But Fanny was in that moment far more gravely preoccupied. The Mummy of the ancient Pharaoh had ceased coming at her momentarily and turned his maddened firestorm-being upon Edmund who happened to be nearest Fanny.

A great skeletal arm with suddenly needle-sharp claws reached with impossible force to strike, and Edmund was reeling from the blow upon his chest.

“No!” Fanny exclaimed. And without any thought of consequences, she placed herself between Edmund and the Mummy. “No, you must not hurt him! Please, I beg of you, no! Strike me if you must, but not him, never him!”

The world momentarily seemed to stop.

“This one. . . .” said East Wind. “Then, indeed, you truly care about this one? You—love him?”

And tears welling in her eyes, Fanny took a resolute breath, stretched her arms on both sides of her, fingers spread wide, in a gesture of protection. “Yes!” she whispered, barely mouthing the words so that only her undead ancient beloved could hear her—and none other.

The light seemed to go out of him.

The storm raging, receded. Lord Eastwind, impeccable and handsome, once more clad in elegant formal evening attire, stood in silence for a moment, looking at her with grief-stricken eyes.

And when next Fanny blinked, he was no longer there.

The same could not be said of the other mummies in the room. They still growled and roared and attempted to feed on everyone and everything. But in the moment of Lord Eastwind’s disappearance, it seemed they had lost most of their enthusiasm.

Breathing in gasps, Edmund straightened, holding his chest in pain, saying, “What? Where? Where did the villain go?”

“Miss Price? You are unharmed, I pray?” Mr. Crawford’s perfectly solicitous inquiry at her side came many minutes too late.

But Fanny, stunned and broken, had eyes only for the spot which was now empty. Two instants of pause she allowed herself. And next, she turned away and was coming to assist Edmund, exclaiming in concern over his possible injury.

Within minutes, it seemed, the tide of battle had turned. Those mummies that were not vanquished by means of “oral suppository” decided to take themselves off elsewhere, and started quitting the ballroom in droves. Shrieks and random screams of elegant lady guests were still heard all around the estate, as baboons, flying fowl, even a slithering snake or two, were discovered here and there; but somehow soon they too were gone. There were reports that a number of the lesser creature mummies found their original spots around the house and then became motionless objects, striking the same exact poses in which they were originally placed many thousand years ago. A terrible wonder indeed!

The crocodile in the front parlor was found to have crawled back to his prominent spot upstairs near the mantel and was now still and motionless in mummified ancient splendor.