is but very few days. No,--but, perhaps, you will permit me to call
to mind--stay!" The Count placed his hand on his brow as if to collect
his thoughts. "No--it was somewhere--away from here--it was--I do not
know--but it appears that this recollection is connected with a lovely
sky and some religious fete; mademoiselle was holding flowers in her
hand, the interesting boy was chasing a beautiful peacock in a garden,
and you, madame, were under the trellis of some arbor. Pray come to my
aid, madame; do not these circumstances appeal to your memory?"

"No, indeed," replied Madame de Villefort; "and yet it appears to me,
sir, that if I had met you anywhere, the recollection of you must have
been imprinted on my memory."

"Perhaps the count saw us in Italy," said Valentine timidly.

"Yes, in Italy; it was in Italy most probably," replied Monte Cristo;
"you have travelled then in Italy, mademoiselle?"

"Yes; madame and I were there two years ago. The doctors, anxious for
my lungs, had prescribed the air of Naples. We went by Bologna, Perugia,
and Rome."

"Ah, yes--true, mademoiselle," exclaimed Monte Cristo as if this simple
explanation was sufficient to revive the recollection he sought. "It was
at Perugia on Corpus Christi Day, in the garden of the Hotel des Postes,
when chance brought us together; you, Madame de Villefort, and her son;
I now remember having had the honor of meeting you."

"I perfectly well remember Perugia, sir, and the Hotel des Postes, and
the festival of which you speak," said Madame de Villefort, "but in vain
do I tax my memory, of whose treachery I am ashamed, for I really do not
recall to mind that I ever had the pleasure of seeing you before."

"It is strange, but neither do I recollect meeting with you," observed
Valentine, raising her beautiful eyes to the count.

"But I remember it perfectly," interposed the darling Edward.

"I will assist your memory, madame," continued the count; "the day had
been burning hot; you were waiting for horses, which were delayed in
consequence of the festival. Mademoiselle was walking in the shade of
the garden, and your son disappeared in pursuit of the peacock."

"And I caught it, mamma, don't you remember?" interposed Edward, "and I
pulled three such beautiful feathers out of his tail."

"You, madame, remained under the arbor; do you not remember, that while
you were seated on a stone bench, and while, as I told you, Mademoiselle
de Villefort and your