The Count of Monte Cristo

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"'I say that the diamond is real, and that this gentleman, one of the
first jewellers of Paris, will give us 50,000. francs for it. Only, in
order to satisfy himself that it really belongs to us, he wishes you to
relate to him, as I have done already, the miraculous manner in which
the diamond came into our possession. In the meantime please to sit
down, monsieur, and I will fetch you some refreshment.' The jeweller
examined attentively the interior of the inn and the apparent poverty
of the persons who were about to sell him a diamond that seemed to have
come from the casket of a prince. 'Relate your story, madame,' said he,
wishing, no doubt, to profit by the absence of the husband, so that the
latter could not influence the wife's story, to see if the two recitals
tallied.

"'Oh,' returned she, 'it was a gift of heaven. My husband was a great
friend, in 1814 or 1815, of a sailor named Edmond Dantes. This poor
fellow, whom Caderousse had forgotten, had not forgotten him, and at his
death he bequeathed this diamond to him.'--'But how did he obtain