"A rich Englishman," the priest continued, "who had been his companion in misfortune but was released from prison during a political restoration, owned a diamond of immense value. When he left prison, he gave this jewel to Dantès as a mark of gratitude for the kindness and care Dantès had shown him during a severe illness in confinement.
Instead of using this diamond to try to bribe his jailers, who might have taken it and then betrayed him to the prison governor, Dantès carefully preserved it, hoping that if he ever got out of prison, he would have something to live on. The sale of such a diamond would have been enough to make his fortune."
"Then I suppose," Caderousse asked with eager, glowing eyes, "it was a stone of immense value?"
"Well, everything is relative," the priest answered. "To someone in Edmond's position, the diamond was certainly very valuable. It was estimated at fifty thousand francs."
