The supernatural short tale Clarimonde was penned by Theophile Gautier. It tells the tale of Romuald, a priest, and Clarimonde, a stunning woman who later turns out to be a vampire. An old priest named Romuald is asked in the opening of the story if he has ever been in love. He replies that he has, but he characterizes the incident as a bewitchment to which he fell. Then he tells the tale of Clarimonde, his first love.When he was a young man, on the day of his ordination, he saw a lovely woman in the church. In a voice, a lady assures him that she will adore him and make him happy than he would be in Paradise. He completes the ceremony despite her pleas because he struggles with the idea of love at first sight and his religious convictions. He picks up a card that says, Clarimonde, at the Palace Concini, on the way back to the seminary. Romuald is seduced by Clarimonde, a young woman of exceptional beauty, and is dragged from his life as a priest to live in Venice with the vampire. The vampire survives by consuming his blood while he sleeps.
