The Mysteries of Udolpho

Valancourt’s regiment is still posted near Toulouse. Missing Emily terribly, he bribes a servant to visit Madame Montoni’s estate so he can revisit the sites of their meetings. He daydreams about Emily and worries about Montoni’s treatment of her. Soon, his battalion is transferred to Paris. Fretting about Emily, Valancourt does not take part in Paris’s festivities with his fellow officers. The officers consider him arrogant and begin to turn against him. Unaware of their scheming, Valancourt finds solace in the company of the older Countess Lacleur. Gambling takes place freely at Countess Lacleur’s parties, but Valancourt cannot see through her lack of ethics. In Emily’s absence, Valancourt begins to lose himself in questionable company.

Emily pines for Valancourt. Montoni rationalizes the event about the voice and decides it must have been a servant playing a prank on him and his friends. Annette tells Emily the castle is being fortified and dangerous-looking men are gathering around the place. Her beloved—and Montoni’s servant—Ludovico suspects Montoni is the captain of a band of robbers.

Emily hears a loud knocking at her door and worries it is one of the dangerous men come to murder or rob her. She opens the door to the stairway and finds Annette there, unconscious. Annette awakens and tells Emily she fainted after seeing an apparition.

When Madame Montoni refuses to sign over her estate, Montoni threatens to imprison her in the castle’s lonely east tower. Madame Montoni has a seizure in fright. Emily convinces Montoni to give his wife one more day to reconsider. Madame Montoni confides to Emily that if she dies without signing her estates, they will directly pass to her niece.

Madame Montoni recovers from her seizure. Emily is to dine with Montoni and the large group of soldiers he has assembled. When Emily wears a simple outfit for dinner, Montoni orders her instead to put on her “most splendid dress” (474). Emily is uncomfortable during dinner, with all the men talking about violence and politics. Montoni raises his wine glass in a toast. Before he can drink it, the wine begins to hiss and the glass shatters. Montoni sees this as evidence of his wine being poisoned and declares there is a traitor in their midst. The men draw out their swords. Montoni orders that all potential culprits be locked in the dungeons. He also locks up Emily with Madame Montoni. From behind the locked door, Annette tells the ladies that fighting has broken out in the castle.

Montoni returns and accuses Madame Montoni of conspiring to kill him. She denies the accusation, but he has her sent to the east turret. Emily faints in fear. When she wakes up, she finds the door to the room unlocked and gets out. She finds Annette crying inside a locked room. Ludovico had locked her in to protect her from the fighting. Emily is unable to open the door. She roams around alone in a state of confusion, fearing for her aunt’s well-being. She sees blood on a stairway and suspects Montoni has murdered Madame Montoni. She goes to her room afraid.

The next morning, Emily asks Montoni to let Annette out of the locked room. She also asks Montoni about her aunt’s whereabouts and he replies, “she is taken care of” (497). Montoni seems preoccupied, and there is evidence of a fierce battle everywhere. Annette is released and tells Emily she fears Ludovico is seriously wounded. Emily comforts Annette and later withdraws to her casement to soothe her anxious mind. She hears beautiful, calming music from somewhere, which reminds her of St. Aubert’s playing. Emily wonders if this is otherworldly music. If it is earthly music, she is sure she will hear it again.

Annette arrives breathless at Emily’s rooms the next morning to tell her some news. Orsino, the accused murderer, has been hiding at Udolpho all along. Emily wonders if it was Orsino’s music she heard earlier. She asks Annette about musicians in Udolpho, but Annette does not know any. Annette fears that Madame Montoni has disappeared, like the first lady of Udolpho. She inquires about Madame Montoni and discovers that Barnardine, the porter, may have some information. Barnardine tells Annette he can take Emily to see Madame Montoni but that Emily must come alone and meet him late at night.