“I am free, then, sir?” cried Dantès joyfully.
“Yes; but first give me this letter.”
“You have it already, for it was taken from me with some others which I see in that packet.”
“Stop a moment,” said the deputy, as Dantès took his hat and gloves. “To whom is it addressed?”
“To Monsieur Noirtier, Rue Coq-Héron, Paris.” Had a thunderbolt fallen into the room, Villefort could not have been more stupefied. He sank into his seat, and hastily turning over the packet, drew forth the fatal letter, at which he glanced with an expression of terror.
“ M. Noirtier, Rue Coq-Héron, No. 13,” murmured he, growing still paler.
“Yes,” said Dantès; “do you know him?”
“No,” replied Villefort; “a faithful servant of the king does not know conspirators.”
“It is a conspiracy, then?” asked Dantès, who after believing himself free, now began to feel a tenfold alarm. “I have, however, already told you, sir, I was entirely ignorant of the contents of the letter.”
“Yes; but you knew the name of the person to whom it was addressed,” said Villefort.
“I was forced to read the address to know to whom to give it.”