The Count of Monte Cristo

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Chapter 106. Dividing the Proceeds.

The apartment on the second floor of the house in the Rue
Saint-Germain-des-Pres, where Albert de Morcerf had selected a home for
his mother, was let to a very mysterious person. This was a man whose
face the concierge himself had never seen, for in the winter his chin
was buried in one of the large red handkerchiefs worn by gentlemen's
coachmen on a cold night, and in the summer he made a point of always
blowing his nose just as he approached the door. Contrary to custom,
this gentleman had not been watched, for as the report ran that he was
a person of high rank, and one who would allow no impertinent
interference, his incognito was strictly respected.

His visits were tolerably regular, though occasionally he appeared
a little before or after his time, but generally, both in summer and
winter, he took possession of his apartment about four o'clock, though
he never spent the night there. At half-past three in the winter the