The Mysteries of Udolpho Volume 1, Chapter 7 Summary

  • Emily wakes up the next morning in a poetic mood (as she does pretty often, actually). She writes a little ditty called "The First Hour of Morning" about, y'know, waking up. At least she keeps it simple.
  • St. Aubert is ready to hit the road again, but he can't even make it out of his chair without falling down.
  • Yep, he's figured it out. He's dying, no question about it.
  • So now that that's settled, St. Aubert wants to make sure Emily's all set to finish his work.
  • He just has one simple request for her: look for secret papers underneath a sliding floorboard at La Vallée. And then burn them without looking at them. Burn them all!
  • Sure, Emily's a little surprised that her dad is going fire-crazy, but she's happy to oblige.
  • It's go time. St. Aubert calls in his confessor and bids his goodbyes to Emily and La Voisin.
  • He's just got one more thing to say to Emily: don't get carried away with foolish nonsense, girl.
  • Emily's crying too hard at this point to take anything in, but she tries to make her dad comfortable in his final hours.
  • St. Aubert finally passes away, leaving Emily pretty wrecked. What on earth is she going to do now?