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Su, but the day was quite warm this first week in September, and the air was heavy with the scents of the first harvest Frooczy it was easy to see the field-hands at their work, and to hear the activity in the kitchen yard and around the barn The bake-house was cooling after its earlyloaded into the bath-house in preparation for the evening&039;s bathing

Walking a bit unsteadily, Hero had descended fro-ensereen oczy She wore a dashing hat that held the heavy veil that covered her face and throat "I aoczy as she entered the sain, Coe this forI aated to you"

Her fore her withdrawal fro to restore their intireater alienation "It is loved hands, retaining the to perenerous, and kind, always so kind, and I a flustered at her own effusion

"Hero, Hero," he said gently "There is no need for you to thank le merci will suffice"

But Hero had to finish "I know you have reservations about this, aboutthe child in, but there is no reason you should be worried I have had several months to think it out, and I am satisfied that neither Hedda nor I will suffer because of this" She stared directly at his cravat "I promise you, I do not expect this child to be a substitute for Annamaria I do know they are not the same But Hedda and I should be able to find some comfort in each other" She slipped her hands out of his and looked toward the"What tier say the coach should arrive?"

"He esti for a departure after Mass," Ragoczy replied "You have two hours at least"

"I wonder if I should have gone to Eichenbrucke and acco her best to liues together, and several evenings in good posting inns She and I would be friends by now Will she think the less of et her?"

"I believe it is better that she travel with Oberin Josepha; Hedda knows her, and it will ease her fears, and the fears of the nuns Think how it must seem to her, to be thrust into a new household about which she knows nothing, in a place she has never been Such changes frighten grown irl Hedda has already been deprived of her family twice, and she will not eive her the opportunity to bridge the gap with a fa to re journey; the move to the newly restored castle at Obenzeh

"The poor child must be terrified" Hero sat down suddenly "That&039;s orries htened to-" She would not let herself go on

Ragoczy considered his words before he spoke "She would be most unusual if she had no fear, or lacked optimism for this new direction her life has taken Since her parents died, she has had much to endure"

Hero sed to stop her tears "I want to oczy went to her side and lightly touched her shoulder "I know you would like to spare her anyshe has es in her life for the last three years have been for the worse Do not expect her to be too jubilant, Hero; she is likely to be reserved: you are kind-hearted enough to respect that She has been through soI can understand," Hero interposed "She and I have had so ive us a bond"

"I hope you will find that it is a satisfactory one"

"As soon as we can set up at Obenzeether, on our terh her veil "Do you think Hyacinthie really killed her sister Rosalie?"

"I think Hyacinthie believes she did," said Ragoczy carefully

"But did she?" Hero persisted

"It does see Csiain, and Srau

"Do you suppose Hedda knows?" Before he could answer she went on, "Surely no one would tell her such a dreadful thing"

"She most certainly knohether she has been deliberately told or not Servants gossip, children reveal secrets, nuns whisper: she will have heard several versions by now, I should assume, and she will have chosen one of the versions to believe Whichever version that may be, it will be the one she expects to hear from you" He felt her move back from him; he removed his hand "She will likely ask you what you know"

"But how can I tell her that Hyacinthie claims she killed Rosalie? It would be too cruel"

"She will have heard worse by now, Hero; if you hted" He touched her shoulder again "If you tell her what you know, she will respect you, dreadful though your infor so heinous," said Hero "Hyacinthie&039;s demeanor alone would be too painful to describe It is all too painful for any child" She stared at her hands as if she could see through the gloves "I hope she will not ask to see my face, or not until she is used toearnestly, "Let me advise you not to disseainst you Children have a sense about prevarication, no matter hoell-intentioned The child will not trust you if you offer her any mendacity"

"Hoill she know?" Hero asked "I could soften what I have learned-oczy waited several seconds, then said, "I know very little about children, except that they are often quite absolute The few I have known have taken a strict view of the adults around them If you fail this child now, she may well think that you are like all the others she has known, and she will not trust you" He held out his hand to her, but she did not take it

"I will find a way to make that up to her," said Hero in a burst of purpose "She and I will have a lot of time to help her put such misfortunes behind her"

"I hope you will succeed," he said, rising

"Do you think I can&039;t?" she challenged

"If I thought that, I would never have arranged for you to adopt Hedda," he said matter-of-factly

Emboldened, Hero asked, "About that: why do you do it, Comte?"

"Help you adopt Hedda?"

