“And what effect did this discourse produce?” anxiously inquired Albert.

“I acknowledge it affected me, and, indeed, all the committee also,” said Beauchamp.

“Meanwhile, the president carelessly opened the letter which had been brought to him; but the first lines aroused his attention; he read them again and again, and fixing his eyes on M. de Morcerf, ‘Count,’ said he, ‘you have said that the Vizier of Yanina confided his wife and daughter to your care?’⁠—‘Yes, sir,’ replied Morcerf; ‘but in that, like all the rest, misfortune pursued me. On my return, Vasiliki and her daughter Haydée had disappeared.’⁠—‘Did you know them?’⁠—‘My intimacy with the pasha and his unlimited confidence had gained me an introduction to them, and I had seen them above twenty times.’