World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 150 Lemonade (2)
"Madame," said Valentine, "he didn't eat breakfast, but his grandfather called him to do something in the morning. He ran a lot and drank a glass of lemonade when he came back."

"Ah!" said Madame de Villefort, "why not wine? Lemonade is not a very good thing."

"He had the lemonade on hand, it was in the water bottle that Grandpa drank from. Poor Baluwa was very thirsty, so he took it and drank it."

Madame de Villefort shuddered, and Noirquier fixed his deep eyes on the young woman.

"His neck is shortened!" said the young woman.

"Madame," said Villefort, "I ask you where M. Avrini is; for heaven's sake, answer!"

"He is in Edward's room, because Edward is not well," said Madame de Villefort, when she could no longer avoid answering.

Villefort hastened upstairs to see M. Affini himself.

"Here," said the young woman, handing Valentine her scenting bottle, "the doctor will certainly bleed him, and I will go upstairs to my room, for I am afraid of seeing blood." And she told Walked after her husband too.

Morrel came out of the dim corner from which he had hidden himself, and no one saw him hiding there just now, because he was so inattentive to other things.

"Go away, Maximilian," said Valentine, "you wait until I call you, and now go."

Morrel looked up at Noirquier.Noirquier, keeping his composure, motioned for Morrel to go away.Then Morrel took Valentine's hand, pressed it to his breast, and went out through the secret door.Morrel had just left when Villefort and the doctor entered the room by the door opposite.Baluwa was slowly coming to life, the fit was over, when he raised himself up on one knee with a groan.Avrini and Villefort carried Baroy onto a bench.

"What do you want, doctor?" asked Villefort.

"Bring me some water and ether. Is there ether at the house?"

"Have."

"Send someone to hurry for turpentine and emetic."

"Go quickly," Villefort told the servant immediately.

"Now, everyone, please get out."

"Shall I go out too?" asked Valentine timidly.

"Yes, miss, you should go out." The doctor said very rudely.

Valentine was startled, cast a glance at M. Avrini, kissed M. Noirquier on the forehead, and left the room.As soon as she left, the gloomy doctor immediately went over and closed the door.

"Look, look, doctor, he's recovered, there's nothing to worry about from the attack just now!

Mr. Affini just gave a wry smile.

"How do you feel now, Barois?" asked the doctor.

"Better, doctor."

"This glass of water with ether, can you drink it?"

"Let me try, but don't touch me."

"why?"

"Because I feel that when you touch me, even if it's just with your fingertips, I'll send out ┎>G again!
"Drink."

Baluwa picked up the glass, held it up to his purple lips, and drank almost half of it.

"What do you feel uncomfortable about?" asked the doctor.

"It hurts everywhere, I feel cramping all over my body, it's horrible."

"Gold stars in your eyes?"

"Yes."

"Does it ring in your ears?"

"It was terribly loud."

"When did it start?"

"Just now."

"Did it happen all at once?"

"Fast as lightning."

"You didn't feel this way yesterday or the day before yesterday, did you?"

"No."

"Doesn't it feel like you can't wake up? Doesn't your body feel heavy?"

"No."

"What did you eat today?"

"I didn't eat anything, I just drank a glass of lemonade from sir." Barois raised his head and pointed at Nouakier.Noirquier sat motionless in the wheelchair, but he saw and heard every move and word in this terrible scene.

"Where's the lemonade?" asked the doctor hastily.

"In a glass jar in the basement."

"Where in the basement?"

"In the kitchen."

"You see, shall I fetch it, doctor?" asked Villefort.

"No, you stay here and let the patient drink the remaining half glass of water."

"But that bottle of lemonade..."

"I'll get it myself."

Avrini rushed to the door, opened it, and, running down the servants' staircase, almost knocked down Madame de Villefort, who was also descending to the kitchen.Madame de Villefort screamed, and Avrini, who had only one thought in his mind, did not bother to say hello, jumped the last three or four steps, and rushed into the kitchen, where he caught sight of the carafe on the tray. , there was still a small half bottle of lemonade left in it, like an eagle pouncing on its prey, he pounced on it.Then he went upstairs, panting again, to Noirquier's room.Madame de Villefort went upstairs slowly to her own room.

"Is this the bottle that was put here just now?" Affini asked.

"Yes, sir."

"You're drinking the lemonade from this bottle?"

"I think so."

"What is the taste?"

"Bitter."

The doctor poured a few drops of lemonade into the palm of his hand, pursed his lips and sucked it into his mouth, smacked it a few times like tasting wine, and then spit the lemonade into the hearth of the fireplace. "Exactly the same," said he. "Have you drunk, Monsieur Noirquier?"

"Yes." The old man motioned.

"Do you feel pain too?"

"Yes."

"Ah, Doctor!" cried Barois, "I am suffering again! My God, Lord, have mercy on me!"

The doctor immediately ran to the patient. "Emetic! Villefort, you go and have a look and bring it┟ Little Leopard!

Villefort hurried out, shouting: "Emetic! Emetic! Got it?"

No one answered, and there was panic in the small building.

"If I inject air into his lungs with something," said Avrini, looking around, "it might still be possible to keep him from suffocating. Too bad there's nothing!"

"Oh, sir!" cried Barowa, "you're just waiting for me to die? Oh, I'm dying, my God! I'm dying!"

