Character Analysis
Cheer Up, Countess
The Countess doesn't get too much facetime in this story, but maybe that's kind of the point. Anyway, we know that she has "neither sufficient ability, or inclination, to superintend the education of her daughter-in-law," which basically means that her imagination is lacking (3.10.4). She's depressed about being forced to come to Chateau-Le-Blanc, but she's not nearly as interested in ghost stories or history as Blanche or Emily are. And those types of problems aren't nearly as compelling to Emily as, say, a murder mystery.