The Count of Monte Cristo

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Chapter 42. Monsieur Bertuccio.

Meanwhile the count had arrived at his house; it had taken him six
minutes to perform the distance, but these six minutes were sufficient
to induce twenty young men who knew the price of the equipage they had
been unable to purchase themselves, to put their horses in a gallop in
order to see the rich foreigner who could afford to give 20,000 francs
apiece for his horses. The house Ali had chosen, and which was to serve
as a town residence to Monte Cristo, was situated on the right hand as
you ascend the Champs Elysees. A thick clump of trees and shrubs rose in
the centre, and masked a portion of the front; around this shrubbery
two alleys, like two arms, extended right and left, and formed a
carriage-drive from the iron gates to a double portico, on every step of
which stood a porcelain vase, filled with flowers. This house, isolated
from the rest, had, besides the main entrance, another in the Rue
Ponthieu. Even before the coachman had hailed the concierge, the massy
gates rolled on their hinges--they had seen the Count coming, and at