The Count of Monte Cristo

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"All I can say is," continued the countess, taking up the lorgnette,
and directing it toward the box in question, "that the gentleman, whose
history I am unable to furnish, seems to me as though he had just
been dug up; he looks more like a corpse permitted by some friendly
grave-digger to quit his tomb for a while, and revisit this earth of
ours, than anything human. How ghastly pale he is!"

"Oh, he is always as colorless as you now see him," said Franz.

"Then you know him?" almost screamed the countess. "Oh, pray do, for
heaven's sake, tell us all about--is he a vampire, or a resuscitated
corpse, or what?"

"I fancy I have seen him before; and I even think he recognizes me."

"And I can well understand," said the countess, shrugging up her
beautiful shoulders, as though an involuntary shudder passed through her