the prickle of a strange awe, remembering the night I had apparently kept my cat's destroyer at bay in my apartment by reading through midnight about the lives of the Dutch merchants I had come to love. Something had protected Helen, too, at least to some degree; she had been cruelly injured but not drained of blood. We looked silently at each other.
"'This could have been much worse,' she said.
"I put my arms around her and felt the trembling of her usually firm shoulders.
I was shaking, myself. 'Yes,' I whispered. 'But we must guard you from anything else.'
"She shook her head, suddenly, as if in wonder. 'And this is a monastery! I can't understand it. The undead abhor such a place.' She pointed to the cross over the door, the icon and holy lamp hanging in the corner. 'Here in the sight of the Virgin?'
"'I don't understand it, either,' I said slowly, turning her hand over in mine. 'But we know that monks traveled with Dracula's remains, and that he was probably buried in a monastery. There is something strange in that already. Helen' - I squeezed her hand - 'I've been thinking about something else. The librarian from home - he found us in Istanbul and then in Budapest. Couldn't he have followed us here, too? Could he have attacked you last night?'
"She winced. 'I know. He bit me once in the library, so he might want me again, might he not? But I felt strongly in my dream it was something else - someone much more powerful. But how could one of them get in, even if he was not afraid of a monastery?'
"'That part is simple.' I pointed to the nearest window, which stood slightly ajar five feet from Helen's cot. 'Oh, God, why did I let you stay here alone?'
"'I was not alone,' she reminded me. 'There were five other people sleeping in the room with me. But you are right - he can change shape, as my mother said - a bat, a mist - '
"'Or a great black bird.' Her dream had sprung up in my mind again.
"'Now I have been bitten twice, more or less,' she said, almost dreamily.
"Helen!' I shook her. 'I will never let you be alone again, not for an hour.'
"'Never an hour to myself?' Her old smile, sarcastic and loving, returned for a moment.
"'And I want you to promise me - if you feel something I can't feel, if you feel something looking for you - '
"'I will tell you, Paul, if I feel anything like that at all.' She spoke fiercely now, and her promise seemed to rouse her to action. 'Come, please. I need food and I need some red wine or brandy, if we can find it. Bring me a towel, there, and the basin - I will wash my neck and bind it.' Her passionate practicality was contagious and I obeyed at once. 'Later we will go in the church and clean this wound with the holy water, when no one is looking. If I can tolerate that, we can hope a great deal. How strange' - I was glad to see her cynical smile again - 'I have always felt all this church ritual is nonsense, and I still do.'
"'But apparently he does not think it is nonsense,' I said soberly."I helped her sponge off her throat, taking care not to touch the open lesions, and watched the door while she dressed. The sight of the wound up close was so terrible to me that I thought for a minute I would have to leave the room and give way to my tears outside. But although Helen moved weakly, I could see the set determination in her face. She tied on her customary scarf and found a piece of string in her baggage with which to make a new chain for the crucifix - this one stronger, I hoped. Her sheets were hopelessly stained, but only in small spots. 'We will let the monks think - well, that there have been women in their dormitory,' Helen said in her forthright way. 'It is surely not the first time they will have washed out some blood.'"
"By the time we emerged from the church, Ranov was lounging in the courtyard. He narrowed his eyes at Helen. 'You have slept very late,' he said accusingly. I looked carefully at his eyeteeth when he spoke, but they didn't appear any sharper than usual; if anything, they were ground