The Comte de Saint-Germaine turns up in Paris in 1743 to renovate his old haunt, the Hotel Transylvania. He is not only an alchemist, possessor of the Philosopher's Stone (and therefore fabulously wealthy), but also a vampire, and therefore immortal, with memories of Akhenaton, Socrates, and Velasquez.
But discard your preconceptions--this vampire is no force for evil; he merely has kinky tastes in food and sex. He falls desperately in love with beautiful, innocent, bluestocking Madeleine de Montalia, fresh out of the convent - where she was often criticized for her own "bizarre interests" in the occult. She returns his love, fascinated, and though knowing what he is, eagerly overcomes his scruples, "feeding her rapture on the sharp passion of his kisses."
Uptight vampires are not the main problem around the court of Louis XV; there has been a revival of Satanism, lately practiced under Mme. de Montespan, and Saint-Sebastian, the leader of her disgusting circle, is up to his old tricks, determined to claim Madeleine as sacrifice for the winter solstice...
But Madeleine wants only to join her beloved vampire in the eternal love of the undead, "to live in the blood that is taken with love."
But discard your preconceptions--this vampire is no force for evil; he merely has kinky tastes in food and sex. He falls desperately in love with beautiful, innocent, bluestocking Madeleine de Montalia, fresh out of the convent - where she was often criticized for her own "bizarre interests" in the occult. She returns his love, fascinated, and though knowing what he is, eagerly overcomes his scruples, "feeding her rapture on the sharp passion of his kisses."
Uptight vampires are not the main problem around the court of Louis XV; there has been a revival of Satanism, lately practiced under Mme. de Montespan, and Saint-Sebastian, the leader of her disgusting circle, is up to his old tricks, determined to claim Madeleine as sacrifice for the winter solstice...
But Madeleine wants only to join her beloved vampire in the eternal love of the undead, "to live in the blood that is taken with love."
