Contents
Chapter 72.
Overview
Madame de Saint-Meran arrives announcing her husband’s sudden death, plunging the Villefort household into mourning. Convinced she will soon die, the marchioness presses to hasten Valentine’s marriage to Franz and summons a notary. Dr. d’Avrigny is called as her fever and hallucinations grow, while Valentine secretly reconnects with Maximilian.
Summary
Villefort, avoiding the ball, broods over recent threats, reviewing a secret list of enemies and wondering whether Monte Cristo could know his buried crime. His anxiety is interrupted by the sudden arrival of Madame de Saint-Meran, who announces that her husband has died on the journey from Marseilles, apparently of apoplexy.
Villefort brings Valentine and Madame de Villefort home; Valentine nearly faints. Noirtier, informed by Barrois, asks to see Valentine, who comforts him before retiring. Through the night Madame de Saint-Meran lapses into feverish grief.
By morning, the marchioness, agitated and convinced of her nearing death, insists that Valentine’s marriage to Franz d’Epinay be hastened so she can bless it and secure Valentine’s inheritance. She describes a nocturnal vision of a white figure and hearing her glass moved, which Villefort dismisses as delirium.
Despite Valentine’s pleas for decorum, Madame de Saint-Meran orders a notary and repeats her wish to expedite the union. Dr. d’Avrigny arrives; Valentine reports the death circumstances and her grandmother’s hallucinations. The doctor goes up while Valentine, shaken, walks in the garden.
In the garden, amid her private conflict over her love for Maximilian Morrel versus the imposed engagement to Franz, Valentine hears Maximilian call her name, signaling their clandestine connection persists despite new pressures.
Who Appears
- undefinedProcureur; broods over hidden enemies, receives news of Saint-Méran’s death, manages family crisis, agrees to hasten Valentine’s marriage.
- undefinedNewly widowed, feverish and fatalistic; demands Valentine’s swift marriage and summons a notary; reports a nocturnal apparition.
- Valentine de VillefortGrief-stricken granddaughter; comforts Noirtier, resists rushed marriage to Franz, secretly devoted to Maximilian; hears him in the garden.
- Noirtier de VillefortParalyzed but lucid; requests Valentine’s presence and shows tender concern amid household turmoil.
- undefinedMaintains formal propriety; withdraws at the marchioness’s request during the mourning vigil.
- undefinedFamily physician; evaluates the marchioness’s fever and hallucinations after being summoned.
- BarroisNoirtier’s faithful servant; conveys news within the house and facilitates Valentine’s visit to Noirtier.
- undefinedCalled by the marchioness to arrange matters ensuring Valentine’s interests before the hastened marriage.
- Maximilian MorrelValentine’s secret beloved; his voice calls to her in the garden, renewing their clandestine bond.
- undefinedRecently deceased; his sudden apoplectic death precipitates the family’s crisis and the rush to marry Valentine.