I had hardly decided about this when I heard the great door below shut, and knew that the Count had returned. He did not come at once into the library, so I went cautiously to my own room and found him making the bed. This was odd, but only made me more certain of what I had thought all along. There are no servants in the house. Later I saw him through a gap in the slightly opened door, and he was laying the table in the dining room. Then I was absolutely sure.

For if he himself does all the jobs of a servant, surely this proves that there is no one else in the castle. So it must have been the Count himself who drove the coach that brought me here. This is a terrible thought, for it means that he can control the wolves, as he did, by just holding up his hand for silence. Why was it that all the people at Bistritz and on the coach were so terribly afraid for me? Why had they given me the crucifix, the garlic, the wild rose, the mountain ash?

Bless that good, good woman who hung the crucifix round my neck! For it comforts and strengthens me whenever I touch it. It is odd that some thing which I have been taught to think badly of, and as something which should not be worshipped should help me so much in a time of loneliness and trouble.

Vocabulary:

Great: Very big
Cautiously: Very carefully
Laying the table: Putting out the knives, forks and plates
Garlic: A strong-smelling plant like an onion
Ash: A kind of tree
Worship: Respect something as holy