The Count of Monte Cristo

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carriage, left the one or the other at the little inn, and entered by
the gate you see there." Monte Cristo made a sign with his head to
show that he could discern in the darkness the door to which Bertuccio
alluded. "As I had nothing more to do at Versailles, I went to Auteuil,
and gained all the information I could. If I wished to surprise him,
it was evident this was the spot to lie in wait for him. The house
belonged, as the concierge informed your excellency, to M. de
Saint-Meran, Villefort's father-in-law. M. de Saint-Meran lived at
Marseilles, so that this country house was useless to him, and it was
reported to be let to a young widow, known only by the name of 'the
baroness.'

"One evening, as I was looking over the wall, I saw a young and handsome
woman who was walking alone in that garden, which was not overlooked by
any windows, and I guessed that she was awaiting M. de Villefort. When
she was sufficiently near for me to distinguish her features, I saw she
was from eighteen to nineteen, tall and very fair. As she had a loose