The third and final novella within the Tottering Trilogy. Book 3 - The Beauty Mark Countess Elizabeth Bathory finds herself a lone ruler of the people of Csejte when her husband, Ferenc Nadasdy, is forced to aid in the Long War for Hungary. An educated woman, she is able to care for her people, providing them with medical care and managing business affairs. Due to her diplomatic and respectful nature, no one would dare to assume that the "madness," which ran through Elizabeth's side of the family, has any affect on her. However, the countess has an insecurity that could threaten the very lives of the people that were charged in her keep... her beauty. Obsessed with her physical appearance, Elizabeth is determined to find a way to preserve her magnificence, but such an endowment comes with a cost. The countess will do whatever it takes to protect her most prized possession, but the gruesome secrets she keeps behind palace walls may not be able to be kept clandestine forever."