make tonight's. Meet me tomorrow night at eight on the platform, you and your maid. I shall wire my own arrangements to Paris beforehand; I can-"
"I'm not taking a maid!" Lydia said, shocked.
Ysidro's brows lifted again, colorless against his colorless face. "Naturally, she shall know nothing of me, save as a chance-met companion on the train."
"No."
"Mistress Asher-"
"This is not a matter for discussion, Don Simon." Frightened as she was at the thought of traveling to Vienna -of dealing with one or possibly several vampires- the thought of journeying in company with one unnerved her still more. And as for putting Ellen or anyone else in similar danger...
"I came to you for advice in dealing with vampires, specifically with Lord Ernchester. There isn't a great deal of reliable information on the subject, you know." She saw the flare of genuine exasperation in his eyes behind the vampire stillness, and rather to her own surprise it didn't frighten her as it had.
"But I would not take anyone-certainly not a woman who's been my friend and servant for nearly fifteen years-into that situation without telling her what kind of danger she may be facing, which, on the face of it, is impossible." "A woman of your station does not travel alone."
"Nonsense. My friend Josetta Beyerly travels by herself all the time. So does-"
"You will not." Ysidro's voice did not grow louder, nor his expression change, but she felt his irritation like a wave of cold off a block of ice. "In my day no woman traveled alone, save peasants and women of the streets."
"Well, when I encounter a roving band of paid-off mercenary soldiers between here and Calais, I'll certainly wish I'd taken your advice."
"Don't talk foolishness. You might trace Karolyi but you would never get near Ernchester, and it is Ernchester to whom I must speak on this matter."
"You're the one who's talking foolishness," retorted Lydia, though she knew he was right. "This is the twentieth century, not the sixteenth. I will certainly appreciate whatever advice you can give me..."
"Advice will gain you little against either Karolyi or Ernchester. If you wish to warn your husband of his danger, you must travel with me-and travel I will, to prevent Charles from doing this thing, whatever his motives."
Lydia was silent for a moment, unnerved beyond words at the thought of such a journey but remembering how utterly unprepared she had been to encounter him in the crypt. "If you must," she said slowly, her dream of fanged white faces returning to her. "Thank you... but I am not taking my maid into the situation she'd face if we meet Ernchester, and I'm not exposing her to the chance of finding out inconvenient things about you. Which she'd do," added Lydia. "Ellen's got an inquisitive streak, and she's smarter than she appears. I won't do that to her."
"Hire one for the journey, then."
"So that you can kill her when the journey is done? And kill me, too, for that matter?" she added, her mind making a tardy leap to the ultimate danger of traveling with the dead. She knew too much already-even her admission of knowing where his lairs lay had violated the lines so carefully drawn when James and Ysidro had parted a year ago in the burning house on Harley Street.
He needs a human companion, she thought, in his search for Ernchester, someone who could deal with such problems as might overtake him when daylight was near; and he needs someone who knows James well enough to track him, to guess his movements, and through him, Karolyi and Ernchester.
She'd told Ellen and Mrs. Grimes she was visiting her cousins in Maida Vale. It would be weeks before she was even missed.
She kept her eyes on his, positive she resembled nothing so much as a myopic rabbit attempting to stare down a dragon.
Slowly, the vampire said, "You need have no fear of me, mistress. Nor will your woman, so long as she keeps from asking about that which does not concern her."
"No."
James had told her of the vampire ability to touch living minds, a cold grip, the dreadful sensation of steely will. But his power extended to blanking and smothering thought, to diverting attention... not to changing resolve. It was a predator's power, a spy's and a fugitive's, not that of one who must negotiate with humankind. She saw that realization dawn in his eyes, and his mouth tightened with annoyance.
"If we are to be companions in this enterprise, I will not have