The Count of Monte Cristo

The Expiring Light

The night-light continues to burn on the chimney-piece, its flame brightening before it expires, casting a dull, dismal light over Valentine’s bed. The silence in the streets is frightful as the clock approaches half-past four. The reddish lamp globe throws out its final flickerings, compared to the convulsions of a human creature in its final agonies.

The Poisoner’s Hesitation

Madame de Villefort enters Edward’s room to witness the effects of the poison she has prepared. She stops in the doorway, listens to the lamp’s flickering, and advances to check if Valentine’s glass is empty. Finding it still about a quarter full, she empties the contents into the ashes and carefully rinses the glass. She approaches the bed and looks upon Valentine, who no longer breathes. The young girl’s white lips do not quiver, her eyes are suffused with bluish vapor, and her cheeks are white as wax. Madame de Villefort presses her hand upon Valentine’s heart, finding it cold and motionless. One arm hangs out of the bed with fingers outstretched and nails turning blue. The poisoner retreats stealthily, absorbed in the irresistible attraction of the picture of death before the lamp expires and the room is plunged into darkness.

The Nurse’s Discovery

The nurse’s cough is heard on the stairs, and she enters the room with a cup in hand. Noticing the glass is three-quarters empty, she assumes Valentine has taken her draught. She lights the fire but cannot resist the temptation to rest in an armchair. The clock striking eight awakens her, and she notices the white lips and the arm still hanging out of the bed. When she tries to replace the arm, she discovers its frightful rigidity. She screams aloud and runs to the door exclaiming for help.

The Alarm is Raised

M. d’Avrigny, who is at the foot of the stairs at his usual visiting hour, and Villefort, rushing from his room, both hear the cry for help and hurry to Valentine’s room. The servants who have entered see Valentine pale and motionless on her bed, standing transfixed as though struck by lightning. Villefort cries for Madame de Villefort to be woken, but the servants instead watch d’Avrigny, who runs to Valentine and raises her in his arms, exclaiming “What?—this one, too?” M. de Villefort staggers and buries his head in the bed, while the servants flee from the accursed house.

D’Avrigny’s Declaration

M. d’Avrigny examines Valentine and declares in a voice terrible in its solemn calmness that Valentine is dead. Villefort, in a paroxysm of grief, groans forth “Dead, dead!” Madame de Villefort, in the act of slipping on her dressing-gown, throws aside the drapery and stands motionless, endeavoring to call up some rebellious tears. She steps or bounds towards the table where d’Avrigny is examining the glass, which she is certain she emptied during the night yet now appears a third full. The spectre of this evidence filling her with terror, she watches as d’Avrigny approaches the window to examine the contents more closely.

The Chemical Test

D’Avrigny dips his finger in the liquid and tastes it, declaring that brucine is no longer being used. He runs to a medicine cupboard in Valentine’s room and takes a small bottle of nitric acid from its silver case. Dropping a small amount into the liquor, it immediately changes to a blood-red color. He exclaims with horror mingled with the delight of a student making a discovery, declaring that this poison cannot deceive him.

Madame de Villefort’s Collapse

Madame de Villefort is overpowered by the doctor’s identification of the poison. Her eyes flash and then swim, she staggers towards the door and disappears. A distant sound of a heavy weight falling on the ground is heard. No one pays attention initially as the nurse watches the chemical analysis and Villefort remains absorbed in grief. M. d’Avrigny alone follows Madame de Villefort with his eyes, watching her hurried retreat. He lifts the drapery over the entrance to Edward’s room and beholds her extended lifeless on the floor. He tells the nurse to go to Madame de Villefort’s assistance, declaring that Mademoiselle de Villefort no longer requires help since she is dead. Villefort groans forth his grief in a paroxysm terrible from its novelty in his iron heart.