All 3 Uses of
preamble
in
The Count of Monte Cristo
- Noirtier's face remained perfectly passive during this long preamble, while, on the contrary, Villefort's eye was endeavoring to penetrate into the inmost recesses of the old man's heart.†
Chpt 57-58 *
- He had not been more than ten minutes in the drawing-room before he drew Danglars aside into the recess of a bow-window, and, after an ingenious preamble, related to him all his anxieties and cares since his noble father's departure.†
Chpt 81-82
- "Very well," replied M. Danglars, who had listened to all this preamble with imperturbable coolness, but without understanding a word, since like every man burdened with thoughts of the past, he was occupied with seeking the thread of his own ideas in those of the speaker.†
Chpt 95-96
Definition:
a preliminary introduction to a speech, statute, or other writing -- usually explaining its purpose
or more rarely:
anything that precedes something else
or more rarely:
anything that precedes something else