The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (books to read to improve english txt) đ
- Author: Alexandre Dumas
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He had formed his resolution. If it was Valentine alone, he would speak as she passed; if she was accompanied, and he could not speak, still he should see her, and know that she was safe; if they were strangers, he would listen to their conversation, and might understand something of this hitherto incomprehensible mystery.
The moon had just then escaped from behind the cloud which had concealed it, and Morrel saw Villefort come out upon the steps, followed by a gentleman in black. They descended, and advanced towards the clump of trees, and Morrel soon recognized the other gentleman as Doctor dâAvrigny.
The young man, seeing them approach, drew back mechanically, until he found himself stopped by a sycamore-tree in the centre of the clump; there he was compelled to remain. Soon the two gentlemen stopped also.
âAh, my dear doctor,â said the procureur, âHeaven declares itself against my house! What a dreadful deathâwhat a blow! Seek not to console me; alas, nothing can alleviate so great a sorrowâthe wound is too deep and too fresh! Dead, dead!â
The cold sweat sprang to the young manâs brow, and his teeth chattered. Who could be dead in that house, which Villefort himself had called accursed?
âMy dear M. de Villefort,â replied the doctor, with a tone which redoubled the terror of the young man, âI have not led you here to console you; on the contraryâââ
âWhat can you mean?â asked the procureur, alarmed.
âI mean that behind the misfortune which has just happened to you, there is another, perhaps, still greater.â
âCan it be possible?â murmured Villefort, clasping his hands. âWhat are you going to tell me?â
âAre we quite alone, my friend?â
âYes, quite; but why all these precautions?â
âBecause I have a terrible secret to communicate to you,â said the doctor. âLet us sit down.â
Villefort fell, rather than seated himself. The doctor stood before him, with one hand placed on his shoulder. Morrel, horrified, supported his head with one hand, and with the other pressed his heart, lest its beatings should be heard. âDead, dead!â repeated he within himself; and he felt as if he were also dying.
âSpeak, doctorâI am listening,â said Villefort; âstrikeâI am prepared for everything!â
âMadame de Saint-MĂ©ran was, doubtless, advancing in years, but she enjoyed excellent health.â Morrel began again to breathe freely, which he had not done during the last ten minutes.
âGrief has consumed her,â said Villefortââyes, grief, doctor! After living forty years with the marquisâââ
âIt is not grief, my dear Villefort,â said the doctor; âgrief may kill, although it rarely does, and never in a day, never in an hour, never in ten minutes.â Villefort answered nothing, he simply raised his head, which had been cast down before, and looked at the doctor with amazement.
âWere you present during the last struggle?â asked M. dâAvrigny.
âI was,â replied the procureur; âyou begged me not to leave.â
âDid you notice the symptoms of the disease to which Madame de Saint-MĂ©ran has fallen a victim?â
âI did. Madame de Saint-MĂ©ran had three successive attacks, at intervals of some minutes, each one more serious than the former. When you arrived, Madame de Saint-MĂ©ran had already been panting for breath some minutes; she then had a fit, which I took to be simply a nervous attack, and it was only when I saw her raise herself in the bed, and her limbs and neck appear stiffened, that I became really alarmed. Then I understood from your countenance there was more to fear than I had thought. This crisis past, I endeavored to catch your eye, but could not. You held her handâyou were feeling her pulseâand the second fit came on before you had turned towards me. This was more terrible than the first; the same nervous movements were repeated, and the mouth contracted and turned purple.â
âAnd at the third she expired.â
âAt the end of the first attack I discovered symptoms of tetanus; you confirmed my opinion.â
âYes, before others,â replied the doctor; âbut now we are aloneâââ
âWhat are you going to say? Oh, spare me!â
âThat the symptoms of tetanus and poisoning by vegetable substances are the same.â
M. de Villefort started from his seat, then in a moment fell down again, silent and motionless. Morrel knew not if he were dreaming or awake.
âListen,â said the doctor; âI know the full importance of the statement I have just made, and the disposition of the man to whom I have made it.â
âDo you speak to me as a magistrate or as a friend?â asked Villefort.
âAs a friend, and only as a friend, at this moment. The similarity in the symptoms of tetanus and poisoning by vegetable substances is so great, that were I obliged to affirm by oath what I have now stated, I should hesitate; I therefore repeat to you, I speak not to a magistrate, but to a friend. And to that friend I say, âDuring the three-quarters of an hour that the struggle continued, I watched the convulsions and the death of Madame de Saint-MĂ©ran, and am thoroughly convinced that not only did her death proceed from poison, but I could also specify the poison.ââ
âCan it be possible?â
âThe symptoms are marked, do you see?âsleep broken by nervous spasms, excitation of the brain, torpor of the nerve centres. Madame de Saint-MĂ©ran succumbed to a powerful dose of brucine or of strychnine, which by some mistake, perhaps, has been given to her.â
Villefort seized the doctorâs hand.
