the old barons to tell their descendant of the horror that encompasses him, Mélusine reveals the secret:
“Prions, pour qu’ à Gilbert Dieu tout-puissant inspire
Un généreux effort.
Ruthwen est un démon, Ruthwen est un vampire;
Son amour, c’est la mort!”
(One cannot but recall the famous scene in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Ruddigore with its subtle admixture of beauty, fantasy and humour.)
In Act IV of Le Vampire we are shown the accomplishment of Ruthwen’s designs against Hélène. Gilbert’s frenzied warnings and denunciations are heard with alarm but with unbelief. They whisper that he is a lunatic, and when Ruthwen relates a cunning story of a mischance in Spain which temporarily unsettled Gilbert’s reason, a story that seems borne out in every detail by the unhappy brother’s horror and despair, the attendants for his own safety seek to restrain their young master. Ruthwen triumphs. But now the ghoul appears and bids him take heed how he seeks Gilbert’s life for that is hers, and she will not likely relinquish her prey. Ruthwen defies her and the two vampires part in horrid enmity. Lazare cautions Hélène that her brother’s story is no figment, but it is too late, the vampire seizes his victim and as midnight strikes he destroys his hapless bride and quaffs his fill from her veins. Too late Gilbert succeeds in forcing an entrance. There is a terrific struggle, and Ruthwen is hurled from the window into the depths of a tremendous valley.
In the last act we find that in order to escape the pursuit of Ruthwen, who has extricated himself unhurt but filled with designs of even more malignant vengeance, Gilbert has transported Antonia to Circassia. Here, however, we meet the ghoul who, disguising herself under the name of Ziska, obtained admittance to the castle in the quality of an attendant upon Antonia. She informs Gilbert that she alone can save his betrothed from the vampire, and at that moment the ghastly face of Ruthwen is actually seen peering through the window. She demands that he shall relinquish Antonia’s hand, and accept her love though it be to death. He refuses to betray Antonia, and at length by a supreme act of renunciation she divulges the secret whereby the Vampire may be annihilated, although this revelation must put an end to her own
