The Count of Monte Cristo

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"Ah," cried Valentine, "he is too much the friend of Madame de Villefort
ever to be mine."

"The friend of Madame de Villefort! It cannot be; surely, Valentine, you
are mistaken?"

"No, indeed, I am not; for I assure you, his power over our household
is almost unlimited. Courted by my step-mother, who regards him as the
epitome of human wisdom; admired by my father, who says he has never
before heard such sublime ideas so eloquently expressed; idolized by
Edward, who, notwithstanding his fear of the count's large black eyes,
runs to meet him the moment he arrives, and opens his hand, in which he
is sure to find some delightful present,--M. de Monte Cristo appears
to exert a mysterious and almost uncontrollable influence over all the
members of our family."

"If such be the case, my dear Valentine, you must yourself have felt,