"True," Faria replied, "we are prisoners. But sometimes I forget that, and there are moments when my mind takes me beyond these walls and I imagine myself free."
"But why are you here?" Dantès asked.
"Because in 1807 I dreamed of the same plan Napoleon tried in 1811. Like Machiavelli, I wanted to change the political face of Italy. Instead of letting it remain split up into dozens of small territories, each ruled by some weak or tyrannical leader, I tried to create one large, united, powerful empire.
And finally, because I thought I'd found my ideal leader in a crowned fool who pretended to support my ideas only to betray me. It was the same plan others had tried before, but it will never work now. They failed, and Napoleon couldn't finish his work either. Italy seems doomed to misfortune." The old man bowed his head.
