The Count of Monte Cristo

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offer it you."

"How kind you are."

"Only remember one thing--a small dose is a remedy, a large one is
poison. One drop will restore life, as you have seen; five or six will
inevitably kill, and in a way the more terrible inasmuch as, poured into
a glass of wine, it would not in the slightest degree affect its flavor.
But I say no more, madame; it is really as if I were prescribing for
you." The clock struck half-past six, and a lady was announced, a friend
of Madame de Villefort, who came to dine with her.

"If I had had the honor of seeing you for the third or fourth time,
count, instead of only for the second," said Madame de Villefort; "if
I had had the honor of being your friend, instead of only having the
happiness of being under an obligation to you, I should insist on
detaining you to dinner, and not allow myself to be daunted by a first