The Count of Monte Cristo

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"Meanwhile, the president carelessly opened the letter which had been
brought to him; but the first lines aroused his attention; he read them
again and again, and fixing his eyes on M. de Morcerf, 'Count,' said he,
'you have said that the Vizier of Yanina confided his wife and daughter
to your care?'--'Yes, sir,' replied Morcerf; 'but in that, like all the
rest, misfortune pursued me. On my return, Vasiliki and her daughter
Haidee had disappeared.'--'Did you know them?'--'My intimacy with the
pasha and his unlimited confidence had gained me an introduction to
them, and I had seen them above twenty times.'

"'Have you any idea what became of them?'--'Yes, sir; I heard they had
fallen victims to their sorrow, and, perhaps, to their poverty. I was
not rich; my life was in constant danger; I could not seek them, to my
great regret.' The president frowned imperceptibly. 'Gentlemen,' said
he, 'you have heard the Comte de Morcerf's defence. Can you, sir,
produce any witnesses to the truth of what you have asserted?'--'Alas,
no, monsieur,' replied the count; 'all those who surrounded the vizier,