:08:06
All encouraged her in her whims,
not only her depraved friends,
:08:12
but many others who feared
her displeasure.
:08:17
The sole exception to this rule,
was the less well to do branch
:08:21
of their related Berlifitzing
family,
:08:22
who were traditional enemies
of the Metzengersteins,
:08:24
and openly critical
of Frederique's behavior.
:08:28
These two families had been
locked in discord for centuries,
:08:32
and their deadly enmity
reaching so far back
:08:34
that none could remember
its origins.
:08:36
At this time the young
Baron Wilhelm of Berlifitzing
:08:41
lived alone in his family's
castle.
:08:44
Although he was her closest
neighbor,
:08:46
he had never spoken to his
appalling cousin,
:08:49
Frederique of Metzengerstein.
:08:51
For her part, Frederique, if
by chance she caught sight
:08:55
of her cousin from afar,
:08:58
would mock at him and openly
show her scorn.
:09:03
But Wilhelm seemed not to
notice her.
:09:07
His lively intelligence would have
made him a great success in society
:09:12
but nothing interested this
young misanthropist
:09:14
who divided his life between
hunting and his stables.