The Count of Monte Cristo

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with the same avidity to a funeral procession as to the marriage of a
duchess.

Gradually the reception-room filled, and some of our old friends
made their appearance--we mean Debray, Chateau-Renaud, and Beauchamp,
accompanied by all the leading men of the day at the bar, in literature,
or the army, for M. de Villefort moved in the first Parisian circles,
less owing to his social position than to his personal merit. The cousin
standing at the door ushered in the guests, and it was rather a relief
to the indifferent to see a person as unmoved as themselves, and who did
not exact a mournful face or force tears, as would have been the case
with a father, a brother, or a lover. Those who were acquainted
soon formed into little groups. One of them was made of Debray,
Chateau-Renaud, and Beauchamp.

"Poor girl," said Debray, like the rest, paying an involuntary tribute
to the sad event,--"poor girl, so young, so rich, so beautiful! Could