“My lady, I believe congratulations are in order,” said a deep voice right behind me. I spun around to see Count Dragomir standing there. He bowed low. “I look forward to serving you as my princess.”

As he went to withdraw I remembered my worry. “Count Dragomir, if you have a moment.”

“Of course, Your Highness.” He put his hand to his breast and bowed. So I’d now been elevated to Highness in anticipation, had I?

I beckoned him to one side. “Count Dragomir, I am concerned because my maid seems to have disappeared. She didn’t come to dress me for dinner and she is not in her room. I wondered if you could ask the other servants if they had seen her and perhaps even send out a search party to look for her for me. She may have taken a wrong turn and fallen down some dark staircase.”

“You are right,” he said, “there are plenty of dangerous spots in a castle like this for those who wander where they shouldn’t. But do not concern yourself, my lady. I will set servants to the task immediately. We will find her for you.” He was about to move off again when I spotted Lady Middlesex and Miss Deer-Harte, who had come into the room together. I decided to ask one more question.

“Count Dragomir. The English lady over there—she tells me that she observed a young man creeping about the hallways at night, and then the same young man hiding in one of the archways, watching the banquet on the first evening. I just wondered if you had any idea who that might be, or if it was possible that a stranger is hiding out in the castle.”

“How can a stranger have come into the castle, my lady?” Dragomir asked. “You have seen for yourself—there is only one gate and it is guarded at all times. The only other way in would be to fly.”

“Or climb up the wall?” I suggested.

He laughed. “You have been listening to the rumors of vampires, have you not? No man in his right mind would attempt to climb the castle wall.”

“So none of the servants has reported seeing a strange young man—pale, with fair hair?”

“No, my lady. None of the servants has seen any kind of stranger in the castle. They would have reported to me instantly if they had. I’m afraid your English lady friend is letting her imagination run away with her. Remember how upset she was when she first arrived here. Of course His Highness, your betrothed, has light hair. Perhaps she saw him.”