"Look at me," she continued with profound sadness. "My eyes no longer shine with their old brilliance. The days are long gone when I used to smile at Edmond Dantès as he looked up at me from the window of that attic room where his old father lived. Years of grief have created an unbridgeable gap between those days and now. I don't blame you or hate you, my friend. No, Edmond, it's myself I blame, myself I hate! What a miserable creature I've become!" She clasped her hands together and raised her eyes toward the sky. "I once had faith, innocence, and love, everything that makes angels happy. And now what am I?"
Monte Cristo moved closer and silently reached for her hand.
