"Too well—she was poisoned by my wife."
"What for?"
"Madame de Villefort wished to have Valentine's fortune go to her son."
"That is dastardly," said the district-attorney.
"Do you remember, Monsieur de Villefort," continued D'Avigny, "to have seen a mysterious man in your house some time prior to Valentine's death, whose mission it appears is to reward the good and punish the guilty?"
"Yes, I remember; you mean the Count of Monte-Cristo," said Villefort, with emotion.
"The Count of Monte-Cristo," repeated the district-attorney, contemptuously, "the adventurer?"
"Sir, do not blaspheme!" exclaimed Villefort, passionately; "if Valentine is saved she owes it to that God in the form of man—the Count of Monte-Cristo! He alone has the power to change the dead into the living. If Valentine lives, I will believe God has pardoned a portion of my sins."
"Gentlemen," said the district-attorney, doubtingly, "I only believe what I see; if Valentine de Villefort lives, let her show herself."