The Count of Monte Cristo

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not been king's attorney twenty-five years without having amassed a
tolerable number of enemies; mine are numerous. Let this affair be
talked of, it will be a triumph for them, which will make them rejoice,
and cover me with shame. Pardon me, doctor, these worldly ideas; were
you a priest I should not dare tell you that, but you are a man, and
you know mankind. Doctor, pray recall your words; you have said nothing,
have you?"

"My dear M. de Villefort," replied the doctor, "my first duty is to
humanity. I would have saved Madame de Saint-Meran, if science could
have done it; but she is dead and my duty regards the living. Let us
bury this terrible secret in the deepest recesses of our hearts; I am
willing, if any one should suspect this, that my silence on the subject
should be imputed to my ignorance. Meanwhile, sir, watch always--watch
carefully, for perhaps the evil may not stop here. And when you have
found the culprit, if you find him, I will say to you, 'You are a
magistrate, do as you will!'"