Contents
Chapter 79.
Overview
Noirtier summons Morrel; Valentine conveys their plan to live with Noirtier and wait to marry when she comes of age. Moments later, Barrois drinks Noirtier’s lemonade, collapses, and dies in convulsions. D’Avrigny proves the lemonade is poisoned, linking this death to prior sudden ones, deepening peril around the Villefort household.
Summary
Maximilian Morrel rushes to Noirtier’s, where Valentine, speaking for her grandfather, explains the plan: Noirtier will move to separate lodgings, Valentine will live beside him, and she and Morrel will wait—under Noirtier’s protection—until she comes of age to marry.
As they seal this resolve, Barrois, exhausted from errands, drinks from Noirtier’s lemonade and immediately shows alarming symptoms. When the bell announces Dr. d’Avrigny’s arrival, Barrois staggers, convulses, and collapses at Noirtier’s feet. Villefort and Madame de Villefort appear amid the commotion; Morrel hides and then discreetly withdraws at Valentine and Noirtier’s signal.
D’Avrigny treats Barrois, questions him, and learns the lemonade was prepared by Barrois, left briefly in the pantry, and later brought in by Valentine. Noirtier, who also drank some, feels as he usually does after his routine Sunday dose, suggesting he is not affected in the same way.
Barrois suffers a second, more violent attack and dies despite efforts to save him. D’Avrigny performs a chemical test, mixing the lemonade with syrup of violets; it turns green, confirming the presence of poison and echoing his suspicions from the Saint‑Mérans’ sudden deaths.
Villefort is aghast as the pattern of fatal incidents in his home intensifies. D’Avrigny declares Barrois was poisoned and will uphold it before God and man, while the household’s fear and suspicion deepen around the source of the lethal contamination.
Who Appears
- Valentine de VillefortConveys Noirtier’s plan; vows to wait and marry Morrel; unwittingly carries the lemonade.
- undefinedEngineers Valentine and Morrel’s future; drinks the lemonade yet remains composed; answers the doctor’s probing.
- BarroisWeary servant who prepares and drinks the lemonade; suffers convulsions and dies from poisoning.
- undefinedTreats Barrois; reconstructs events; chemically proves the lemonade is poisoned; links to prior sudden deaths.
- undefinedWitnesses Barrois’s death; fetches help and reagents; is horrified as poison pattern is confirmed.
- Maximilian MorrelReceives Noirtier’s blessing; promises to wait; hides during the crisis and quietly departs.
- undefinedArrives during the crisis; remarks on the lemonade; her presence heightens the atmosphere of suspicion.