The Count of Monte Cristo

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The baroness then thought of M. de Villefort. It was M. de Villefort who
had remorselessly brought misfortune into her family, as though they
had been strangers. But, no; on reflection, the procureur was not a
merciless man; and it was not the magistrate, slave to his duties, but
the friend, the loyal friend, who roughly but firmly cut into the very
core of the corruption; it was not the executioner, but the surgeon, who
wished to withdraw the honor of Danglars from ignominious association
with the disgraced young man they had presented to the world as their
son-in-law. And since Villefort, the friend of Danglars, had acted in
this way, no one could suppose that he had been previously acquainted
with, or had lent himself to, any of Andrea's intrigues. Villefort's
conduct, therefore, upon reflection, appeared to the baroness as
if shaped for their mutual advantage. But the inflexibility of the
procureur should stop there; she would see him the next day, and if she
could not make him fail in his duties as a magistrate, she would, at
least, obtain all the indulgence he could allow. She would invoke
the past, recall old recollections; she would supplicate him by the