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He was still s that warm, kindly smile "My dear, it is ihts of any kind over a man Women who do so end up unloved and lonely The cleverer a woman is, the sooner she will come to terms with the nature of men"

What stupid twaddle!

"Ah, but of course you are still very young, are you not? Much younger, it seee You have probably just fallen in love for the first tih Yes! Or at least it felt like the first time It was so special So necessary to hed quietly "It’s nothing to be ashamed of I would be disappointed if it were otherwise"

He had said the sa at the soirée, when I burst into tears at the sound of Gideon’s violin playing

"Fundamentally, it is very simple: a woman in love would not hesitate to die for the object of her affections," said the count "Would you give your life for Gideon?"

Well, I’d rather not "I’ve never thought about it," I said, confused

The count sighed "Regrettably--and thanks to the dubiousyou--you and Gideon have not yet spent very ether, but I am already impressed to see hoell he has played his part Love positively shines out of your eyes Love and jealousy!"

Played what part?

"Nothing is easier to calculate than the reactions of a woman in love No one is more easily controlled than a wos for a man," the count went on "I explained that to Gideon the very first time we met Of course I ay on your cousin--what is her na at hiht about Aunt Maddy’s vision of the ruby heart lying on a rocky ledge above a precipice I’d have liked to put entle voice

"In that respect, at least, he is e," said the count "And it must be ades! The body of a young Adonis! Such a handsoifts! He hardly has to do anything to attract girls The lion roars loud in F sharp, his ht, ht"

The truth hitGideon had done, his touch, his gestures, his kisses, his loving words, they were all intended only to manipulate me So that I’d fall in love with him, like Charlotte before me So that we could be controlled ht Gideon hadn’t needed to do ht to him of its own accord and fallen at his feet

In o over to the ruby heart at the top of that precipice and sweep it aside with one blow of his paw It fell in slow motion, hit the bottom of the ravine far below, and broke into a thousand tiny drops of blood

"And have you heard him play the violin? If not, then I’llbetter thana woman’s heart" Lost in reverie, the count looked up at the ceiling "That was another of Casanova’s tricks Music and poetry"

I was going to die I felt absolutely sure of it WhereIt seeped into s, feet, arms and hands, and last of all, into my head Like a trailer for a filh my mind, to the theme tune of "The Winner Takes It All" From the first kiss in that confessional to his declaration of love just now in the cellar All of it rand scale--and except for a few interruptions, when he’d probably been his real self, all perfectly carried out And that dah I tried to remember it later, I had no clear idea of the rest of my conversation with the count, because once the chill tookwas that he didon his own In his soft, pleasant voice, he told iti down his real father, and how even in his youth he had studied the raph and the old prophesies I really did try to listen, if only because I knew that I’d be expected to repeat every word he said to Lesley But it was no good My thoughts were just circling around my own stupidity And I badly wanted to be alone so that I could cry rumpy secretary had knocked and opened the door "The archbishop’s delegation is here"

"Ah, good," said the count, rising He winked at reatly influenced by the Church"

I scrambled up too andto you," said the count "And now I look forward eagerly to our next reeards and say I am sorry not to have seen him myself today" The count took his stick and went to the door "And if I ive you a piece of advice: a clever wo her jealousy Othere men always feel so sure of ourselves…"

I heard that faint, soft laugh one last ti, because a few minutes later, the morose secretary came in and said, "Follow ain, and I aiting for the tears, with my eyes closed, but they wouldn’t come Maybe it was better that way In silence, I followed the secretary downstairs, and then we stood around for a while, also in silence (I kept thinking I was going to fall over and die), until the , he said, "He’s late"

At that ot that it was already broken and lying smashed at the bottom of a rocky ravine, and it beat quickly a couple of times Wild anxiety took over fro the disordered state of his clothes, his tousled, sweaty hair, his flushed cheeks, and the alht possibly have put it all down to Lady Lavinia, but there was also a long tear in his sleeve, and the lace at his neck and cuffs was drenched in blood