The Count of Monte Cristo

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our present conversation, I will just say this much--that her extreme
dislike to me has its origin there; and I much fear she envies me the
fortune I enjoy in right of my mother, and which will be more than
doubled at the death of M. and Mme. de Saint-Meran, whose sole heiress
I am. Madame de Villefort has nothing of her own, and hates me for being
so richly endowed. Alas, how gladly would I exchange the half of this
wealth for the happiness of at least sharing my father's love. God
knows, I would prefer sacrificing the whole, so that it would obtain me
a happy and affectionate home."

"Poor Valentine!"

"I seem to myself as though living a life of bondage, yet at the
same time am so conscious of my own weakness that I fear to break the
restraint in which I am held, lest I fall utterly helpless. Then, too,
my father is not a person whose orders may be infringed with impunity;
protected as he is by his high position and firmly established