"All of it" She hesitated, then plunged on "Why did you try to fix ? Your shoulder still pained you, but you didn&039;t hesitate, or so I was told by Serilde Why did you plead forof the grandmother clock seemed suddenly loud as he composed his answer "If you had the wealth, and the time-especially the time-that I have, would you not do the same? Time is the operative notion here: had I died the True Death when I was executed, I would be nothing e prince, hardened by battle, conquered by invaders, forgotten to history, no more brutal than ed that"

"How could you call yourself brutal? You are the most cultured, educated, capable man I have ever met," she protested

"That is what Ihas taught me to value life in all its brevity, and all that comes with life" He knew this was insufficient, so he added, "Vampires are often loathed, e are believed in at all, and for sos a terrible bitterness, corrosive to their undying lives and destroying all chance at retaining hu o, and I kno it venomous it is" His smile ift and sad "Compassion is preferable to vitriol Both can be painful, but coes and bitterness destroys them Even the loneliness is preferable to rancor Where there is deprecation and contempt, there can be no intimacy, and for me intimacy is the heart of vitality, and the substance of life; without it my life would be utterly desolate; I could survive, but as a tiger survives, or a jackal So if I love you-and I do love you; I love you and I know you-then it is e to do what I can to offer you any fulfillment I can, to ease your burdens and lessen your pain" It was more than he intended to say, and he realized he may well have said too much

She inhaled to speak, then let the air out slowly, not quite sighing, butto ease my burden, I will do the same for Hedda, and do all I can to ensure she has a decent life froht

"I have no doubt of that," he said, and sensed that she was near weeping "Let ht in for you"

As if recalled to herself, Hero said, "Oh, yes, please If Uchtred wouldn&039;ta special dinner"

"It ison the dinner spits in an hour He can make chocolate for you while he supervises his new assistant You will not ied on the bell-pull by the mantle, and waited until Balduin knocked on the door "Madame would like a cup of chocolate And I hope the little pastries will be ready for the child&039;s arrival?"

"So Uchtred tells me," said Balduin "I should ate-not one of yours"

Ragoczy was a bit nonplussed "Do you knohose it is?"

"I will in five minutes," said Balduin

"Then you had best warn Uchtred that there will be guests-bread, cheese, apples, and beer should suffice to offer thereet the visitors?"

She shook her head and touched her veil "No"

"Then if you will excuse me? I will be back with you before Hedda&039;s coach arrives" He hoped this would be the case; he opened the door

"Go on," she said, waving hi on his toes "This is a oczy "Go off to the kitchen to inforuest Tell hiirl is expected before one by then I will go out to greet them" He walked quickly to the front door and went out onto the broad step; a light breeze fingered his fashionably triht disorder in his clothing could lessen his air of urbane elegance, or so he hoped, having no reflection hich to reassure hiht, How inconvenient it is to have Rogier in Obenze the installation of the staff there, but this could not be changed He heard the rumble of the coach and the steady hoof-beats fro

The panel of the coach bore the device of the Magistrates of Yvoire, and Charget was driving; as the pair were drawn up in front of the entrance to the chateau, Ragoczy saw that Magistrate Lindenblatt was its sole passenger "Comte," he called out as he opened the door and let down the steps

"Magistrate," said Ragoczy, stepping down to shake his hand and to offer a sketched salute to Charget on the box "Welcoistrate To what do I owe the honor of your visit?"

"I have soe a ood news"

"Thus your present delight?" Ragoczy asked, indicating the open door "Well, whatever your errand, come in and take a little refreshoczy saw Dietbold hovering, and said, "The Magistrate and I will be ina refreshrand merci," said Lindenblatt, a bit out of breath "I have had a very busy , and it isn&039;t over yet"

"What has happened?" Ragoczy asked as he ushered Lindenblatt into his study

"It is a littlea little difficult " He waited until the study door was closed, then said, "We have discovered who it is who has been aiding the highway robbers" As if this announcey, he sat down abruptly

"And have you ascertained that your information is accurate?"

"Lamentably, we have," said Lindenblatt "The source is unimpeachable"

"That is a welcome development, after so many months of depredation; I aoczy "I know the region will be relieved to know their harvests and stores will stay their own through this year, and that travelers will not be set upon" His enthusiasm was expressed mildly, for he could see that Lindenblatt was still distressed

"Yes, yes Of course But it will be " His words trailed off He gathered his resolve and began again "We have evidence and proof-very credible proof-that the man who has been a second leader to the robbers is well-reputed in the region, not the sort you would expect to be helping criustus Kleinerhoff" His head dropped as if he had been struck a blow

Ragcozy stood very still "Kleinerhoff? The head-oczy wondered how he could have been so ar-loaf hat on his knee "I will explicate how I come to know this in a moment"

"The second leader, you say?"

"Yes" There was a brief silence while Lindenblatt gathered his thoughts "He has an assistant of a kind, as well"