The Contessa

"I admire very few people, you know...and tell even fewer."


 * --The Contessa, "The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters"

Overview
The Contessa Rosamonde di Lacquer-Sforza is a beautiful, chilling woman. She's brilliant and more than a little twisted. As a member of the Cabal, she plays with people like chess pieces, all for her own mysterious ends. She is simply the woman in red when we first meet her in the first chapter of The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters. By the end of the book, it is clear that she is the deadliest and most mysterious member of the Cabal. Her allegiances are difficult to classify, as are her motives. At any given moment, the Contessa will flirt with someone, only to attempt to kill them a short time later. Over the course of the books, her relationship with Miss Temple becomes increasingly complicated, as does her relationship with Dr. Abelard Svenson.She has a mild flirtation with Cardinal Chang that never progresses quite as far as her flirtation with Miss Temple or the Good Doctor.

Appearance
The Contessa is beautiful and sensual. She has violet eyes and black hair worn in curls. She usually smokes cigarettes with a cigarette holder and wears red lipstick. She is always very elegant, but deadly as well. Her weapon of choice is a sharp spike mounted on a kind of knuckle band. She tends to aim for the throat.

Personality
The Contessa is intelligent and cunning. She is not above using her sexuality to get ahead. Her past is mysterious and she appears to prefer it that way. Though she has many allies, it is clear that she would betray them all to suit her own purposes.

The Contessa enjoys good food and wine and perhaps even has an appreciation for art, based on her friendship with Oskar Veilandt. The Contessa is untidy as revealed in "The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters" when Miss Temple finds her unclean hotel room. She maintains a flirtation with several characters in the book including Miss Temple and Dr. Svenson. As for Cardinal Chang, she seems to have an interest in him, but never initiates anything as she does with Miss Temple and the Good Doctor. It is possible that Chang is too dangerous to flirt with easily.