Nadasdy, Countess

Art by Rem.

Countess Nadasdy is a character in the Parasol Protectorate Series, the Finishing School Series, and the Custard Protocol series.

She is the Vampire Queen of the Westminster Hive, later called the Woolsey Hive, and she is one of the oldest living vampires at the time of Soulless.

Appearance

Alexia notes that she resembles a country shepherdess: short and plump, with rosy cheeks and cornflower blue eyes that sparkle. The rosy cheeks are achieved with make-up, and up close, it becomes more obvious.

Her fangs are long and thin, almost biologically spiny, with what looked like barbed tips. She grows a second set "makers" when she tries to metamorphose a drone.

Personality

She has a reputation of being beautiful, cruel, and exceedingly polite. She does not take rejection well, and tries to force herself on Imogene when she is rebuffed.

History

Though it is never directed stated, it is likely that she is Countess Elizabeth Báthory of Hungary, and her modern name comes from her husband, Count Ferenc Nádasdy.

In the books

Romancing the Inventor

Imogene Hale goes to work for the Woolsey Hive. She is brought before the countess after working there for a month. The Countess gives her a once over and sends her on her way to be summarily ignored for the first part of her service.

When Lord & Lady Maccon attend a dinner party at Woolsey Hive, Countess Nadasdy has Imogene prepared as her own meal for the party. It is there that Lady Maccon acquires Imogene's indenture to protect her from Countess Nadasdy. She is very angry when Genevieve interrupts dinner and Alexia buys Imogene's indenture.

The Countess refuses to believe Imogene's claims that First Footman Henry is stealing from Done Lefoux, and goes as far as to blame Imogene for the thefts when it is apparent they've taken place. It is on her order that Imogene is almost bitten by one of the vampires, this to punish Genevieve whom the Countess blames and resents for the destruction of the Westminster house and requisite swarming that exiled her hive to the country and stuck her with Genevieve as a recalcitrant drone. She also acts out of a genuine fear of the stolen technology, a new kind of sundowner bullet, as well as anger that the technology is not under her control. It is done specifically to hurt Genevieve, whom the countess has developed a particular dislike, possibly even hatred. It is also to punish Imogene for having the gall to refuse being either food or lover to the Countess. She is angered further when Lord & Lady Maccon and their London Pack come to both Genevieve and Imogene's rescue.

Links

• Countess Nadasdy character study, at Gail's blog.
• Pinterest Character Board for Countess Nadasdy.

Quotes

• "Countess Nadasdy was purported to be one of the oldest living vampires, incredibly beautiful, impossibly cruel, and extremely polite. She was queen of the Westminster Hive. Lord Maccon might have learned to play the social game with aplomb, but Countess Nadasdy was its master." (Soulless, Chapter Two)
• “There are words to describe her, my dear, but one does not repeat them in polite company.” (Soulless, Chapter Two)
• "The woman who came forward to greet Alexia was not at all what she had expected. The lady was short, plump, and comfortable-looking, her cheeks rosy and her cornflower-blue eyes sparkling. She looked like a country shepherdess stepped out of a Renaissance painting." (Soulless, Chapter Four)
• “Countess Nadasdy served the tea. Miss Tarabotti took hers with milk, Miss Dair took hers with lemon, and the vampires took theirs with a dollop of blood, still warm and poured out of a crystal pitcher.” (Soulless, Chapter Four)
• "Up close, Countess Nadasdy looked less jolly, and it was clear her rosy cheeks were the product of artifice, not sunlight. Under layers of cream and powder, her skin was ashen white. Her eyes did not sparkle. They glittered as hard as the dark glass used by astronomers to examine the sun." (Soulless, Chapter Four)
• "The queen was attractive, in a sweetly rounded, tavern-wench kind of way." (Romancing the Inventor, Chapter One)
• "The countess had freckles on her nose. It was unexpected and vampirically questionable. Of course, they could be fake." (Romancing the Inventor, Chapter One)
• "Countess Nadasdy proved too cruel. She cared not for maids’ feelings on the matter of sharing her chamber." (Romancing the Inventor, Chapter One)
• "Most of the hive drones were male, but occasionally Countess Nadasdy took a female. She had hopes of someday making another queen, no matter how slim the odds." (Romancing the Inventor, Chapter Four)
• "But some underlings never learn, do they? Ridiculous to think they can be taught anything. I don’t know why Snodgrove keeps going on about educating the masses." (Romancing the Inventor, Chapter Five)
• “I want my supper, and it’s incalculably rude to discuss the food in front of the food!” (Romancing the Inventor, Chapter Five)
• "Feeding always makes me hungry for other, more carnal things.” (Romancing the Inventor, Chapter Six)
• "Countess Nadasdy might look smallish and roundish, and more akin to a barmaid than anything else, but she was unbelievably strong. Then Imogene found herself flying through the air. The queen had tossed her, casually as a discarded muffin, onto the bed." (Romancing the Inventor, Chapter Six)
• “Who are you to reject me? Human insect. If I cannot bleed you, I shall bed you instead.' The queen was on her and over her then, those cool hard hands wrapped about Imogene’s hips, holding her down. If the vampire squeezed any more, she would surely shatter bone." (Romancing the Inventor, Chapter Six)
• "The vampire grimaced as if to imply that the affairs of mortals were so trivial, it pained her to enquire." (Romancing the Inventor, Chapter Eight)
• “Mortals. Everything is so complicated with you.' Countess Nadasdy looked even more disgusted." (Romancing the Inventor, Chapter Eight)