which the rooms had been filled in
Edmond's time had all disappeared; the four walls alone remained as he
had left them. The bed belonging to the present occupants was placed as
the former owner of the chamber had been accustomed to have his; and, in
spite of his efforts to prevent it, the eyes of Edmond were suffused
in tears as he reflected that on that spot the old man had breathed
his last, vainly calling for his son. The young couple gazed with
astonishment at the sight of their visitor's emotion, and wondered to
see the large tears silently chasing each other down his otherwise stern
and immovable features; but they felt the sacredness of his grief,
and kindly refrained from questioning him as to its cause, while, with
instinctive delicacy, they left him to indulge his sorrow alone. When
he withdrew from the scene of his painful recollections, they both
accompanied him downstairs, reiterating their hope that he would come
again whenever he pleased, and assuring him that their poor dwelling
would ever be open to him. As Edmond passed the door on the fourth
floor, he paused to inquire whether Caderousse the tailor still dwelt
there; but he received, for reply, that the person in question had got
into difficulties, and at the present time kept a small inn on the route
from Bellegarde to Beaucaire.

Having obtained the address of the person to whom the house in the
Allees de Meillan belonged, Dantes next proceeded thither, and, under
the name of Lord Wilmore (the name and title inscribed on his passport),
purchased the small dwelling for the sum of twenty-five thousand francs,
at least ten thousand more than it was worth; but had its owner asked
half a million, it would unhesitatingly have been given. The very same
day the occupants of the apartments on the fifth floor of the house, now
become the property of Dantes, were duly informed by the notary who had
arranged the necessary transfer of deeds, etc., that the new landlord
gave them their choice of any of the rooms in the house, without the
least augmentation of rent, upon condition of their giving instant
possession of the two small chambers they at present inhabited.

This strange event aroused great wonder and curiosity in the
neighborhood of the Allees de Meillan, and a multitude of theories
were afloat, none of which was anywhere near the truth. But what raised
public astonishment to a climax, and set all conjecture at defiance, was
the knowledge that the sam