The Count of Monte Cristo

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amongst the first to avail themselves of this permission. For an instant
the idea struck Madame Danglars that this eagerness on the part of the
young viscount arose from his impatience to join her party, and she
whispered her expectations to her daughter, that Albert was hurrying to
pay his respects to them. Mademoiselle Eugenie, however, merely returned
a dissenting movement of the head, while, with a cold smile, she
directed the attention of her mother to an opposite box on the first
circle, in which sat the Countess G----, and where Morcerf had just made
his appearance. "So we meet again, my travelling friend, do we?"
cried the countess, extending her hand to him with all the warmth and
cordiality of an old acquaintance; "it was really very good of you to
recognize me so quickly, and still more so to bestow your first visit on
me."

"Be assured," replied Albert, "that if I had been aware of your arrival
in Paris, and had known your address, I should have paid my respects
to you before this. Allow me to introduce my friend, Baron de