The Mysteries of Udolpho

Letters from Count and Lady Blanche

The letters from Count De Villefort and Lady Blanche report their late adventure and their present situation at an inn among the Pyrenees, where they have been detained by the illness of Mons. St. Foix and the indisposition of Blanche. The Baron St. Foix has arrived to escort his son to his château, while the Count and Blanche intend to reach La Vallée the following day.

Invitation to Château-le-Blanc Wedding

Lady Blanche’s letter conveys an invitation for Emily to attend her approaching nuptials at Château-le-Blanc, urging her to be prepared to travel in a few days. For an account of Ludovico’s own adventure, Blanche refers Emily to Ludovico himself.

Emily Weighs Accepting the Invitation

Although she would prefer the quiet of her native home, Emily recognizes the impropriety of remaining alone now that Valancourt is again in the neighborhood. She is also persuaded by the kindness of the Count’s family, the importance of the occasion to her friend, and the possibility that change of scene and the company of friends may do more than retirement to restore her tranquillity. She accepts the invitation.

Ludovico Begins His Adventure Account

When Ludovico returns, Emily asks for a full account of his adventure in the north apartments and of how he came to be a companion of the banditti found by the Count. Annette prepares to listen with great curiosity and gently reminds Emily of her former incredulity about spirits at the castle of Udolpho, a reminder that makes Emily blush at her own recent credulity.

Night Watch in the North Chamber

Ludovico describes how, after the Count and Mons. Henri left him in the north chamber, he made a fire and tried to read. Although he twice rose to look about him at odd noises, nothing was to be seen but the grim tapestry figures. Eventually, growing drowsy, he fell asleep and was awakened by a sound from the direction of the bed, where he fancied he saw a man’s face within the dusky curtains.

Sight of Men in the Secret Passage

Turning from the bed toward the sound of a key turning in an unseen lock, Ludovico watched the arras near the bed slowly lift, and a man appeared behind it, entering from a small door in the wall. A second man peered over his shoulder, and Ludovico glimpsed additional faces in the darkness beyond, debating in whispers, while he sat still as if asleep, unable at the moment to seize his sword.

Kidnapping by Pirate Captors

The men rushed into the room and surrounded Ludovico before he could defend himself effectively. Four men against one, they soon disarmed him, bound his arms, gagged his mouth, and forced him through the private door, leaving his sword behind to assist, as they said, anyone who should come in the morning to look for him and to “fight the ghosts.”

Transport to the Pirate Fort

Led through many narrow passages cut within the walls, and down several flights of steps, Ludovico was brought to the vaults beneath the castle and out through a stone door disguised as wall, then down further steps cut in solid rock into a cave. The cave’s mouth opened onto the sea-beach beneath the château, where a boat was waiting. He was carried aboard a small vessel, and after days of lingering off the shore of Rousillon, was transported by comrades of the pirates up through the wild mountain country—blindfolded to prevent him from learning the route—to a distant pirate fort, where he was kept under close watch.

Pirates’ Use of Château Vaults for Spoils

From the pirates, Ludovico learned that they had for many years used the castle’s vaults to secrete their plunder, the proximity to the sea making it convenient. Though the coastal cave alone was open to anyone, the vaults—protected by the popular belief that they were haunted—offered a secure hiding place for stolen spoils until the pirates could dispose of them at advantage.