The Count of Monte Cristo

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comfortably between his knees, his long, skinny neck resting on his lap,
while his dim eye was fixed earnestly on the traveller's face.

"Are you quite alone?" inquired the guest, as Caderousse placed before
him the bottle of wine and a glass.

"Quite, quite alone," replied the man--"or, at least, practically so,
for my poor wife, who is the only person in the house besides myself, is
laid up with illness, and unable to render me the least assistance, poor
thing!"

"You are married, then?" said the priest, with a show of interest,
glancing round as he spoke at the scanty furnishings of the apartment.

"Ah, sir," said Caderousse with a sigh, "it is easy to perceive I am not
a rich man; but in this world a man does not thrive the better for being
honest." The abbe fixed on him a searching, penetrating glance.