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"Nay, nay!" cried Caderousse, s, "you have not attained that honor yet Mercedes is not yet your wife Just assume the tone and manner of a husband, and see how she will remind you that your hour is not yet come!"

The bride blushed, while Fernand, restless and uneasy, seemed to start at every fresh sound, and froe drops of perspiration that gathered on his brow

"Well, never hbor Caderousse; it is not worth while to contradict me for such a trifle as that 'Tis true that Mercedes is not actuallyout his watch, "in an hour and a half she will be"

A general exclamation of surprise ran round the table, with the exception of the elder Dantes, whose laugh displayed the still perfect beauty of his large white teeth Mercedes looked pleased and gratified, while Fernand grasped the handle of his knife with a convulsive clutch

"In an hour?" inquired Danglars, turning pale "How is that, my friend?"

"Why, thus it is," replied Dantes "Thanks to the influence of M Morrel, to who I enjoy, every difficulty his been removed We have purchased permission to waive the usual delay; and at half-past two o'clock thefor us at the city hall Now, as a quarter-past one has already struck, I do not consider I have asserted too , that, in another hour and thirty minutes Mercedes will have beco sensation passed across his brow, and he was co from his chair; but in spite of all his efforts, he could not refrain froroan, which, however, was lost amid the noisy felicitations of the company

"Upon my word," cried the old man, "you make short work of this kind of affair Arrived here only yesterday , and oing the quick way to work!"

"But," asked Danglars, in a tie about the other formalities--the contract--the settlely, "it didn't take long to fix that Mercedes has no fortune; I have none to settle on her So, you see, our papers were quickly written out, and certainly do not come very expensive" This joke elicited a fresh burst of applause

"So that e presumed to bedinner!" said Danglars