Frau Blucher."
Lightning cracked . The horses reared, terror-stricken.
"Down! Down, you beasts!" Igor shouted .
"Something's got into those horses," Dr . Frankenstein said, unable to resist the chance to make a diagnosis .
Struggling, Igor got the suitcase down.
"Come along," the doctor urged.
But, unable to resist an urge that had come over him, Igor paused a second. Speaking to the horses, he said, "Blucher!"
Lightning crashed. The horses reared, neighing wildly.
"Maybe they're afraid of lightning," Dr . Frankenstein guessed . He shrugged . "But I'm no vet . " Then, following Frau Blucher, he led his associates into the castle .
They entered a cavernous reception hall. The sound of their footfalls echoed and reverberated in the vast-ness, sounding like moanings from the grave. Awed, the doctor, Inga, and Igor stood staring about. Before them was a broad, majestic stairway. Above them was an elaborate chandelier that was studded with what appeared to be hundreds of unlit candles. The walls were hung with the dark-hued portraits of Frankenstein ancestors . The furnishings were heavy and stolid, decorated lavishly with intricate hand-carvings . In an enormous fireplace a fire burned slowly, throwing moody shadows against the soaring walls.
Oh, what operations he could perform in a hall like this, Dr. Frankenstein thought to himself . The applause would echo for days and days and days and-
Frau Blucher had picked up an unlit candelabrum from a small entrance table . "Follow me, please," she said, moving on toward the murky stairs .
"Stay close," Frau Blucher advised, as they started up the steps . She raised the unlit candelabrum higher, as if to assist the others in seeing.
Igor pushed his way between the doctor and Inga and joined the hostess . "I can't see a bloody thing back there," he said to her. "Do you mind if I walk up here with you, Frau Blucher?"
From outside came sound of horses rearing and neighing in horror.
A short distance along the dim corridor, Frau Blucher halted at a door . "This will be your room," she said to Dr . Frankenstein, holding up the unlit candelabrum once more to spread its invisible illumination. She then turned the squeaking knob, pushed the door open, and stepped back to allow the others to enter.
The doctor led the way again, followed closely by Inga and Igor. He stopped a few steps into the room. It was cozily lighted by candles in wall sconces. One wall was a mass of books. The furnishings, like those in the entrance chamber, were sturdy and cumbrous-looking and gleamed with the patina that the centuries of human touching had given them. There were heavy draperies at the windows .
"I hope you will find the room comfortable," Frau Blucher said, entering. "It was your Grandfather Victor's." With a gesture of affection and intimacy, she indicated the portrait that hung just inside the doorway.
"You look a lot like him," Inga told the doctor .
"Appearances can be deceiving," he replied. He addressed Frau Blucher. "The room seems fine," he said.
Igor put the suitcase and attache case down.
Frau Blucher held out a ring of keys to Dr. Frankenstein . "You'll find the keys to all the rooms in my cas- all the rooms in your castle, that is, on this ring," she said .
He reached out.
She placed the ring of keys on a table. "I'll put them here."
"Does that include the key to the l a b oratory?" the doctor inquired .
"You mean the la bor atory, don't you?"
"Yes . The la bor atory."
Frau Blucher sighed tragically. "No. The laboratory was destroyed in a fire. Long ago."
The doctor shrugged. "I see." He turned toward the room's library. "There seem to be quite a few books here."
"This was Victor's-I mean, this was the Baron's medical library."
"And where is his special private library?" Dr. Frankenstein asked.
"I don't know what you mean."
Dr. Frankenstein had walked on to the wall of books and was scanning the titles . "Well, these are all very general," he explained. "Any