The Count of Monte Cristo

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watched her countenance to judge the state of her feelings, she
constrained herself to assume a monotonous smile of the lips alone,
which, contrasted with the sweet and beaming expression that usually
shone from her eyes, seemed like "moonlight on a statue,"--yielding
light without warmth. Albert, too, was ill at ease; the remains of
luxury prevented him from sinking into his actual position. If he wished
to go out without gloves, his hands appeared too white; if he wished to
walk through the town, his boots seemed too highly polished. Yet these
two noble and intelligent creatures, united by the indissoluble ties
of maternal and filial love, had succeeded in tacitly understanding one
another, and economizing their stores, and Albert had been able to tell
his mother without extorting a change of countenance,--"Mother, we have
no more money."

Mercedes had never known misery; she had often, in her youth, spoken of
poverty, but between want and necessity, those synonymous words, there
is a wide difference. Amongst the Catalans, Mercedes wished for a