Count of Monte Cristo: Chapter 82

[osprey_archer]

We're moving right along in The Count of Monte Cristo! I'm about two thirds of the way through the book, and the plot-nooses are tightening around the necks of Dantes' enemies...



Although also, worrisomely, around the necks of Dantes' enemies' innocent children. Albert de Moncerf, the son of Fernand, has just stormed into a newspaper office to challenge one of his friends to a duel because the friend printed something that like maybe five people might realize refers to Albert's father. No matter! Albert will avenge his father's honor!

Never mind that by doing so he'll tip off absolutely everyone that his father's honor was in peril in the first place. Oh Albert.

EVEN MORE CONCERNINGLY, there have been a spate of poisonings in Villefort's house - my money is on Mme. de Villefort, getting in touch with her inner Lucrezia Borgia - EXCEPT that no one in the household suspects her; right now suspicion centers on sweet, innocent, cinnamon-roll-like Valentine, the daughter of the house.

I can't even blame the good doctor who suspects her, because the deaths have been mowing down her grandparents and leaving her the heiress to a large fortune, so she is the obvious suspect. But she couldn't have done it! If she were a murderess, wouldn't she also be the kind of person who would say to hell with convention and run away with Morrel, and none of this namby-pampy wittering around about how she has to marry Franz like a good daughter?

However, I am also not sure what Mme. de Villefort's master plan is. Possibly she's planning to cap off her poisoning spree by poisoning Valentine, thus securing both of Valentine's fortunes for the Villefort family and ultimately for her own son? Only of course Valentine will be SAVED by the power of Morrel's love probably the Count's encyclopedic knowledge of poison and medicine, let's be realistic.

Comments

[evelyn-b.livejournal.com]

OH ALBERT. :( Please stop being an idiot and calm down and don't try to kill anyone. :( It's all true, anyway, and wouldn't it be better just to leave it alone?

In fairness to the case against Valentine, it would certainly behoove a cold-hearted poisoner to play the dutiful daughter as convincingly as possible. But since I am a reader of this book and not a character in it, I can see how obvious it is that Valentine would never poison anyone.

(I have no idea what Mme de Villefort's goal is here. Is she the poisoner? Or do all those significant looks really mean that she knows who the poisoner is?)

Only of course Valentine will be SAVED by the power of Morrel's love probably the Count's encyclopedic knowledge of poison and medicine, let's be realistic.

OR BOTH. Let's be ambitious!

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Is Albert going to collapse when he realizes that it's all true and his father is actually a total scoundrel? Oh dear. AND - more importantly! - does Mercedes know???

I think Mme de Villefort must be the poisoner, simply because who else could it be? We know it's not Valentine, it would be weird for it to be some random servant we haven't met before, and Villefort seemed genuinely shocked to hear that there had been poisonings in his house.

I suppose there's always Valentine's creepy half-brother. But he's like nine, so all this poisoning might be somewhat beyond him, and anyway he wasn't the one questioning the Count about poisons.