Valentine Retrieves the Hidden Key
Noirtier motions for Valentine to approach, and she, accustomed to communicating with her grandfather, understands he is asking for a key. He directs her gaze to a drawer in a small chest positioned between the windows, which she opens to find the key he needs.
The Secret Spring in the Secretaire
Noirtier next directs Valentine to an old, long-neglected secretaire that is assumed to hold only useless documents. He confirms she should open the piece of furniture and its middle drawer specifically. After Valentine empties the middle drawer of all its papers without finding what he wants, Noirtier directs her to a dictionary, stopping her at the letter “S” to find the word “secret”, revealing a hidden spring exists in the drawer. He signals that the servant Barrois knows the location of the spring, so Valentine calls Barrois, who opens the false bottom of the drawer to reveal a bundle of papers tied with a black string.
The Mysterious Papers for Franz
Noirtier instructs Barrois to give the bundle of papers exclusively to Franz d’Épinay, rather than to Villefort or Valentine. Franz takes the packet, which bears an inscription stating it is to be delivered to General Durand after Noirtier’s death, to be passed to his son as a document of great importance. Noirtier insists Franz read the contents of the packet aloud immediately.
The Bonapartist Club Report
Franz begins reading the document aloud: it is an extract from the official report of a Bonapartist Club meeting held on February 5, 1815, the exact day his father disappeared. The report is signed by three high-ranking club officials, and details the club’s efforts to recruit Franz’s father, General Flavien de Quesnel, to their cause.
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