Valentine

They watched him from the window, silhouetted against the moon and holding a rose. "What is he doing ...," the third began, and the others motioned her to be silent. Some moments later, he dropped the rose over the parapet (casting it gently into the river below). "It will be some time before he comes down, so let us stoke the fire," the first said (urging the others back to their seats). "I don't understand what I just saw," the third began again, "thus I am at a loss as to why we have to be silent and watch?" "There were four wives at one time," came the answer very quietly. "WHAT?!?" "There were four, and now there are three," the first (and oldest, although she would forever look all of eighteen) of Dracula's wives clarified. "It is a private matter, all that happened," she continued, "but love lost is still love and deserves remembrance." The second nodded, head lowered, and the third (still in shock) sat down quickly and tried to imagine a love (and a grief) that could span almost a thousand years.