The Countess Prepared for her Fall
Elizabeth Bathory knew she was in trouble in the latter half of 1610 when she heard of the investigations into her affairs. So she began to take measures to protect herself. Her first step was to try to counter the charges Thurzo was forging against her. In August 1610, the Countess appeared unexpectedly at a court in Eisenberg- with the mother of one of the dead girls from her finishing school in tow. The bereaved lady willingly took the stand to testify that her daughter had died of natural causes. It did little good as Thurzo, the King and the judges ignored this statement.
The Countess also spoke to Thurzo himself. While serving him tea at Cjesthe castle, she told him the somewhat unconvincing story that one of the finishing school girls had in fact, murdered all the others because she was greedy for their jewels. But by this time, the Countess knew she was living on borrowed time.
In September 1610, she made her will. This document was not merely a statement about the disposal of her goods after death- but a transferal of all her estates and possessions during her lifetime. The Will bequeathed everything to her three surviving children, Anna, Katalin, and Pal. The only thing the Countess would keep was her wedding dress which she intended to “wear until my death.” Not only would this mean the Bathory-Nadasdy holdings would avoid confiscation if Elizabeth were found guilty in court, but she probably also hoped it would satisfy both her son in-laws, who were already plotting with Thurzo to have her put away so they could take over the administration of her estates.
Finally, in October 1610, Elizabeth Bathory withdrew from the Nadasdy family seat of Sarvar. She made one last spa trip with her daughter and then stopped off at the castle to collect her jewels and personal effects. Then she high-tailed it to Csejthe. No doubt she hoped by the time anyone moved to arrest her, the roads would be unpassable because of severe winter weather. Elizabeth was already corresponding with her cousin Gabor Bathory, prince of Transylvania, in the hope that he would rescue her if all went wrong.