ssumed by magistrates in
their oratorical periods, and of which they cannot, or will not, divest
themselves in society, "sir, the signal service which you yesterday
rendered to my wife and son has made it a duty for me to offer you my
thanks. I have come, therefore, to discharge this duty, and to express
to you my overwhelming gratitude." And as he said this, the "eye severe"
of the magistrate had lost nothing of its habitual arrogance. He spoke
in a voice of the procureur-general, with the rigid inflexibility of
neck and shoulders which caused his flatterers to say (as we have before
observed) that he was the living statue of the law.

"Monsieur," replied the count, with a chilling air, "I am very happy to
have been the means of preserving a son to his mother, for they say that
the sentiment of maternity is the most holy of all; and the good fortune
which occurred to me, monsieur, might have enabled you to dispense with
a duty which, in its discharge, confers an undoubtedly great honor; for
I am aware that M. de Villefort is not usually lavish of the favor which
he now bestows on me,--a favor which, however estimable, is unequal
to the satisfaction which I have in my own consciousness." Villefort,
astonished at this reply, which he by no means expected, started like a
soldier who feels the blow levelled at him over the armor he wears, and
a curl of his disdainful lip indicated that from that moment he noted in
the tablets of his brain that the Count of Monte Cristo was by no
means a highly bred gentleman. He glanced around, in order to seize
on something on which the conversation might turn, and seemed to fall
easily on a topic. He saw the map which Monte Cristo had been examining
when he entered, and said, "You seem geographically engaged, sir? It is
a rich study for you, who, as I learn, have seen as many lands as are
delineated on this map."

"Yes, sir," replied the count; "I have sought to make of the human
race, taken in the mass, what you practice every day on individuals--a
physiological study. I have believed it was much easier to descend from
the whole to a part than to ascend from a part to the whole. It is
an algebraic axiom, which makes us proceed from a known to an unknown
quantity, and not from an unknown to a known; but sit down, sir, I beg
of you."

Monte Cristo pointed to a chair, which the procureur was obliged to take
the trouble to move forwards himself, while the count merely fell back
into his