Contents
Chapter 80.
Overview
D'Avrigny concludes the household deaths are poisonings and accuses Valentine, citing motive and her handling of the fatal draughts. Villefort refuses to denounce his daughter, and the doctor withdraws his aid, masking Barrois’s death as apoplexy.
The servants flee in terror, and Villefort glimpses a troubling smile on Madame de Villefort, intensifying suspicion and isolating the family.
Summary
M. d'Avrigny revives the fainted magistrate, Villefort, and insists the deaths afflicting the household are not accidents but crimes. He traces the poison’s path through the family, arguing Barrois died by a draught intended for Noirtier, whose prior brucine regimen blunted the dose.
Pressed by d'Avrigny’s logic—“seek whom the crime will profit”—the doctor recounts how Valentine handled the medicines and draughts preceding the Saint-Mérans’ deaths and Noirtier’s near miss. He formally denounces Valentine to Villefort as the poisoner and urges decisive action.
Villefort, shattered, begs for mercy and refuses to expose Valentine, even when d'Avrigny warns that further deaths may follow, possibly including Villefort himself. D'Avrigny, appalled, agrees only to wait and withdraws his services, declaring he will not return if more illness strikes.
Before leaving, d'Avrigny publicly attributes Barrois’s end to apoplexy to calm the household and quietly instructs Villefort to destroy the incriminating cup. Despite this, panic spreads: that evening, all the servants resign, insisting “death is in this house.”
As the staff depart lamenting kind Valentine, Villefort watches her weep—then notices a fleeting, ominous smile on Madame de Villefort’s lips, deepening his unspoken dread amid the mounting accusations.
Who Appears
- undefinedFamily physician; deduces serial poisonings, denounces Valentine, withdraws care, publicly labels Barrois’s death apoplexy.
- undefinedProsecutor and father; horrified, refuses to accuse Valentine, pleads for mercy, observes household collapse and wife’s ominous smile.
- Valentine de VillefortDaughter; tearful as servants depart; accused by d’Avrigny of handling lethal draughts linked to multiple deaths.
- Noirtier de VillefortParalyzed grandfather; prior brucine treatment explains survival of the intended poisoned lemonade.
- BarroisNoirtier’s old servant; dies after drinking the intended poison, his death publicly attributed to apoplexy.
- undefinedVillefort’s wife; shows a fleeting, gloomy smile as servants quit, subtly intensifying suspicion.