The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 74

Two days after, a considerable crowd was assembled, towards

ten o'clock in the morning, around the door of M. de

Villefort's house, and a long file of mourning-coaches and

private carriages extended along the Faubourg Saint-Honore

and the Rue de la Pepiniere. Among them was one of a very

singular form, which appeared to have come from a distance.

It was a kind of covered wagon, painted black, and was one

of the first to arrive. Inquiry was made, and it was

ascertained that, by a strange coincidence, this carriage

contained the corpse of the Marquis de Saint-Meran, and that

those who had come thinking to attend one funeral would

follow two. Their number was great. The Marquis de

Saint-Meran, one of the most zealous and faithful

dignitaries of Louis XVIII. and King Charles X., h