The Mysteries of Udolpho

The next evening, Emily wonders about Agnes, so she and Blanche walk together toward the convent. There, they see the abbess, who says that Agnes has been dying in a way that offers a positive example for everyone. She mentions that since Agnes has been ill, she sometimes mentions Emily.

Emily goes to see Agnes on her deathbed, thinking about the death of St. Aubert. Agnes looks at Emily wildly and starts talking about a crime that she (Agnes) committed when she was much younger. Later, when Agnes recovers her senses, she asks if Emily is the daughter of the Marchioness De Villeroi. Emily is confused, but Agnes is sure of it. She asks another nun to bring in a casket.

A nun brings in a casket, and inside, Emily sees a miniature portrait that looks exactly like the mysterious miniature of a woman that St. Aubert had. Agnes asks the nun to pull out a second miniature. In this one, the woman is clearly Signora Laurentini (whom Emily recognizes from her portrait in Udolpho). Agnes asserts that she is in fact the woman in the second miniature, meaning she is Signora Laurentini after all (and that Montoni did not in fact murder her).

Agnes tells the full story. She claims that Emily is actually the daughter of the Marchioness De Villeroi, even as Emily herself denies it. When the Marchioness married the Marquis, she was more in love with a gentleman from Gascony. Meanwhile Agnes herself (that is, Signora Laurentini) was in love with the Marquis. This led to Laurentini and the Marquis plotting to murder the Marchioness with poison, a deed that still weighs on Laurentini’s conscience. After the murder, the Marquis felt too much guilt to live with Laurentini, so he went off.

Agnes begins to convulse, and a horrified Emily has to leave. She promises to come back to visit. Emily wonders whether perhaps St. Aubert really was the rumored secret lover of the Marchioness De Villeroi, since he had her miniature.

The next morning, Emily doesn’t feel well enough to come back and see the abbess as she promised. Bonnac, a friend of Du Pont’s, happens to be in the area and comes to visit. Bonnac mentions that he was in jail at one point, and as soon as Valancourt got out, he used his own money to help get Bonnac out. He believes the main reason Valancourt ended up in jail for debts is his own generosity. Valancourt did indeed get seduced by gambling in Paris, but in jail he repented, according to Bonnac.

Bonnac continues talking about Valancourt and how the idea that Valancourt accepted money from a marchioness to get out of jail was always just a rumor with no truth to it. It seems that Count De Villefort was misinformed, and, somewhat reluctantly, even Du Pont speaks up about Valancourt’s benevolent character, knowing that it will ruin any chance for Du Pont himself to have a relationship with Emily.