- All right, Shmoopers. It's time for a 180 that involves a totally new plot and characters. It all relates back to Em, we promise!
- So there's this Count de Villeforte guy who inherited the estate of the Marquis de Villeroi. Sound familiar?
- That's because it's the place Em passed by with her dad way back in the beginning of the book. Think spooky music and peasants who tell them to stay far away.
- Count de Villeforte's got a whole family coming with him to Chateau-le-Blanc, including his stuck-up wife, the Countess, and his kiddos from a former marriage, Blanche and Henri.
- The de Villefortes meet old Dorothée at Chateau-le-Blanc, a jittery servant who's been there since the Marquis de Villeroi's time. She's totally got some ghost stories to tell.
- Blanche is particularly into wandering around the estates and musing about how beautiful everything is. Sound familiar to anyone?