o was here
this morning, to deliver it.'--'The same story,' muttered the jeweller;
'and improbable as it seemed at first, it may be true. There's only
the price we are not agreed about.'--'How not agreed about?' said
Caderousse. 'I thought we agreed for the price I asked.'--'That is,'
replied the jeweller, 'I offered 40,000 francs.'--'Forty thousand,'
cried La Carconte; 'we will not part with it for that sum. The abbe told
us it was worth 50,000. without the setting.'

"'What was the abbe's name?' asked the indefatigable questioner.--'The
Abbe Busoni,' said La Carconte.--'He was a foreigner?'--'An Italian,
from the neighborhood of Mantua, I believe.'--'Let me see this diamond
again,' replied the jeweller; 'the first time you are often mistaken as
to the value of a stone.' Caderousse took from his pocket a small case
of black shagreen, opened, and gave it to the jeweller. At the sight
of the diamond, which was as large as a hazel-nut, La Carconte's eyes
sparkled with cupidity."

"And what did you think of this fine story, eavesdropper?" said Monte
Cristo; "did you credit it?"

"Yes, your excellency. I did not look on Caderousse as a bad man, and I
thought him incapable of committing a crime, or even a theft."

"That did more honor to your heart than to your experience, M.
Bertuccio. Had you known this Edmond Dantes, of whom they spoke?"

"No, your excellency, I had never heard of him before, and never but
once afterwards, and that was from the Abbe Busoni himself, when I saw
him in the prison at Nimes."

"Go on."

"The jeweller took the ring, and drawing from his pocket a pair of steel
pliers and a small set of copper scales, he took the stone out of its
setting, and weighed it carefully. 'I will give you 45,000,' said he,
'but not a sou more; besides, as that is the exact value of the stone,
I brought just that sum with me.'--'Oh, that's no matter,' replied
Caderousse, 'I will go back with you to fetch the other 5,000
francs.'--'No,' returned the jeweller, giving back the diamond and the
ring to Caderousse--'no, it is worth no more, and I am sorry I offered
so much, for the stone has a flaw in it, which I had not seen. However,
I will not go back on my word, and I will give 45,000.'--'At least,
replace the diamond in the ring,' said La Carconte sharply.--'Ah, true,'
replied the jeweller, and he reset the stone.--'No matter,' observed
Caderousse, replacing the box in his pocket, 'some one else will
purchase it.'