The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas [254]
"And this king's attorney was named Villefort?" asked Monte Cristo carelessly.
"Yes, your excellency; he came from Marseilles, where he had been deputy–procureur. His zeal had procured him advancement, and he was said to be one of the first who had informed the government of the departure from the Island of Elba."
"Then," said Monte Cristo "you went to him?"
""Monsieur," I said, "my brother was assassinated yesterday in the streets of Nimes, I know not by whom, but it is your duty to find out. You are the representative of justice here, and it is for justice to avenge those she has been unable to protect."—"Who was your brother?" asked he.—"A lieutenant in the Corsican battalion."—"A soldier of the usurper, then?"—"A soldier of the French army."—"Well," replied he, "he has smitten with the sword, and he has perished by the sword."—"You are mistaken, monsieur," I replied; "he has perished by the poniard."—"What do you want me to do?" asked the magistrate.—"I have already told you—avenge him."—"On whom?"—"On his murderers."—"How should I know who they are?"—"Order them to be sought for."—"Why, your brother has been involved in a quarrel, and killed in a duel. All these old soldiers commit excesses which were tolerated in the time of the emperor, but which are not suffered now, for the people here do not like soldiers of such disorderly conduct."—"Monsieur," I replied, "it is not for myself that I entreat your interference—I should grieve for him or avenge him, but my poor brother had a wife, and were anything to happen to me, the poor creature would perish from want, for my brother's pay alone kept her. Pray, try and obtain a small government pension for her.""
""Every revolution has its catastrophes," returned M. de Villefort; "your brother has been the victim of this. It is a misfortune, and government owes nothing to his family. If we are to judge by all the vengeance that the followers of the usurper exercised on the partisans of the king, when, in their turn, they were in power, your brother would be to–day, in all probability, condemned to death. What has happened is quite natural, and in conformity with the law of reprisals."—"What," cried I, "do you, a magistrate, speak thus to me?"—"All these Corsicans are mad, on my honor," replied M. de Villefort; "they fancy that their countryman is still emperor. You have mistaken the time, you should have told me this two months ago, it is too late now. Go now, at once, or I shall have you put out.""
"I looked at him an instant to see if there was anything to hope from further entreaty. But he was a man of stone. I approached him, and said in a low voice, "Well, since you know the Corsicans so well, you know that they always keep their word. You think that it was a good deed to kill my brother, who was a Bonapartist, because you are a royalist. Well, I, who am a Bonapartist also, declare one thing to you, which is, that I will kill you. From this moment I declare the vendetta against you, so protect yourself as well as you can, for the next time we meet your last hour has come." And before he had recovered from his surprise, I opened the door and left the room."
"Well, well," said Monte Cristo, "such an innocent looking person as you are to do those things, M. Bertuccio, and to a king's attorney at that! But did he know what was meant by the terrible word "vendetta"?"
"He knew so well, that from that moment he shut himself in his house, and never went out unattended, seeking me high and low. Fortunately, I was so well concealed that he could not find me. Then he became alarmed, and dared not stay any longer at Nimes, so he solicited a change of residence, and, as he was in reality