I heard the Count reading the covenant's clauses aloud. He wore the face of someone still searching for something to amend, even after three hundred years of having it memorized, so I stood a long while in the doorway.

• BartoltHe reads without even a candle. Lately he's been at it until dawn.
  SerenaHe isn't reading it. He's searching for something to strike out.
• NinaNo wonder the archive's lamp oil has been running low so fast.
  SerenaYou count the oil. I count the nights.