had kept in order to reclaim him if we became rich.”
“What letters were marked on the linen?” said Monte Cristo.
“An H and an N, surmounted by a baron’s coronet.”
“By heaven, M. Bertuccio, you make use of heraldic terms; where did you study heraldry?”
“In your service, excellency, where everything is learned.”
“Go on, I am curious to know two things.”
“What are they, your excellency?”
“What became of this little boy? for I think you told me it was a boy, M. Bertuccio.”
“No excellency, I do not recollect telling you that.”
“I thought you did; I must have been mistaken.”
“No, you were not, for it was in reality a little boy. But your excellency wished to know two things; what was the second?”
“The second was the crime of which you were accused when you asked for a confessor, and the