The Mysteries of Udolpho

Annette Narrates Caterina’s Midnight Store-Room Errand

To bolster her account, Annette offers a story told to her by Caterina, in which the elderly steward Carlo once asked Caterina to fetch figs from the store-closet at the end of the north gallery on a cold winter’s night. Caterina set off alone with a lamp, passing the great staircase, and Carlo warned her of the wind that blew through the roof, setting the stage for a tale of supernatural encounter in the upper rooms of the castle.

A Mysterious Knock Alarms Emily and Annette

As Annette continues her story, she is suddenly interrupted by an apparent noise, and Emily, her fear now kindled by Annette’s contagion, listens intently. All is still at first, but then a low, repeated knocking is heard against the wall, and Annette screams loudly as the chamber door slowly opens.

Caterina Arrives to Summon Annette for Madame Montoni

The cause of the alarm is revealed to be Caterina, who has come to fetch Annette because her lady, Madame Montoni, requires her. Emily, though relieved to recognize the visitor, is left shaken by the fright, while Annette scolds Caterina for the fright she has caused and worries that her secret tales may have been overheard.

Emily Sends Annette to Bed, Confronts Her Fears

Emily, deeply affected by Annette’s history of Signora Laurentini and reluctant to be left alone in her present state of mind, nevertheless struggles to conceal her weakness. Determined not to offend Madame Montoni and not to betray her fears, she masters her terror and dismisses Annette for the night.

Emily Reflects on Her Vulnerable Situation and Montoni’s Nature

Left alone, Emily’s thoughts turn first to the strange history of Signora Laurentini, and then to her own perilous situation, a stranger in a foreign, mountainous land, shut up in the castle of a man who has already exercised a usurped authority over her. She considers Montoni’s dangerous inventiveness and his seeming lack of feeling, recalls the unhappiness she has long observed in Madame Montoni, and feels her fears justified by the apprehensions of those around her. On top of these reasonable anxieties crowd a host of unnameable terrors fed by her active imagination, terrors that defy both reason and scrutiny.

Emily Recalls Valancourt’s Warnings About Montoni

Emily calls to mind everything Valancourt had said to her on the eve of her departure from Languedoc about Montoni, and all his attempts to dissuade her from undertaking the journey. His fears, which had often seemed prophetic in the past, now appear to her to be confirmed. As the image of Valancourt rises in her heart, she mourns the loss of him, yet finds a small consolation in the thought that she has at least spared him involvement in her misfortunes and is free from self-reproach.

Emily Finds the Private Staircase Door Left Partially Open

Emily’s brooding is further disturbed by the hollow moanings of the wind along the corridor and around the castle. The cheerful fire has died down to embers, and a violent gust through the corridor blows the chair Emily had used to bar the door, so that the door leading to the private staircase stands ajar. Curiosity and fear roused afresh, she carries the lamp to the top of the steps and stands hesitating, but the profound stillness and the gloom of the stair forbid her descent.

Emily Secures the Staircase Door Before Retiring to Bed

Deciding that a proper search must wait for daylight, Emily closes the door to the private staircase and secures it with a stouter guard, then retires to her bed, leaving the lamp still burning on the table.

Emily Is Plagued by Unsettling Fancies as She Falls Asleep

The uncertain light of the lamp only feeds rather than calms Emily’s fears, for in its wavering rays she fancies she sees shapes flit past her curtains and vanish into the remote shadows of her chamber. The castle clock strikes one before she finally closes her eyes to sleep, her mind long given over to unsettling fancies.