It was, as we have said, the 1st of March, and the prisoner was soon buried in darkness.

The obscurity augmented the acuteness of his hearing; at the slightest sound he rose and hastened to the door, convinced they were about to liberate him, but the sound died away, and Dantes sank again into his seat.

At last, about ten o'clock, and just as Dantes began to despair, steps were heard in the corridor, a key turned in the lock, the bolts creaked, the massy oaken door flew open, and a flood of light from two torches pervaded the apartment.

By the torchlight Dantes saw the glittering sabres and carbines of four gendarmes.

He had advanced at first, but stopped at the sight of this display of force.
"Are you come to fetch me ?" asked he.
"Yes," replied a gendarme.
"By the orders of the deputy procureur ?" "I believe so." The conviction that they came from M.de Villefort relieved all Dantes' apprehensions; he advanced calmly, and placed himself in the centre of the escort.