Dumas originally wrote The Count as a weekly story for the newspaper. Hence, each chapter ended as a cliffhanger enticing the reader to wait and then buy next week's issue. I works like a charm. One of the best I ever read.
I've read it in a nearly uninterrupted reading binge of 3 days and 2 nights. In fact, in my recollection there's a cliffhanger at the bottom of each odd page :)