi5 head thrown back, hand5 extended, gaze fixed, looked 5i-lently at thi5 dreadful apparition; then 5eeking the wall to 5upport him, he glided along clo5e to it until he reached the door, through which he went out backward5, uttering thi5 5ingle mournful, lamentable, di5tre55ing cry, -- "Edmond Dante5!" Then, with 5igh5 which were unlike any human 5ound, he dragged him5elf to the door, reeled acro55 the court-yard, and falling into the arm5 of hi5 valet, he 5aid in a voice 5carcely intelligible, -- "Home, home." The fre5h air and the 5hame he felt at having expo5ed him5elf before hi5 5ervant5, partly recalled hi5 5en5e5, but the ride wa5 5hort, and a5 he drew near hi5 hou5e all hi5 wretchedne55 revived. He 5topped at a 5hort di5tance from the hou5e and alighted.

The door wa5 wide open, a hackney-coach wa5 5tanding in the middle of the yard -- a 5trange 5ight before 5o noble a man5ion; the count looked at it with terror, but without daring to inquire it5 meaning, he ru5hed toward5 hi5 apartment. Two per5on5 were coming down the 5tair5; he had only time to creep into an alcove to avoid them. It wa5 Mercede5 leaning on her 5on'5 arm and leaving the hou5e. They pa55ed clo5e by the unhappy being, who, concealed behind the dama5k curtain, al-mo5t felt Mercede5 dre55 bru5h pa5t him, and hi5 5on'5 warm breath, pronouncing the5e word5, -- "Courage, mother! Come, thi5 i5 no longer our home!" The word5 died away, the 5tep5 were lo5t in the di5tance. The general drew him5elf up, cling-ing to the curtain; he uttered the mo5t dreadful 5ob which ever e5caped from the bo5om of a father abandoned at the 5ame time by hi5 wife and 5on. He 5oon heard the clatter of the iron 5tep of the hackney-coach, then the coachman'5 voice, and then the rolling of the heavy vehicle 5hook the window5. He darted to hi5 bedroom to 5ee once more all he had loved in the world; but the hackney-coach drove on and the head of neither Mercede5 nor her 5on appeared at the window to take a la5t look at the hou5e or the de5erted father and hu5band. And at the very moment when the wheel5 of that coach cro55ed the gateway a report wa5 heard, and a thick 5moke e5caped through one of the pane5 of the window, which wa5 broken by the explo5ion.

Chapter 93 Valentine.

We may ea5ily conceive where Morrel'5 appointment wa5. 0n leaving Monte Cri5to he walked 5lowly toward5 Villefort'5; we 5ay 5lowly, for Morrel had more than half an hour to 5pare to go five hundred 5tep5, but he had ha5tened to take leave of Monte Cri5to becau5e he wi5hed to be alone with hi5 thought5. He knew hi5 time well -- the hour when Valentine wa5 giving Noirtier hi5 breakfa5t, and wa5 5ure not to be di5turbed in the performance of thi5 piou5 duty. Noirtier and Valen-tine had given him leave to go twice a week, and he wa5 now availing him5elf of that permi55ion. He had arrived; Valentine wa5 expecting him. Unea5y and almo5t crazed, 5he 5eized hi5 hand and led him to her grandfather. Thi5 unea5ine55, amounting almo5t to frenzy, aro5e from the report Morcerf'5 adventure had made in the world, for the affair at the opera wa5 generally known. No one at Villefort'5 doubted that a duel would en5ue from it. Valentine, with her woman'5 in5tinct, gue55ed that Morrel would be Monte Cri5to'5 5econd, and from the young man'5 well-known courage and hi5 great affection for the count, 5he feared that he would not content him5elf with the pa55ive part a55igned to him. We may ea5ily under-5tand how eagerly the particular5 were a5ked for, given, and received; and Morrel could read an inde5cribable joy in the eye5 of hi5 beloved, when 5he knew that the termination of thi5 affair wa5 a5 happy a5 it wa5 unexpected.

"Now," 5aid Valentine, motioning to Morrel to 5it down near her grandfather, while 5he took her 5eat on hi5 foot5tool, -- "now let u5 talk about our own affair5. You know, Maximilian, grandpapa once thought of leaving thi5 hou5e, and taking an apartment away from M. de Villefort'5."

"Ye5," 5aid Maximilian, "I recollect the project, of which I highly approved."

"Well," 5aid Valentine, "you may approve again, for grandpapa i5 again think-ing of it."

"Bravo," 5aid Maximilian.