The Count of Monte Cristo

Valentine Summons Doctor d’Avrigny

Valentine Summons Doctor d’Avrigny When the notary arrives, Madame de Saint-Méran dismisses Valentine from the room, and the young woman, pale and feverish, hurries down to the dining-room where Doctor d’Avrigny is waiting. He is a trusted family friend, a physician of great skill who works upon the body through the mind, and the father of a daughter of Valentine’s own age whose health is a constant source of anxiety. After a brief exchange of personal news, Valentine explains that she has not summoned him for her father or her stepmother, but for her grandmother, and she begs him to go upstairs at once.

Consultation on the Marquise’s Delirium

Consultation on the Marquise’s Delirium Doctor d’Avrigny questions Valentine closely about her grandmother’s symptoms: the extreme nervous excitement, the strange agitated sleep, and the hallucinations of a phantom entering the chamber and touching her glass. Valentine admits that she herself has never seen the marchioness in such a state before, and that even her usually strong-minded father was deeply impressed. When the notary at last comes downstairs, Valentine, forbidden by her grandmother from summoning the doctor and trembling with her own fever, decides not to accompany him upstairs. She sends d’Avrigny to attend the marquise alone and slips away to take a turn in the garden.

Valentine Hears Maximilian in the Garden

Valentine Hears Maximilian in the Garden Valentine descends into the garden, gathering a rose but not daring, in her mourning, to place it in her hair or belt. She drifts first through the flower-beds, then along the dark avenue toward the bench and the gate. As she advances into the avenue she imagines she hears her own name spoken; she stops, and the voice reaches her again more distinctly. She recognizes it at once: it is Maximilian, calling to her from beyond the wall.

KAPITEL 73. The Promise

Chapter 73. The Promise depicts a pivotal encounter between Maximilian Morrel and Valentine de Villefort at the gate under the chestnut-trees. Morrel arrives tormented by premonitions of misfortune following the return of Madame de Saint-Méran and the death of the marquis, fearing that his attachment to Valentine will be undone. Valentine discloses that her family intends to finalize her engagement to Baron Franz d’Épinay as soon as he arrives, with the contract to be signed the following day. Morrel confirms d’Épinay’s arrival in Paris after witnessing his entrance at Monte Cristo’s home. Desperate, Morrel urges Valentine to resist the forced marriage, offering to take her abroad and marry her, but she initially refuses to defy her dying grandmother and father. When Morrel then calmly announces his intention to take his own life rather than endure her loss, Valentine breaks down and capitulates, swearing she will flee with him if the contract signing cannot be prevented. The two exchange solemn vows—Valentine promises to resist the marriage and meet Morrel at the gate if necessary, while Morrel agrees to wait for her signal—thus sealing their secret pact. After exchanging vows, Valentine flees and later sends Morrel a letter informing him that her family has fixed the signing of her marriage contract to Franz for that evening at nine o’clock, and that she will meet him at a quarter to nine at the gate so they can escape together. Morrel prepares for their flight by hiding ladders in a clover-field and arranging a servantless cabriolet, but when he positions himself at the appointed place and the appointed hour passes without Valentine appearing, his anxiety gives way to dread. Driven by fear that something terrible has happened, he scales the wall into the Villefort garden, where he conceals himself among the trees and overhears the procureur speaking with Doctor d’Avrigny about the sudden death of Madame de Saint-Méran; the doctor confides that her symptoms are consistent with poisoning by brucine or strychnine, and suggests that the old servant Barrois may have mistakenly given her a dose prepared for the paralyzed M. Noirtier, leaving Villefort paralyzed with grief and torn between the need for a discreet inquiry and his dread of scandal. Chapter 73. The Promise Following the death of Madame de Saint-Méran, Doctor d’Avrigny counsels Villefort to bury the dark secret of the poisoning while remaining vigilant. After the men depart, Morrel—concealed in the garden—overhears enough to grasp the tragedy and overcome by love and fear, secretly enters the house. He finds Valentine weeping beside her grandmother’s body, and after a near encounter with Villefort, she leads him to her grandfather Noirtier. There she confesses her love for Morrel and begs for protection. Morrel lays out his plans, but Noirtier rejects both the elopement and the duel with d’Épinay, promising instead that he himself will prevent the marriage contract. Morrel swears on his honor to await the old man’s direction, and is guided out of the estate back to his waiting cabriolet. Chapter 73. The Promise