"Take a pen! Pen!" said the doctor.He found a quill on the table, so he picked it up and tried to stick it in the patient's mouth.At this time, the patient was convulsed all over, unable to vomit even if he wanted to vomit, and the upper and lower jaws were clenched tightly, and the pen could not be inserted.

Baluwa's convulsions were worse this time than the last, and he rolled off the bench and lay flat on the floor.The doctor was powerless to relieve the patient's pain, so he had to watch the patient twitch and convulse.

"How do you feel?" said the doctor in a low voice, hurrying up to Noirquier, "is it all right?"

"Yes."

"Is your stomach bloated? Isn't it bloated?"

"Yes."

"It's the same as taking the medicine I give you every Sunday, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"The lemonade you drank was given by Barua, right?"

"Yes."

"Did you let him drink just now?"

"Do not."

"M. de Villefort?"

"Do not."

"Is it Ma'am?"

"Do not."

"Then Valentine?"

"Yes."

Barrois gasped for breath, then opened his mouth wide and gasped, his jaws rattled and Avrini left Monsieur Noirquier as soon as he heard these sounds and ran towards the patient.

"Baluwa," said the doctor, "can you speak?"

Baluwa stammered a few words, unable to understand what it meant.

"Speak hard, my friend."

Baluwa opened his bloodshot eyes.

"Whose Lemonade Is Right?"

"I."

"Did you send it to your master as soon as you finished pairing?"

"Do not."

"Then where did you put this pair of good water?"

"When someone calls me, put the water in the pantry."

"Who brought it here?"

"Miss Valentine."

Affini patted his forehead. "Oh, my God, my God!" he murmured.

"Doctor! Doctor!" cried Baluwa, who felt that the third seizure was about to begin.

"Why can't the emetics be delivered?" the doctor shouted.

"This cup of medicine has been prepared," said Villefort, entering the room.

"Who deserves it?"

"The pharmacy guy who came with me dispensed it."

"Drink quickly."

"No, doctor, it's too late. My throat is constricted and I can't breathe. Oh! My heart! Oh! My head...what a hell! I've got a long time to go ?"

"No, no, my friend, you will feel better after a while."

"Ah! I see!" exclaimed the unfortunate Barois. "My God, poor pity!"

Baluwa let out a scream, as if struck by lightning, he fell back and fell to the ground.Affini pressed Barois' chest with one hand, and passed a glass to his mouth with the other.

"How?" asked Villefort.

"Go and tell the kitchen to bring some viola juice right away."

Villefort immediately went downstairs to the kitchen.

"You needn't be afraid, Monsieur Noirquier," said Avrini; "I'll take the patient to another room now and bled him right away. To tell the truth, it's a terrible thing to see when this kind of attack occurs. After finishing speaking, he took Baroy's arms and dragged the patient to the next room, but as soon as he went out, he immediately returned to Noirquier's room and went straight to get the small half bottle of lemonade.He saw Noirquier blinking his right eye. "Valentine, don't you? Do you want Valentine to come? I'll tell them to send her to see you."

Villefort came up from the basement and met Affini on the staircase. "How?" asked Villefort.

"Come here," Affini said.He went with Villefort into the room where Baroy lay.

"Has he been unconscious?" the prosecutor said.

"he died."

Villefort took three steps back in succession, clasping his hands over his head in a look of mournful sympathy. "Such a sudden death!" he said, looking at the corpse.

"Yes, it was so sudden, wasn't it?" said Avrini. "You shouldn't be surprised that both M. and Mme. Saint-Méran died suddenly. Well, when someone dies in your house, it is Death, M. de Villefort!"

"What?" cried the Judge, in a voice full of panic and dismay. "You're thinking of this dreadful thing again!"

"Always on my mind, sir, on my mind!" said Avrini gravely. "This matter is on my mind at all times. You must believe that I will not be mistaken this time. Listen carefully. I say, Monsieur de Villefort."

Villefort was trembling convulsively.

"There is a poison that kills without leaving a trace. I know this poison very well. I have studied the accidents and symptoms that it can cause. I just learned from the poor This poison was seen in Barrois, and I saw it in the case of Madame de Saint-Meran some time ago. There is a way to identify this poison, which can make stones reddened by acid treatment. The pistil paper restores the blue color, and it also turns the violet juice green. We don’t have any litmus paper, but, great, they brought the violet juice I asked for.”

Sure enough, there was a sound of footsteps on the corridor. The doctor opened the door slightly, and took a cup from the maid, which contained two or three spoonfuls of viola juice.The doctor closed the door behind him.

"You see," said the doctor, and the prosecutor's heart beat so violently that one could almost hear the pounding, "this glass contains violet juice, and this carafe contains M. Noirquier." Drink leftover lemonade with Baluwa. If the lemonade is pure and non-poisonous, the violet juice will keep its original color, and if the lemonade has poison, the violet juice will turn green. You see. The doctor dripped a few drops of lemonade from the large bottle into the cup, and the bottom of the cup immediately condensed into a cloud of blue mist, and the violet juice turned milky white, and finally turned from milky white to emerald green.After turning emerald green, the color of the violet juice is basically fixed, and the result of this experiment is beyond doubt. "Unfortunate Baluwa was poisoned with angu bark and strychnine, and now I must say so bluntly, both to man and to God."

Villefort was silent, raised his arms high, opened his eyes wide, and looked frightened and panicked, then fell down on a chair as if suddenly struck by lightning.

(End of this chapter)