In the States, we are celebrating Halloween today! What a fitting chapter! And it had the ol' secret bookcase trope in this chapter too! Amazing!

Synopsis:

We find out that during Valentine's recovery, she saw what she thought were hallucinations of her stepmother, the doctor, and even the Count. We then come to find out that these were not hallucinations at all. The Count was actually visiting her, sneaking in through a connected passage with the house he (Abbe Busoni) rented next door and protecting Valentine each night from ingesting more poison! Yikes! The Count confronts the almost well Valentine about this the night after the arrest of Benedetto. He tells her to pretend to sleep to discover who the poisoner actually is.

Discussion Starters:

1. The Count seemed legitimately worried and surprised that Valentine was being poisoned. For me, at least, this made me reconsider what I had been thinking all along, that he intended… the poisoner… to go and poison everyone in the house. With how the Count acted in this chapter, do you still think that this all was part of his plan?

2. Do you think he still would care so much for Valentine or would have let her die if not for her connection to Morrell? What do you think the Count's true motivation for saving Valentine is? Is it more because she has a connection to his beloved Morel family, or is it more so a way to exact his revenge on Villefort?

3. Do you think it's strange that Valentine doesn't realize she's been poisoned? Is she that naive, or has Dumas taken a bit of artistic license here with the storyline?

4. Do you think the Count will intervene any more than he already is in the unmasking of the poisoner? Or will he leave it all up to Valentine? If he does leave it up to her, how protective is he really being here?

5. If the poisoner's plan fails, will this put Valentine's life at even more risk? Do you think they have a plan B?

Final line:

And with this terrible warning, the count disappeared through the door, which closed silently behind him.

Previous Discussion:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AReadingOfMonteCristo/comments/qiokv3/chapter\_99\_the\_law\_reading\_discussion\_spoilers\_up/

The next post will go up on Wednesday the 3rd!