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  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=. Text in Small Caps has been converted to ALL CAPS. The Table of Contents was created by the Transcriber
  and is placed in the public domain. A number of typographical errors have been corrected. A detailed list of the corrections and changes that were
  made to the text can be found at the end of the ebook. EACH VOLUME SOLD SEPARATELY. COLLECTION
  OF
  BRITISH AUTHORS

  TAUCHNITZ EDITION. VOL. 3245. THE BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE. BY
  FLORENCE MARRYAT. IN ONE VOLUME. LEIPZIG: BERNHARD TAUCHNITZ. PARIS: LIBRAIRIE C. REINWALD, 15, RUE DES SAINTS-PÈRES. PARIS: THE GALIGNANI LIBRARY, 224, RUE DE RIVOLI,
  AND AT NICE, 48, QUAI ST. JEAN BAPTISTE. _This Collection
  is published with copyright for Continental circulation, but
  all purchasers are earnestly requested not to introduce the
  volumes into England, or into any British Colony._




  COLLECTION

  OF

  BRITISH AUTHORS

  TAUCHNITZ EDITION. VOL. 3245. THE BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE. BY
  FLORENCE MARRYAT. IN ONE VOLUME. TAUCHNITZ EDITION. By the same Author,


  LOVE’S CONFLICT                             2 v.
  FOR EVER AND EVER                           2 v.
  THE CONFESSIONS OF GERALD ESTCOURT          2 v.
  NELLY BROOKE                                2 v.
  VÉRONIQUE                                   2 v.
  PETRONEL                                    2 v.
  HER LORD AND MASTER                         2 v.
  THE PREY OF THE GODS                        1 v.
  LIFE OF CAPTAIN MARRYAT                     1 v.
  MAD DUMARESQ                                2 v.
  NO INTENTIONS                               2 v.
  FIGHTING THE AIR                            2 v.
  A STAR AND A HEART                          1 v.
  THE POISON OF ASPS                          1 v.
  A LUCKY DISAPPOINTMENT                      1 v.
  “MY OWN CHILD”                              2 v.
  HER FATHER’S NAME                           2 v.
  A HARVEST OF WILD OATS                      2 v.
  A LITTLE STEPSON                            1 v.
  WRITTEN IN FIRE                             2 v.
  HER WORLD AGAINST A LIE                     2 v.
  A BROKEN BLOSSOM                            2 v.
  THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL                        2 v.
  THE FAIR-HAIRED ALDA                        2 v.
  WITH CUPID’S EYES                           2 v.
  MY SISTER THE ACTRESS                       2 v.
  PHYLLIDA. 2 v.
  HOW THEY LOVED HIM                          2 v.
  FACING THE FOOTLIGHTS (WITH PORTRAIT)       2 v.
  A MOMENT OF MADNESS, ETC. 1 v.
  THE GHOST OF CHARLOTTE CRAY, ETC. 1 v.
  PEERESS AND PLAYER                          2 v.
  UNDER THE LILIES AND ROSES                  2 v.
  THE HEART OF JANE WARNER                    2 v.
  THE HEIR PRESUMPTIVE                        2 v.
  THE MASTER PASSION                          2 v.
  SPIDERS OF SOCIETY                          2 v.
  DRIVEN TO BAY                               2 v.
  A DAUGHTER OF THE TROPICS                   2 v.
  GENTLEMAN AND COURTIER                      2 v.
  ON CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE                  2 v.
  MOUNT EDEN. 2 v.
  BLINDFOLD                                   2 v.
  A SCARLET SIN                               1 v.
  A BANKRUPT HEART                            2 v.
  THE SPIRIT WORLD                            1 v.
  THE BEAUTIFUL SOUL                          1 v.
  AT HEART A RAKE                             2 v.
  HANNAH STUBBS                               1 v.
  THE DREAM THAT STAYED                       2 v.
  A PASSING MADNESS                           1 v.




  THE BLOOD
  OF THE VAMPIRE

  BY

  FLORENCE MARRYAT,

  AUTHOR OF
  “LOVE’S CONFLICT,” “A PASSING MADNESS,” ETC. _COPYRIGHT EDITION._

  LEIPZIG

  BERNHARD TAUCHNITZ

  1897. TABLE OF CONTENTS


                        page
  CHAPTER I                5
  CHAPTER II              21
  CHAPTER III             36
  CHAPTER IV              52
  CHAPTER V               65
  CHAPTER VI              87
  CHAPTER VII            106
  CHAPTER VIII           123
  CHAPTER IX             137
  CHAPTER X              156
  CHAPTER XI             178
  CHAPTER XII            196
  CHAPTER XIII           212
  CHAPTER XIV            230
  CHAPTER XV             248
  CHAPTER XVI            269
  CHAPTER XVII           285
  CHAPTER XVIII          304




THE BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE. CHAPTER I. It was the magic hour of dining. The long Digue of Heyst was almost
deserted; so was the strip of loose, yellow sand which skirted its
base, and all the _tables d’hôtes_ were filling fast. Henri, the
youngest waiter of the Hôtel Lion d’Or, was standing on the steps
between the two great gilded lions, which stood rampant on either side
the portals, vigorously ringing a loud and discordant bell to summons
the stragglers, whilst the ladies, who were waiting the commencement of
dinner in the little salon to the side, stopped their ears to dull its
clamour. Philippe and Jules were busy, laying white cloths and glasses,
etc., on the marble tables in the open balcony, outside the _salle
à manger_, where strangers to the Hotel might dine _à la carte_, if
they chose. Inside, the long, narrow tables, were decorated with dusty
geraniums and fuchsias, whilst each cruet stand had a small bunch of
dirty artificial flowers tied to its handle. But the visitors to the
Lion d’Or, who were mostly English, were too eager for their evening
meal, to cavil at their surroundings. The Baroness Gobelli, with her
husband on one side, and her son on the other, was the first to seat
herself at table. The Baroness always appeared with the soup, for she
had observed that the first comers received a more generous helping
than those who came in last. No such anxiety occupied the minds of Mrs.
Pullen and her friend Miss Leyton, who sat opposite to the Baroness
and her family. They did not care sufficiently for the _potage aux
croutons_, which usually formed the beginning of the _table d’hôte_
dinner. The long tables were soon filled with a motley crew of English,
Germans, and Belgians, all chattering, especially the foreigners, as
fast as their tongues could travel. Amongst them was a sprinkling of
children, mostly unruly and ill-behaved, who had to be called to order
every now and then, which made Miss Leyton’s lip curl with disgust. Just opposite to her, and next to Mr. Bobby Bates, the Baroness’s son
by her first marriage, and whom she always treated as if he had been a
boy of ten years old, was an unoccupied chair, turned up against the
table to signify that it was engaged. “I wonder if that is for the German Princess of whom Madame Lamont is
so fond of talking,” whispered Elinor Leyton to Mrs. Pullen, “she said
this morning that she expected her this afternoon.”

“O! surely not!” replied her friend, “I do not know much about
royalties, but I should think a Princess would hardly dine at a public
_table d’hôte_.”

“O! a German Princess!