Du Pont Discovers Valancourt’s Noble Character
Upon hearing the name Valancourt, Du Pont cries out in astonishment, asking of what family he was, and learns that he is a Valancourt, Count Duvarney. Du Pont is overcome with emotion to discover that the generous benefactor of his friend is the very rival for Emily’s love, but after his first surprise passes, he reassures Bonnac that Valancourt is at liberty and has recently been in Languedoc. His affection for Emily prompts him to enquire about Valancourt’s conduct in Paris, and the answers he receives convince him that his rival has been much misrepresented, prompting the painful but just resolution to relinquish his pursuit of Emily to a lover now shown to be worthy of her regard.
Valancourt’s Redemption and Devotion to Emily
Through Bonnac’s conversation, Valancourt’s full story emerges: drawn upon his arrival in Paris into the snares of determined vice, his hours were divided between the parties of the captivating Marchioness and gaming assemblies where his brother officers spared no art to seduce him. He lost large sums trying to recover smaller ones until his resources were exhausted, and his brother the Count de Villefort, exasperated, refused further support, allowing him to remain imprisoned in hopes punishment would reform him. In the solitude of his prison, Valancourt reflected and repented; Emily’s image, obscured but never obliterated, revived to reproach him for sacrificing his happiness. Though his passions had been seduced, his heart was not depraved, and with effort he emancipated himself from vice. Upon being released, he learned of Bonnac’s plight and, moved by humanity and rashness, staked nearly all the money just received from his brother at a gaming-house to restore his friend to freedom—an effort crowned with success, accompanied by a solemn vow never to gamble again. After restoring Bonnac to his family, Valancourt fled to Estuvière, but soon realized he had thrown away the fortune without which he could never hope to marry Emily; his sense of unworthiness, heightened by the contrasting characters he had observed in the world, deepened the dejection that accompanied him even into Emily’s presence.
Du Pont Resigns His Pursuit of Emily
Du Pont, convinced of Valancourt’s true character, determines with severe justice not only to undeceive Count Villefort on the subject but to resign all hope of Emily, recognizing that Valancourt never submitted to the ignominious scandals attributed to him—that is, receiving pecuniary obligations from the Marchioness Chamfort or participating in gamesters’ depredating schemes. Du Pont perceives that the calumnies had mingled with truth against the unfortunate Valancourt, and that Villefort, misled by such reports, had caused Emily distress by passing them on indirectly. The mutual misunderstanding is now clear to Du Pont, who judges his own sacrifice worthy of a noble reward, and Bonnac, who could never forget the benevolent Valancourt, would wish Emily to accept the just Du Pont were such a thing possible.
Count Villefort Forgives Valancourt
Count Villefort is extremely shocked to learn of the error caused by his credulity, but Bonnac’s account of Valancourt’s situation in Paris convinces him that his young friend had been entrapped by the schemes of dissipated young men his profession obliged him to associate with, rather than drawn to vice by inclination. Charmed by Valancourt’s humanity and noble though rash generosity toward Bonnac, Villefort forgives the transient errors of his youth and restores him to the high esteem he had held him in during their early acquaintance. As the least reparation, the Count writes to request Valancourt’s forgiveness of the unintentional injury and invites him to Château-le-Blanc, while motives of delicacy prevent him from informing Emily of the letter or of the discovery regarding Valancourt, sparing her additional anxiety until Valancourt’s arrival.
CHAPTER XVII
Chapter XVII opens with an epigraph from Macbeth on retributive justice and pivots from Emily’s personal grief to extraordinary revelations: the opening of Signora Laurentini’s will, the disclosure of Emily’s secret family connection to the Marchioness de Villeroi, and a full retrospective history of Laurentini di Udolpho—tracing her indulged upbringing, her ruinous passion for the Marquis de Villeroi, her secret journey to France, her plot to poison the innocent Marchioness, and the long aftermath of remorse, retreat to a convent, haunting rumors, and death that ultimately bequeaths Emily her inheritance.
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