I’d rather die a hundred times.
No, you won’t die. Will you promise me that no matter what happens, you will never complain and hope?
I will think of Maximilian.
You are my favorite child, Valentine. I can save you alone, and I will save you.
Valentine was so scared that she folded her hands. She thought it was time to ask the emperor for courage, so she prayed that when she prayed intermittently, she forgot her snow-white shoulders. Her long hair covered her and forgot, but she could see her heart-pounding chest through the lace seam of her pajamas.
Monte Cristo gently put his hand on the young girl’s arm, pulled the velvet blanket around her neck and said with a loving smile, my child believes in my true feelings for you just as you believe in the love of Maximilian.
Then he touched the jade box from his vest pocket and uncovered the gold cover. He took a pea-sized pill from it and put it in her hand. Rivalan Tina took the pill and looked intently at the count, who bravely protected her face. She asked him with her eyes.
He said it.
Valentine put the pill in her mouth and swallowed it.
Now, my dear child, goodbye for the time being. I’m going to sleep for a while because you have been saved.
Go, Valentine said that no matter what happens, I promise you I will never be afraid.
Monte Cristo stared at the young girl for a while, watching her fall asleep in the pill. Then he picked up the cup and poured most of the liquid into the fireplace, which made Valentine drink it and put it back on the table. He cast a farewell look at Valentine, who fell asleep as safely as a pure day lying at the emperor’s feet. The count disappeared immediately.
Chapter 1 Valentine
The lamp on the mantelpiece is still lit, but it has burned out. The last few drops of oil lamps floating on the water are reflected as a reddish flame. Before it goes out, they suddenly light up and shoot the last flickering light. Although this light is lifeless, it is often compared with the last struggle of human beings before dying. A ray of dim and miserable light hangs over the young girl and is covered around her.
All the noise in the street stopped and there was silence all around. At this moment, the door leading to Edward’s bedroom was knocked. In the mirror opposite the door, a face that we had seen before appeared. It was the face of Madame de Villefort. She came to see if the potion worked. She listened at the door for a while, and now there was snuff left in the room. She came to the table to see if Valentine had put the potion in a glass and returned some potion. Madame de Villefort poured it into the ashes and mixed them a few times. Then she carefully rinsed the glass and handkerchief to dry it and put it back on the table.
At that time, people looked through the room and saw Madame de Villefort approaching the bed with hesitation. Her eyes looked at Valentine unblinkingly. The dim light and dead silence at night could cause all kinds of terrible things, especially her own conscience. All these things were woven together to create a terrible night atmosphere. She was afraid to see her grades, but she finally got up the courage to pull the bill and leaned over the pillow to look at Valentine. Her half-closed teeth were no longer breathing, and her eyes stopped shaking through her white lips. Floating in the light blue fog, long and black heads spread out on the waxy white cheeks. Madame de Villefort stared at the still but still moving face. Then she dared to uncover her hand and put it on the young girl’s chest. The chest was cold and motionless. She felt the pulse of her finger. She shivered back to her hand, and one arm hung out of the bed. Such a beautiful arm seemed to be carved from shoulder to wrist by a sculptor, but the forearm seemed to be slightly deformed due to spasm, while the delicate and slender hand was stretched out with stiff fingers and put on the bedstead. Madame de Villefort no longer doubted that everything was over. She had finished her final work.
There is nothing else to do in the room, and it seems that she is afraid to hear her footsteps, but when she goes, she still hangs on her account, which has an irresistible attraction to her.
Snuff exploded again, and the sound startled Madame de Villefort. She shivered. The tent lamp went out and the clock struck at 4: 30, and the room fell into terrible darkness. At that time, she was frightened and groped to the door and returned to her room with fear. After two hours of terrible darkness, a pale white light climbed in through the shutters and finally lit up everything in the room. At about this time, the stairs rang and the nurse coughed. She came into the room with a cup in her hand. It was enough for a father or a lover to decide everything at first sight. But it seemed to the nurse that Valentine was dead.
She walked to the front of the fireplace and made a fire. Although she just got up, she wanted to hit a sleepy clock before Valentine woke up. She was surprised that her patient was so fast asleep. To her surprise, she saw that the arm was still hanging outside the bed. She walked over to Valentine and noticed the bleeding lips. She wanted to put the arm back in bed, but the arm was stiff and could not be fooled by a nurse. She shouted and then ran to the door and shouted for help.
