The Count of Monte Cristo

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Villefort, with his head hidden in the bedclothes, saw nothing around
him, d'Avrigny approached the window, that he might the better examine
the contents of the glass, and dipping the tip of his finger in, tasted
it. "Ah," he exclaimed, "it is no longer brucine that is used; let me
see what it is!"

Then he ran to one of the cupboards in Valentine's room, which had been
transformed into a medicine closet, and taking from its silver case a
small bottle of nitric acid, dropped a little of it into the liquor,
which immediately changed to a blood-red color. "Ah," exclaimed
d'Avrigny, in a voice in which the horror of a judge unveiling the truth
was mingled with the delight of a student making a discovery. Madame
de Villefort was overpowered, her eyes first flashed and then swam,
she staggered towards the door and disappeared. Directly afterwards the
distant sound of a heavy weight falling on the ground was heard, but
no one paid any attention to it; the nurse was engaged in watching
the chemical analysis, and Villefort was still absorbed in grief. M.