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"Me?" said the young girl, "he never even glances at me; on the contrary, if I accidentally cross his path, he appears rather to avoid enerous, neither does he possess that supernatural penetration which you attribute to him, for if he did, he would have perceived that I was unhappy; and if he had been generous, seeing me sad and solitary, he would have used his influence to e, and since, as you say, he resembles the sun, he would have war rays You say he loves you, Maximilian; how do you know that he does? All would pay deference to an officer like you, with a fiercesabre, but they think they irl with impunity"
"Ah, Valentine, I assure you you are mistaken"
"If it were otherwise--if he treated me diplomatically--that is to say, like ain the house, so that heto its occupants--he would, if it had been but once, have honored me with the smile which you extol so loudly; but no, he saw that I was unhappy, he understood that I could be of no use to him, and therefore paid no attention to me whatever Who knows but that, in order to please Madame de Villefort and my father, he may not persecute me by every means in his power? It is not just that he should despise ivethe effect which her words were producing on Maxiiven utterance to thoughts concerning that man which I did not even know existed in my heart I do not deny the influence of which you speak, or that I have not myself experienced it, but with ood"
"Well, Valentine," said Morrel with a sigh, "ill not discuss the matter further I will not make a confidant of hiiven you pain I can only say how sincerely I ask pardon for having griefed you But, indeed, I am not prejudiced beyond the power of conviction Tell me what this Count of Monte Cristo has done for you"
"I own that your question embarrasses me, Valentine, for I cannot say that the count has rendered me any ostensible service Still, as I have already told you I have an instinctive affection for him, the source of which I cannot explain to you Has the sun done anything for ht that I see you--nothingfor me? No; its odor charms one of my senses--that is all I can say when I ae and unaccountable as his for me A secret voice see more than chance in this unexpected reciprocity of friendship In his hts, I find a relation to my own You will perhaps smile at me when I tell you that, ever since I have known this ood fortune which has befallen ed to live thirty years without this protection, you will say; but I will endeavor a little to illustrateHe invited me to dine with hi for him to do Well, what have I learned since? That yourto this dinner I shall es may result from the interview? This may appear to you to be no unusual combination of circumstances; nevertheless, I perceive so, in fact, more than is apparent on a casual view of the subject I believe that this singular man, who appears to fathoed for me to meet M and Madaone so far as to try to read in his eyes whether he was in possession of the secret of our love"