The Count of Monte Cristo

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have the same cause of complaint against this dear Edward."

"True," said Madame de Villefort, with an intonation of voice which it
is impossible to describe; "is it not unjust--shamefully unjust? Poor
Edward is as much M. Noirtier's grandchild as Valentine, and yet, if she
had not been going to marry M. Franz, M. Noirtier would have left
her all his money; and supposing Valentine to be disinherited by her
grandfather, she will still be three times richer than he." The count
listened and said no more. "Count," said Villefort, "we will not
entertain you any longer with our family misfortunes. It is true that my
patrimony will go to endow charitable institutions, and my father will
have deprived me of my lawful inheritance without any reason for doing
so, but I shall have the satisfaction of knowing that I have acted like
a man of sense and feeling. M. d'Epinay, to whom I had promised the
interest of this sum, shall receive it, even if I endure the most cruel
privations."