Request her also to oblige me by saying whether it is her pleasure to dine with me; if so, let dinner be served in her apartments. Now, leave me, and desire my valet de chambre to come hither.”
Scarcely had Ali disappeared when the valet entered the chamber.
“Monsieur Baptistin,” said the count, “you have been in my service one year, the time I generally give myself to judge of the merits or demerits of those about me. You suit me very well.”
Baptistin bowed low.
“It only remains for me to know whether I also suit you?”
“Oh, your excellency!” exclaimed Baptistin eagerly.
“Listen, if you please, till I have finished speaking,” replied Monte Cristo. “You receive 1,500 francs per annum for your services here—more than many a brave subaltern, who continually risks his life for his country, obtains. You live in a manner far superior to many clerks who work ten times harder than you do for their money. Then, though yourself a servant, you have other servants to wait upon you, take care of your clothes, and see that your linen is duly prepared for you. Again, you make a profit upon each article you purchase for my toilet, amounting in the course of a year to a sum equalling your wages.”
“Nay, indeed, your excellency.”
“I am not condemning you for this, Monsieur Baptistin; but let your profits end here. It would be long indeed ere you would find so lucrative a post as that you have now the good fortune to fill. I neither ill-use nor ill-treat my servants by word