Then she was suddenly angry, but before she could lose her retort Van Helsing made a consolatory gesture. “What do we do when we find the Countess?” Gwen said. The Countess clucked her tongue. It took a second for their eyes to adjust to the gloom. Then she realized she might never see another night in London at all. They were really going to America, thousands of miles in this dingy cargo ship. She came in with a man. That gives us a power she will never have. John had been a beau, and this man was positively ghastly. It didn’t matter. I do have one last question: Did you believe the stories the peasants told about that ancient castle?”
Something fluttered at the window again and Gwen turned, but she couldn’t tell if she’d really heard it or if it was her imagination.