âOh, it is impossible,â said he, âI must be dreaming! It is frightful to hear such things from such a man as you! Tell me, I entreat you, my dear doctor, that you may be deceived.â
âDoubtless I may, butâââ
âBut?â
âBut I do not think so.â
âHave pity on me doctor! So many dreadful things have happened to me lately that I am on the verge of madness.â
âHas anyone besides me seen Madame de Saint-MĂ©ran?â
âNo.â
âHas anything been sent for from a chemistâs that I have not examined?â
âNothing.â
âHad Madame de Saint-MĂ©ran any enemies?â
âNot to my knowledge.â
âWould her death affect anyoneâs interest?â
âIt could not indeed, my daughter is her only heiressâValentine alone. Oh, if such a thought could present itself, I would stab myself to punish my heart for having for one instant harbored it.â
âIndeed, my dear friend,â said M. dâAvrigny, âI would not accuse anyone; I speak only of an accident, you understand,âof a mistake,âbut whether accident or mistake, the fact is there; it is on my conscience and compels me to speak aloud to you. Make inquiry.â
âOf whom?âhow?âof what?â
âMay not Barrois, the old servant, have made a mistake, and have given Madame de Saint-MĂ©ran a dose prepared for his master?â
âFor my father?â
âYes.â
âBut how could a dose prepared for M. Noirtier poison Madame de Saint-MĂ©ran?â
âNothing is more simple. You know poisons become remedies in certain diseases, of which paralysis is one. For instance, having tried every other remedy to restore movement and speech to M. Noirtier, I resolved to try one last means, and for three months I have been giving him brucine; so that in the last dose I ordered for him there were six grains. This quantity, which is perfectly safe to administer to the paralyzed frame of M. Noirtier, which has become gradually accustomed to it, would be sufficient to kill another person.â
âMy dear doctor, there is no communication between M. Noirtierâs apartment and that of Madame de Saint-MĂ©ran, and Barrois never entered my mother-in-lawâs room. In short, doctor although I know you to be the most conscientious man in the world, and although I place the utmost reliance in you, I want, notwithstanding my conviction, to believe this axiom, errare humanum est.â
âIs there one of my brethren in whom you have equal confidence with myself?â
âWhy do you ask me that?âwhat do you wish?â
âSend for him; I will tell him what I have seen, and we will consult together, and examine the body.â
âAnd you will find traces of poison?â
âNo, I did not say of poison, but we can prove what was the state of the body; we shall discover the cause of her sudden death, and we shall say, âDear Villefort, if this thing has been caused by negligence, watch over your servants; if from hatred, watch your enemies.ââ
âWhat do you propose to me, dâAvrigny?â said Villefort in despair; âso soon as another is admitted into our secret, an inquest will become necessary; and an inquest in my houseâimpossible! Still,â continued the procureur, looking at the doctor with uneasiness, âif you wish itâif you demand it, why then it shall be done. But, doctor, you see me already so grievedâhow can I introduce into my house so much scandal, after so much sorrow? My wife and my daughter would die of it! And I, doctorâyou know a man does not arrive at the post I occupyâone has not been kingâs attorney twenty-five years without having amassed a tolerable number of enemies; mine are numerous. Let this affair be talked of, it will be a triumph for them, which will make them rejoice, and cover me with shame. Pardon me, doctor, these worldly ideas; were you a priest I should not dare tell you that, but you are a man, and you know mankind. Doctor, pray recall your words; you have said nothing, have you?â
âMy dear M. de Villefort,â replied the doctor, âmy first duty is to humanity. I would have saved Madame de Saint-MĂ©ran, if science could have done it; but she is dead and my duty regards the living. Let us bury this terrible secret in the deepest recesses of our hearts; I am willing, if anyone should suspect this, that my silence on the subject should be imputed to my ignorance. Meanwhile, sir, watch alwaysâwatch carefully, for perhaps the evil may not stop here. And when you have found the culprit, if you find him, I will say to you, âYou are a magistrate, do as you will!ââ
âI thank you, doctor,â said Villefort with indescribable joy; âI never had a better friend than you.â And, as if he feared Doctor dâAvrigny would recall his promise, he hurried him towards the house.
When they were gone, Morrel ventured out from under the trees, and the moon shone upon his face, which was so pale it might have been taken for that of a ghost.
âI am manifestly protected in a most wonderful, but most terrible manner,â said he; âbut Valentine, poor girl, how will she bear so much sorrow?â
As he thought thus, he looked alternately at the window with red curtains and the three windows with white curtains. The light had almost disappeared from the former; doubtless Madame de Villefort had just put out her lamp, and the nightlamp alone reflected its dull light on the window. At the extremity of the building, on the contrary, he saw one of the three windows open. A wax-light placed on the mantle-piece threw some of its pale rays without, and a shadow was seen for one moment on the balcony. Morrel shuddered; he thought he heard a sob.
It cannot be wondered at that his mind, generally so courageous, but now disturbed by the two strongest human passions, love and fear, was weakened even to the indulgence of superstitious thoughts. Although it was impossible that Valentine should see him, hidden as he was, he thought he heard the shadow at the window call him; his disturbed mind told him so. This double error became an irresistible reality, and by one of the incomprehensible transports of youth, he bounded from his hiding-place, and with two strides, at the risk of being seen, at the risk of alarming Valentine, at the risk of being discovered by some exclamation which might escape the young girl, he crossed the flower-garden, which by the light of the moon resembled a large white lake, and having passed the rows of orange-trees which extended in front of the house, he reached
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