One week later, back in England I

"Wow!" cried Lucy Westenra as she looked out the window. "Look at all that rain! And it isn't even April yet."

"April?" asked Mina Murray, a bit bemused by her friend's remark.

"As in 'April showers', silly," said Lucy. "Honestly, Mina, for a schoolteacher, you can be quite dim some times."

"Well, I'm not a schoolteacher yet," said Mina. "I don't start till next fall. Otherwise, I could afford to have my own place and not have to stay with you."

"Oh, I don't mind having you as a guest even though you tend to snore," said Lucy.

Mina raised an eyebrow. "How do you know I snore?"

Lucy smiled. "Well, maids talk, you know?"

"I haven't been sleeping with any maids," said Mina.

"Heh," said Lucy. "Never said you did. Not that I'd hold it against you if you did. It's not like I'm much of a Queen Victoria wannabe myself. Speaking of which... Do you think it would cause too much of a scandal if I were to rip off my clothes right now and go running out into the rain? It would certainly save money on bathwater."

"You wouldn't," said Mina.

"No, I wouldn't," said Lucy. "But only because there aren't enough people around. Causing a scandal like that isn't much fun if you don't have much of an audience."

"Hey, we're English," said Mina. "We're not supposed to have fun."

"True," said Lucy. "By the way, what have you heard from your 'friend' Jane?"

"Jane is not my 'friend'," said Mina. "She's my friend. And last time I heard from her, she was traveling to Europe to attend to some business for a foreign client."

"Oh, yuck," said Lucy. "Foreigners. Give me a nice hot Italian any time instead."

"But Italians are foreigners too," said Mina.

"Yes, but they're hot too," said Lucy. "At least that's what my friend Amy Pond used to say. Or is it Amy Williams now? That silly girl changes her last name every time I see her. And that daughter of hers... What's her name? Anyway --"

"Begging your pardon, Miss," said one of the younger maids, "but this letter just arrived in the post."

"A letter for me?" asked Lucy.

"No, for Miss Murray," said the maid.

"Okay, Tara," said Lucy. "Give it to her."

The maid called Tara quickly curtised and handed the letter to Mina.

As the maid left, Lucy watched her departing figure and muttered, "I hate to see her go but I love to watch her leave."

"What was that?" asked Mina.

"Oh, nothing," said Lucy. "So who's the letter from?"

"Jane," said Mina. "Apparently she wants me to come visit her in Transylvania."

"By yourself?" said Lucy. "That just won't do. I insist that I come along. After all, you're going to need a chaperone."

"You?" asked Mina. "A chaperone?"

Lucy shrugged. "Hey, it could happen."

"But you'll be surrounded by foreigners," said Mina.

"Well, yes," said Lucy. "But I'll be with you and Jane as well. And maybe I'll bring Tara along as well to help with the luggage. Anyway, what's the worst that can happen?"