What are you yelling about? M. D ‘Avrigny asked at the foot of the stairs. This is when he comes to see a doctor every day.
What’s the matter? Villefort rushed from his room and asked the doctor. Did you hear her calling for help?
Yes, yes, I heard you. Let’s hurry. It’s in Valentine’s room.
Before the doctor’s father arrived at the second floor, the servants ran into Valentine’s room and saw Valentine lying in bed pale and motionless. They all raised their hands to the sky and stood there motionless as if they had been struck by lightning.
Call Madame de Villefort to wake Madame de Villefort. The prosecutor shouted at the door of the room. It seems that he didn’t dare to go in, but the servants didn’t follow his orders. They were all there watching Mr. Avrigny. Avrigny ran to Valentine’s bed and picked her up. This one also said in a low voice that she would fall out of his arm. Oh, my God, when will you get tired of it?
Villefort rushed into the room. What did you say, doctor? He raised his hand and asked Tian Da.
I said Valentine was dead, and Avrigny replied in a solemn voice.
M. de Villefort stumbled and buried his head in Valentine’s bed. Hearing the doctor’s call for the father to cry, the servants murmured and left. Hearing their footsteps running up the stairs, crossing the promenade and rushing into the vestibule, they all fled from the cursed room. At this moment, Mrs. de Villefort lifted the curtain on the threshold in her pajamas for a while, as if asking the people in the room what had happened and trying to think about a few tears. Suddenly, she stretched out her arms and jumped to the table. She saw Avrigny check that she was sure that she had poured a cup in the evening. There is still a third of the potion in the cup, and she has fallen into the ashes as much as Valentine’s soul. Now in front of Madame de Villefort, she won’t feel so afraid of the color of the potion. She fell into the cup and Valentine drank it exactly the same. This poison can’t be hidden from M. Avrigny’s eyes. It must be a miracle of the emperor. Although she was very careful, she left evidence to expose her crime
Madame de Villefort was nailed to the ground like a goddess of terror, and Villefort buried her head in the bed. At this moment, Avrigny went to the window to examine the contents of the cup more clearly, dipped his fingertips in it and tasted it. He said that it was no longer wooden turtle essence. I came to see what was in the cup, so he ran to a medicine cabinet in Valentine’s room and took a small bottle of nitric acid from a silver box and dropped a few drops into the liquid, which immediately turned blood red.
Avrigny shouted that his voice was mixed with joy like a judge revealing the truth. When a student solved a problem, Madame de Villefort couldn’t stand it any longer. At first, sparks burst in front of her eyes, and then it turned dark. She stumbled to the door and then disappeared for a while. The outside body fell on the floor, but no one paid attention to it. The nurse was paying attention to the analysis. Villefort was immersed in sorrow. Avrigny noticed that her eyes followed Madame de Villefort’s. He pulled the curtain at the door of Edward’s room and looked at Madame de Villefort’s room to help her.
But miss villefort, the nurse said hesitantly
Mademoiselle de Villefort needs no help, said Avrigny, because she is dead.
Dead, dead, murmured Villefort sadly. It is a novel feeling to be sad in his stone heart. His grief is more heartbreaking than ordinary people.
Did you say she was dead? Suddenly a voice shouted, Who said Valentine was dead?
The two men turned around and saw Morrel looking pale and excited at the door. The thing was that Morrel came to the door of M. Tonnoirtier’s room as usual. The difference was that the door was open because there was no need to ring the bell. He waited in the hall for a while and wanted to call a servant to take him to see M. Nonoirtier. He shouted, but no one answered. Because all the servants in the room had escaped, Morrel was not particularly upset. Monte Cristo had promised him that Valentine would not die, and so far he had been walking. He promised that the count would give him news every night, which was confirmed by Noirtier the next morning. However, he was surprised by this strange silence. He called again for the second time and the third time, but no one answered. So he decided to go upstairs to Noirtier. The door was as big as other doors. At first sight, he saw the old man sitting in his round-backed chair as usual. His eyes were wide open, indicating a kind of fear. That expression was confirmed by his pale face.
