Confessions of a Madman
...ssing that he has doubts about the wine's authenticity and that he is on his way to see another local wine expert, Luchesi, to get his opinion. Now the trap has been set, as Fortunato himself insists on going to the narrator's vaults. Although Montresor protests at this point, saying that he can see that Fortunato has a previous engagement, and that he is ill and shouldn't venture into the cold, damp vaults, we, the readers, know that this is just further psychological manipulation. At this point Fortunato take Montresor's arm and hurries him along toward his home. Upon their arrival at his home, Montresor reveals to us that, as planned, his servants have left the house empty. This is our first clear indication that the meeting with Fortunato had been planned and was not by chance. As the two men make their way down into the catacombs below the house, Montresor once again protests that they should turn back. He expressed concern for Fortunato's health, pointing out that he has a terrible cough which is sure to be exacerbated by the cold dampness down below. "Enough," Fortunato says in another moment of foreshadowing, "the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough." "True...true," Montresor agrees and opens a bottle of wine to "defend us from the damps." After the narrator ironically toasts his victim's "long life," ensuring his intoxication, they have a conversation about Montresor's family coat of arms and motto, "nemo me impune lacessit." (No one can injure me with impunity.) This gives more insight into the motivation behind Montresor's actions. At this point the narrator takes one last opportunity to convince Fortunato to turn back. But, as intended, he is dismissed as worrying too much and they open another bottle of wine. After draining the bottle, Fortunato makes some sort of gesture that Montresor doesn't understand. When he realizes this fact he points out that Montresor must not be a member of the brotherhood of masons, to which the narrator protests that he is indeed a mason. When pressed for a sign as proof, he produces a trowel from beneath his cloak. This is another example of foreshadowing of things to come. Fortunato dismisses this as a joke and they proceed further into the steadily dimming catacombs. Upon their arrival at "the most remote end of the crypt" they come to a smaller recess, its walls lined with human remains piled to the ceiling, and a haphazard pile of bones off to the side. As Fortunato tries in vain to see inside the recess with his dull torch, Montresor encourages him to proceed inside, as this is where he has stored the Amontillado. To further distract his victim, he begins to say something about Luchesi, and Fortunato immediately interrupts him, stepping into the niche with Montresor right at his heels. Before Fortunato knows what is happening, Montresor has bound and locked him with a chain and lock which he had planted there just for the occasion. As Fortunato is recovering from his astonishment, Montresor turns to the pile of remains off to the side and begins to uncover bricks and mortar which are hidden beneath. Using the trowel he showed Fortunato earlier, he begins to wall up the entrance to the niche where his victim is chained. While working he realizes that his victim is furiously trying to break the chains and escape, so he takes a break from his work and sits on the pile of bones and listens, taking satisfaction from the sounds of Fortunato's ...