The Count of Monte Cristo

The Alarm is Raised

M. d’Avrigny, who is at the foot of the stairs at his usual visiting hour, and Villefort, rushing from his room, both hear the cry for help and hurry to Valentine’s room. The servants who have entered see Valentine pale and motionless on her bed, standing transfixed as though struck by lightning. Villefort cries for Madame de Villefort to be woken, but the servants instead watch d’Avrigny, who runs to Valentine and raises her in his arms, exclaiming “What?—this one, too?” M. de Villefort staggers and buries his head in the bed, while the servants flee from the accursed house.

D’Avrigny’s Declaration

M. d’Avrigny examines Valentine and declares in a voice terrible in its solemn calmness that Valentine is dead. Villefort, in a paroxysm of grief, groans forth “Dead, dead!” Madame de Villefort, in the act of slipping on her dressing-gown, throws aside the drapery and stands motionless, endeavoring to call up some rebellious tears. She steps or bounds towards the table where d’Avrigny is examining the glass, which she is certain she emptied during the night yet now appears a third full. The spectre of this evidence filling her with terror, she watches as d’Avrigny approaches the window to examine the contents more closely.

The Chemical Test

D’Avrigny dips his finger in the liquid and tastes it, declaring that brucine is no longer being used. He runs to a medicine cupboard in Valentine’s room and takes a small bottle of nitric acid from its silver case. Dropping a small amount into the liquor, it immediately changes to a blood-red color. He exclaims with horror mingled with the delight of a student making a discovery, declaring that this poison cannot deceive him.