e, "pardon me
for having denied thee; thou dost exist, thou art indeed man's father
in heaven, and his judge on earth. My God, my Lord, I have long despised
thee! Pardon me, my God; receive me, O my Lord!" Caderousse sighed
deeply, and fell back with a groan. The blood no longer flowed from his
wounds. He was dead.

"One!" said the count mysteriously, his eyes fixed on the corpse,
disfigured by so awful a death. Ten minutes afterwards the surgeon and
the procureur arrived, the one accompanied by the porter, the other by
Ali, and were received by the Abbe Busoni, who was praying by the side
of the corpse.

Chapter 84. Beauchamp.

The daring attempt to rob the count was the topic of conversation
throughout Paris for the next fortnight. The dying man had signed a
deposition declaring Benedetto to be the assassin. The police had orders
to make the strictest search for the murderer. Caderousse's knife, dark
lantern, bunch of keys, and clothing, excepting the waistcoat, which
could not be found, were deposited at the registry; the corpse was
conveyed to the morgue. The count told every one that this adventure had
happened during his absence at Auteuil, and that he only knew what
was related by the Abbe Busoni, who that evening, by mere chance, had
requested to pass the night in his house, to examine some valuable books
in his library. Bertuccio alone turned pale whenever Benedetto's name
was mentioned in his presence, but there was no reason why any one
should notice his doing so. Villefort, being called on to prove
the crime, was preparing his brief with the same ardor that he was
accustomed to exercise when required to speak in criminal cases.

But three weeks had already passed, and the most diligent search had
been unsuccessful; the attempted robbery and the murder of the robber
by his comrade were almost forgotten in anticipation of the approaching
marriage of Mademoiselle Danglars to the Count Andrea Cavalcanti. It was
expected that this wedding would shortly take place, as the young
man was received at the banker's as the betrothed. Letters had been
despatched to M. Cavalcanti, as the count's father, who highly approved
of the union, regretted his inability to leave Parma at that time, and
promised a wedding gift of a hundred and fifty thousand livres. It
was agreed that the three millions should be intrusted to Danglars to
invest; some persons had warned the young man of the circumstances of
his future father