The Count of Monte Cristo

Fleeing the Mansion

Staggering home in a state of shock, General Morcerf arrives to find a hackney-coach in his courtyard. As he reaches his bedroom, he sees Mercédès and Albert descending the stairs, preparing to leave the house forever. Hidden behind a damask curtain, the abandoned husband watches his wife and son depart, hearing Albert say, “Courage, mother! Come, this is no longer our home!”

The Final Farewell

The general clings to the curtain as an overwhelming sob escapes him—grief for a father abandoned by both wife and son. He hears the hackney-coach depart with his family inside. His wife and son do not look back at the house or at the husband and father they are leaving behind.

The Fatal Shot

As the wheels of the departing coach cross the gateway, a gunshot report echoes through the mansion. Thick smoke escapes through a broken window pane—the sound of General Morcerf’s suicide, his shame having driven him to take his own life rather than face the destruction of everything he had built.

第九十三章 Valentine

Maximilian Morrel visits Valentine at the Villefort household while she tends to her grandfather Noirtier, anxious to learn the outcome of the recent confrontation between Morcerf and the Count of Monte Cristo at the opera. Valentine, visibly weakened and increasingly pallid, reveals that she has been taking four spoonfuls daily of the medicinal mixture prepared for her grandfather, a remedy Noirtier claims is a panacea despite Valentine describing how unbearably bitter it has become. When the decanter from her room returns empty—explained by Edward’s pond for ducks and her own thirsty consumption—Noirtier’s expression grows grave with unspoken terror. During the subsequent visit from Madame Danglars and Eugénie, who announce the latter’s imminent marriage to Prince Cavalcanti, Eugénie declares with firm resolve that she has no romantic attachment to her future husband and yearns instead for artistic freedom, contrasting sharply with Valentine’s own romantic concerns. Valentine’s condition deteriorates as the chapter progresses, culminating in a dizzy spell that causes her to tumble down a staircase, and she suffers a subsequent attack leaving her pale, cold, and motionless, prompting Morrel to summon help with urgency.