“No, Glynis, we cannot. I do not want to go down there,” May whispered.
“I wonder what lies below.” I admit I can be rather foolhardy at times.
“Please, Glynis, please, do not go down there.”
I stared down the stairs, my eyes wide and full of curiosity. I felt a strong desire to set my foot down upon that first step, and yet, I was very afraid. May’s hand slipped away from mine as she drew away from the shadows.
“Glynis, please stop. You are frightening me!”
I heard her voice, but I could not heed her words. I was mesmerized by the darkness below, drawn down to it. Hesitantly, I began to descend the stairs. I found myself in absolute darkness.
A soft, gentle breathing filled my ears. My sister’s cries faded away as the soft whispering I had heard the night before began once more. Strange soft, madly whispering voices. Voices of such sweetness, I felt compelled to move on. A cold chill swept through my body, strangely arousing, yet terrifying.
“Lady Glynis!”
I was startled out of my trance-like state and whirled around. As the top of the stairs, staring down at me, was the old gypsy woman, Ilona. Her hands were on her hips and she looked quite angry. Behind her, May cowered nervously.
“Come to me at once. This area of the castle is not safe. You should not be here!”
The voices stirred around me, gentle and comforting. Somehow, I knew in the darkness below me something exotic, beautiful, and seductive was stirring. The whispers danced on my skin. I suddenly felt afraid.
“What is down there?”
I could still feel the dark power stirring, drawing closer. Yet, I could not bring myself to move.
“Just empty rooms. Old rooms that are falling apart. Now, come here! Come here,” the Gypsy ordered in her thickly accented English. “You must come at once!”
A little put off at being spoken to in such a manner by a servant, I haughtily lifted my chin. I considered dashing down into the darkness, but suddenly, I knew I did not want to know what lay below. With firm steady steps, I walked up to my sister and the angry servant.
“Come, May,” I said taking my sister’s hand.
As we walked away, I could feel Ilona glowering at me.
I turned one last time to look at the mysterious doorway and the servant woman before we returned to our parents. She was holding out her hand in front of her and moving down the stairs, speaking in another tongue.
I could have sworn I heard something …nay … someone answer her in a soft whispering voice.
We found our way back to the library, holding hands, as I mocked the bizarre gypsy woman. By making May laugh, I was able to break her free of fear and see her smile again. But despite my gaiety, I was unnerved by what we had encountered and felt ill at ease.
The library was a large room with a vast fireplace and many shelves stacked full of books. My father sat at a large table looking over a stack of papers while my mother sat on a nearby couch reading a book. The sunlight was streaming in through the diamond paned windows, yet the room seemed cold and gloomy.
Father realized we had entered the room and looked up to smile at us. “Oh, my darlings, did you enjoy your little adventure?”
“It was quite dreadful! Very foreign. And quite old and very dirty in places,” May said.
“I thought it was marvelously uncanny, Father.” I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, then flung myself onto the couch next to my mother.
“I do not think it was proper for you two to go off without the Prince to escort you.” My mother’s reprimand was gentle, but her eyes were wary. “How do we know it is safe?”
“It was safe enough,” I assured her.
“The Prince has obviously left us to our own devices. I do not think they did any harm.” Father smiled as May sat next to him, laying her head on his shoulder.
In the warmth of my family, our adventure did not seem as fearsome.
“Oh, we just stirred up the ghosts and sent them whispering through the castle,” I said gleefully.
“Glynis!”
I grinned at my mother before rising to sit next to my father at the table.
“There are no such thing as ghosts. We are quite beyond that sort of thinking,” Father said to me.
I shrugged lightly and leaned over to study his papers. “What are you reading?”
“Prince Vlad left these for me to look at. They are papers describing his financial holdings.”
“Is he wealthy?”
“Very wealthy indeed, Glynis.”
“Father, you are not going to make me marry him, are you?”
He smiled at me tenderly. I knew he could see the desperation in my eyes and I felt as if I had paled a bit. He placed his very warm hand over mine. “No, my dear. I am not going to make you marry him.”
“Edric, but you said-“ Mother said sharply.
He cut her off. “Yes, we have discussed this all morning, but the truth remains this. Look at this castle. Yes, the furnishings are lush and quite beautiful, but very old.”
“Every family of old nobility has such things,” Mother said. She looked so anxious and desperate, her hand flying to her throat.
“Antoinetta, the castle is falling apart in some places.”
“But he says he will repair it…” Her voice floundered, looking at me rather sadly.
“Do you really want her to marry so badly that you would wish her to remain in this place?” Father said it all so gently, but his eyes were determined. “Think, my wife, are you so desperate?”
“Edric, she is nineteen years old!”
“My love, I know that in your heart you want what is best for our daughters, but this is not best for our eldest. Yes, according to these papers our host, Prince Vlad Dracula, is a man of wealth, even prestige. Perhaps he could repair this castle and set it right once more, but think beyond that. He is a foreigner.”
“As am I.” Mother’s voice was bitter.
