The Count of Monte Cristo

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it?' asked the jeweller; 'had he it before he was imprisoned?'--'No,
monsieur; but it appears that in prison he made the acquaintance of a
rich Englishman, and as in prison he fell sick, and Dantes took the same
care of him as if he had been his brother, the Englishman, when he was
set free, gave this stone to Dantes, who, less fortunate, died, and, in
his turn, left it to us, and charged the excellent abbe, who was here
this morning, to deliver it.'--'The same story,' muttered the jeweller;
'and improbable as it seemed at first, it may be true. There's only
the price we are not agreed about.'--'How not agreed about?' said
Caderousse. 'I thought we agreed for the price I asked.'--'That is,'
replied the jeweller, 'I offered 40,000 francs.'--'Forty thousand,'
cried La Carconte; 'we will not part with it for that sum. The abbe told
us it was worth 50,000. without the setting.'

"'What was the abbe's name?' asked the indefatigable questioner.--'The
Abbe Busoni,' said La Carconte.--'He was a foreigner?'--'An Italian,
from the neighborhood of Mantua, I believe.'--'Let me see this diamond