Holidays
When I reached the grounds of the Meldorf estate not long afterward, I gave charge of Augustin’s stallion to the stable hand without offering any explanation of whose horse it was or where I had gotten it. I entered the house moments later, feeling like it had been years rather than mere hours since I had last graced that familiar front door. My entire life had changed in one night . . . in one blissful instant of insanity . . . and I felt almost as though I was a stranger entering the count’s house uninvited. I encountered no one in the halls, to my relief, but found Freia keeping vigil in our upstairs bedroom, reading my Bible by candlelight. I reassured her as she rose from her bed at my emergence, her eyes wide with worry. I told her that I was fine, that nothing terrible had