“And that is why Glynis must marry well in our own country. I do not wish for her to suffer as you have. If she were to marry the Prince, he would be an outsider with strange ways. Glynis would have to live on the outer fringes of high society. I realize, my dear wife, that you are Italian, a woman of deep emotions, but after living so many years in England, do you not see that this man cannot give your daughter the life you wish for her? Neither here nor in England?”
My mother’s beautiful eyes filled with tears and I found myself looking everywhere but at her. I could feel her pain, her desperate love for me, and her desire to see me safe and secure in the lifestyle she deemed suitable for me.
“Buda is quite lovely,” Mother said. A tear slipped down her cheek, and I could not help but move to her side to wipe it away.
“Yes, Buda is a very lovely and modern city, but Glynis would be the outsider here if we left her as his wife. Can you do that with good conscience?”
My mother’s posture relaxed and her gaze fell to the floor. “You are right, Edric. I have been so consumed with my desire to find our daughters good husbands that I have not considered all that you have.” She took my hand and kissed it softly. Looking into my eyes, she said, “I have already dealt with the stigma English society places on foreigners who marry into their world. I do not want that for you.”
“Oh, Mama!” I threw my arms around her with relief and clung to her. I may have had a difficult relationship with her, our wills may have clashed often, but in the end I loved her very much. “Thank you, Mama, thank you!”
My mother hugged me tightly and kissed my cheek, then released me, trying to regain her composure. “I will find you a better husband.”
I pouted at her as May rushed over to hug me. “Oh, Glynis, I’m so happy for you. You can come back to England and marry there.”
I sighed quite dramatically, but my father gave me a warning look and I was silent.
“What will we tell the Prince?” Mother asked.
My father carefully stacked Prince Vlad’s business papers in one corner of the table, his expression deeply thoughtful. “I suppose we could say that we feel Glynis should marry in England and that when he arrives there we can perhaps discuss things further.”
I immediately stomped my foot in protest. “Father!”
“By the time Prince Vlad travels to England, you shall be married, young lady, or I will have to consider the Prince.” My father rose to his feet and held out his hand to me. “Come, be reasonable. You do not want to be a spinster.”
I started to open my mouth to tell him that was certainly fine with me when I realized how deeply upset both my parents were. The castle was dreadful and our journey had been long. Now was not the time to fight with them over my future.
I sighed, letting him take my hand to draw me to his side.
“Now, dear Glynis, I know for a fact that the young Lord Nigel is quite fond of you. But you put him off when you would speak over him to his friends about issues a young woman need not concern herself with. Before we left Rome, his mother sent us a kind letter saying that she missed us and pointedly wrote that Nigel has been asking when you would return.”
“Oh, please! He is such a horrible bore!”
“Glynis, he is not really all that bad. He does have lovely eyes. He is rather nice,” May said.
I shot her a particularly nasty look as my father turned me about to face him.
“Glynis, for my sake, for your mother’s sake, for your own sake, please, please, when we return to England, let Nigel court you. Then when Prince Vlad does arrive, you will be nicely married.” He tucked his fingers under my chin and raised my eyes to his. “Please, Glynis.”
I wanted to argue, but I realized that if I truly wanted to return home and have any hope of constructing my own life, I would have to capitulate at this moment. So I nodded my head, saying softly, “Yes, Father. I will do as you ask.”
“Then it is settled! Good! Finally!” My mother looked close to tears once more. She flung her arms around me and hugged me tightly. “Now we can go home and begin to plan the wedding!”
May clapped her hands together. “Oh, I am so happy!”
“Of course, you, my dear May, are next in line to be married.” My mother gave her a sly smile.
“Oh, dear.” May widened her eyes at us. “Oh, dear!”
My father laughed heartily and kissed her cheek. “Your mother is a persistent woman.” He hugged me warmly and whispered, “Thank you, my darling daughter.”
I whispered back, “I do not want to be here. I want to go home. I cannot bear the thought of staying here.”
“Nor could I bear to think of leaving you here.”
I felt so overwhelmed that I began to cry. “Thank you, Father, thank you!”
He smiled and patted my back lightly. “There, There.”
Chapter 4
Unfinished Letter
To Sir Andrew Wright
From Lady Antoinetta Wright
June 9
My dearest son,
It is with greatest relief that I can write we are soon returning to England. Your headstrong sister has finally decided to be sensible and allow herself to be courted by that lovely Lord Nigel. It has been a daunting task reining in your sister. At times I thought the cause was lost. You know better than most how she can be. But at last she has heard reason and we can finally leave this place.
I am sure this country is quite beautiful in its own way, but I long for our home in England. This place…this place…
Journal of Lady Glynis Wright
10th of August, 1819
It has been difficult to put pen to paper since my last long bout of writing. I had not expected to become so utterly overwhelmed by the memories. I can remember so distinctly that afternoon in the library and the great hope I had well inside of me that soon I should see England again and my home.
What follows is hard to write, yet I find myself wanting to relive it. Wanting to find solace in the last moments my family spent together.