The Count is too smart not to notice this anomaly so he explains to the Professor that he was only curious and ran away because he was ashamed of the ridiculous situation . Progressing further in the story, the Professor and the Count take a horseback ride through a forest and encounter an old woman who gives the Count an ambiguous description of him having teeth and claws. During this walk, the Count constantly asks the Professor what he thinks, how much the animals are afraid of the Count and what the old woman said about him. Almost as if the Count was trying to gauge the professor's awareness of the Count's abnormality. The professor either does not notice these strange behaviors or when he notices them, he puts forward a hypothesis to explain them. Like when he and the Count visit Miss Julia and have fun dancing together. During the dance, the Count hugs and kisses Julia and she complains that he "hug her like the bear he was." The Professor noticed that the Count did not like this complaint, but the Professor's explanation for his agitation was simply that the Count must have remembered his mother's words..