The Lady of the Shroud

A moonlit night on the Adriatic sets the stage for an unsettling encounter when the steamship Victorine drifts near the forbidding Spear of Ivan. Captain Mirolani, a cautious seaman, is joined by his officers and a passenger known for his studies of the occult, Peter Caulfield, who watches a faint, otherworldly light bobbing on the water’s surface. Their curiosity draws them closer to a tiny boat that seems to glide without a visible driver, its lone passenger shrouded in white and perched upon a strange, coffin‑like vessel.

As the ship inches forward, the mysterious figure becomes clearer: a lady in a funeral shroud, her face illuminated by a ghostly glow, eyes burning with an eerie intensity. The crew remains oblivious, but Caulfield records every detail, aware that he may be witnessing a phenomenon that defies ordinary explanation. The unsettling sight hints at deeper, hidden forces along the remote coast, inviting listeners to ponder what lingers beneath the waves and the secrets the night may conceal.