“Oh, I don’t know,” he said, keeping his gaze averted from me as a tiny smile played about his lips. “Mertensia has her own charms.” This observation did not trouble me in the slightest as I am not prone to such petty emotions as jealousy. A trifling irritation I could not place made my voice sharper than usual. “As does her brother.” “Yes,” Stoker agreed, his voice suddenly chill. “A castle tends to improve a man’s attractiveness exponentially.”

