The Count of Monte Cristo

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As the last stroke died away, the count thought he heard a slight noise
in the dressing-room; this first sound, or rather this first grinding,
was followed by a second, then a third; at the fourth, the count knew
what to expect. A firm and well-practised hand was engaged in cutting
the four sides of a pane of glass with a diamond. The count felt his
heart beat more rapidly. Inured as men may be to danger, forewarned as
they may be of peril, they understand, by the fluttering of the heart
and the shuddering of the frame, the enormous difference between a dream
and a reality, between the project and the execution. However, Monte
Cristo only made a sign to apprise Ali, who, understanding that danger
was approaching from the other side, drew nearer to his master. Monte
Cristo was eager to ascertain the strength and number of his enemies.

The window whence the noise proceeded was opposite the opening by which
the count could see into the dressing-room. He fixed his eyes on that
window--he distinguished a shadow in the darkness; then one of the panes
became quite opaque, as if a sheet of paper were stuck on the outside,