Original subtitles

hello hello and welcome back to

quarantine story time with me

natasha negovanlis continuing the

reading of joseph sheridan li fanu's

gothic vampire novella carmella

chapter 12 a petition

then we are to lose madame lacomtes but

i hope only for a few hours i said with

a low bow

it may be that only or it may be a few

weeks

it was very unlucky he's speaking to me

just now as he did

do you now know me i assured her i did

not

you shall know me she said but not at

present

we are older and better friends than

perhaps

you suspect i cannot yet declare myself

i shall in three weeks pass your

beautiful schloss about which i have

been making inquiries

i shall then look in upon you for an

hour or two

and renew friendship which i never think

of without a thousand pleasant

recollections

this moment a piece of news has reached

me like a thunderbolt

i must now set out and travel by a

devious route nearly a hundred miles

with all the dispatch i can possibly

make

my perplexities multiply i am only

deterred by the compulsory reserve i

practice as to my name

for making a very singular request of

you my poor child has not quite

recovered her strength

her horse fell with her at a hunt which

she had ridden out to witness

her nerves have not yet recovered the

shock and our physician says that she

must on no account exert herself for

some time to come

we came here in consequence by very easy

stages

hardly six leagues a day i must now

travel

day and night on a mission of life and

death a mission the critical

and momentous nature of which i shall be

able to explain to you when we meet

as i hope we shall in a few weeks

without the necessity of any concealment

she went on to make her petition and it

was in the tone of a person from whom

such a request amounted to conferring

rather than seeking a favor

this was only in manner and as it seemed

quite unconsciously

than the terms in which it was expressed

nothing could be more deprecatory

it was simply that i would consent to

take charge of her daughter during her

absence

this was all things considered a strange

not to say an audacious request

she in some sort disarmed me by stating

and admitting

everything that could be urged against

it and throwing herself entirely upon my

chivalry

at the same moment by a fatality that

seems to have predetermined

all that happened my poor child came to

my side

and in an undertone besought me to

invite her new friend malarka to pay us

a visit

she had just been sounding her and

thought if her mama would allow her she

would like it extremely

at another time i should have told her

to wait a little until at least we knew

who they were

but i had not a moment to think in the

two ladies assailed me together

and i must confess the refined and

beautiful face of the young lady

about which there was something

extremely engaging

as well as the elegance and fire of high

birth

determined me and quite overpowered

i submitted and undertook too easily the

care of the young lady

whom her mother called melaka the

countess beckoned to her daughter who

listened with grave attention while she

told her

in general terms how suddenly and

preemptorially she had been summoned

and also of the arrangement she had made

for her under my care

adding that i was one of her earliest

and most valued friends

i made of course such speeches as the

case seemed to call for

and found myself on reflection in a

position which i did not have like

the gentleman in black returned and very

ceremoniously conducted the lady from

the room

the demeanor of this gentleman was such

as to impress me with the conviction

that the countess was a lady of very

much more importance than her modest

title

alone might have led me to assume her

last charge to me was that

no attempt was to be made to learn more

about her than i might have already

guessed

until her return our distinguished house

whose guest she was

knew her reasons but here she said

neither i nor my daughter could safely

remain for

more than a day i removed my mask

imprudently for a moment about an hour

ago and too late

i fancied you saw me so i resolved to

seek an opportunity of talking a little

to you

had i found that you had seen me i would

have thrown myself on your high sense of

honor to keep my secret some weeks

as it is i am satisfied that you did not

see me

but if you now suspect or on reflection

should suspect who i am

i commit myself in like manner entirely

to your honor

my daughter will observe the same

secrecy and i well know that you will

from time to time remind her

lest she should thoughtlessly disclose

it

she whispered a few words to her

daughter kissed her hurriedly twice and

went away

accompanied by the pale gentleman in

black and disappeared in the crowd

in the next room said malarka there is a

window that looks upon the whole door

i should like to see the last of mama

and to kiss my hand to her

we scented of course and accompanied her

to the window

we looked out and saw a handsome

old-fashioned carriage

with a troop of couriers and footmen we

saw the slim figure of the pale

gentleman in black as he held a thick

velvet cloak

and placed it about her shoulders and

threw the hood over her head

she nodded to him and just touched his

hand with hers

he bowed low repeatedly as the door

closed and the carriage began to move

she's gone said melaka with a sigh

she is gone i repeated to myself for the

first time in the hurried moments that

had lapped since my consent reflecting

upon the folly of my act

she did not look up said the young lady

plaintively

the countess had taken off her mask

perhaps and did not care to show her

face

i said and she could not know that you

were in the window

she sighed and looked in my face she was

so beautiful that i relented

i was sorry i had a moment repented of

my hospitality and i determined to make

her amends for the unavowed turlishness

of my reception

the young lady replacing her mask joined

my ward in persuading me to return to

the grounds

where the concert was soon to be renewed

we did so and walked up and down the

terrace that lies under the castle

windows

malarka became very intimate with us and

amused us with lively descriptions and

stories of most of the great people whom

we saw upon the terrace

i liked her more and more every minute

her gossip without being ill-natured was

extremely diverting to me

who had been so long out of the great

world i thought what life

she would give to our sometimes lonely

evenings at home

this bowl was not over until morning sun

had almost reached the horizon

it pleased the grand duke to dance till

then so loyal people could not go away

or

think of bed we had just got through a

crowded saloon when my ward asked me

what had become of malarka

i thought she had been by her side and

she fancied she was by mine

the fact was we had lost her all my

efforts to find her were vain

i feared that she had mistaken in the

confusion of a momentary separation from

us

other people for her new friends and had

possibly pursued and lost them in the

extensive grounds which were thrown open

to us

now in its full force i recognized a new

folly

in my having undertaken the charge of a

young lady without so much as knowing

her name

and fettered as i was by promises of the

reasons for imposing which i knew

nothing i could not even point my

inquiries by saying that

the missing young lady was the daughter

of the countess who had taken her

departure a few hours before

morning broke it was clear daylight

before i gave up my search

it was not until near two o'clock next

day that we heard anything of my missing

charge

at about that time a servant knocked at

my niece's door to say that she had been

earnestly requested by a young lady

who appeared to be in great distress to

make out where she could find the

general baron spielsdorf and the young

lady

his daughter in whose charge she had

been left by her mother

there could be no doubt notwithstanding

this light inaccuracy

that our young friend had turned up and

so she had

wood to heaven we had lost her she told

my poor child to account for her having

failed to recover us for so long

very late she said she had got to the

housekeeper's bedroom in despair of

finding us

and had then fallen into a deep sleep

which long as it was had

hardly sufficed to recruit her strength

after the fatigues of the ball

that day melaka came home with us i was

only too happy

after all to have secured so charming a

companion for my dear

girl and that was chapter 12.

i hope you enjoyed it and tune in for

chapter 13.