The Apparition — The Count of Monte Cristo

Valentine stays confined to her bed, too weak to feel fully the news Madame de Villefort brings about Eugénie's flight and Benedetto's arrest for murder. Daylight brings Noirtier's vigil and Villefort's visits; Morrel checks daily and grows less frantic because Monte Cristo promised Valentine would live if she survived two hours, and four days have now passed. Each night a nurse places the doctor's beverage within reach, locks the door, and leaves the keys with the procureur so no one enters except through Madame de Villefort's room.

On the evening she heard of Eugénie and Andrea, fever returns after eleven. Valentine watches the library door open without a hinge sound and a figure advance toward her bed. When she reaches for her night draught, the visitor arrests her arm, tests the glass against the lamp, drinks a spoonful, and tells her she may drink. She names the Count of Monte Cristo and learns he has rented the adjoining house, watched four nights without closing his eyes, and entered whenever poison appeared to substitute a healthful draught.

Valentine protests the intrusion until he says plainly that poison and death were intended. He adds drops from his own bottle, drinks half the glass first, and reminds her this is how she has lived four nights while he trembled lest she swallow before he could empty the cup. She asks who poured; he confirms he saw the hand but names the Saint-Mérans, Barrois, and Noirtier's orange-peel inoculation against weaker doses before refusing yet to identify the assassin in the house.

Midnight strikes slowly while Valentine wipes sweat from her brow. The count says murderers choose this hour, orders her to feign sleep and make no sound, then slips toward the library door with a sad paternal smile. He warns that movement may get her killed before he can return, and the door closes noiselessly while she holds his last injunction alone.