The Count of Monte Cristo

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"Yes, honest--I can certainly say that much for myself," continued the
inn-keeper, fairly sustaining the scrutiny of the abbe's gaze; "I
can boast with truth of being an honest man; and," continued he
significantly, with a hand on his breast and shaking his head, "that is
more than every one can say nowadays."

"So much the better for you, if what you assert be true," said the
abbe; "for I am firmly persuaded that, sooner or later, the good will be
rewarded, and the wicked punished."

"Such words as those belong to your profession," answered Caderousse,
"and you do well to repeat them; but," added he, with a bitter
expression of countenance, "one is free to believe them or not, as one
pleases."

"You are wrong to speak thus," said the abbe; "and perhaps I may, in my
own person, be able to prove to you how completely you are in error."