The Count of Monte Cristo

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"True, I was a tailor, till the trade fell off. It is so hot at
Marseilles, that really I believe that the respectable inhabitants will
in time go without any clothing whatever. But talking of heat, is there
nothing I can offer you by way of refreshment?"

"Yes; let me have a bottle of your best wine, and then, with your
permission, we will resume our conversation from where we left off."

"As you please, sir," said Caderousse, who, anxious not to lose the
present opportunity of finding a customer for one of the few bottles of
Cahors still remaining in his possession, hastily raised a trap-door in
the floor of the apartment they were in, which served both as parlor
and kitchen. Upon issuing forth from his subterranean retreat at the
expiration of five minutes, he found the abbe seated upon a wooden
stool, leaning his elbow on a table, while Margotin, whose animosity
seemed appeased by the unusual command of the traveller for
refreshments, had crept up to him, and had established himself very