The Count of Monte Cristo

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"Where are these papers, then?"

"Here they are."

Andrea seized the certificate of his father's marriage and his own
baptismal register, and after having opened them with all the eagerness
which might be expected under the circumstances, he read them with a
facility which proved that he was accustomed to similar documents, and
with an expression which plainly denoted an unusual interest in the
contents. When he had perused the documents, an indefinable expression
of pleasure lighted up his countenance, and looking at the major with a
most peculiar smile, he said, in very excellent Tuscan,--"Then there is
no longer any such thing, in Italy as being condemned to the galleys?"
The major drew himself up to his full height.

"Why?--what do you mean by that question?"