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Despite hiht sense of shocked distaste; theLatin were quite foreign to what he subconsciously felt was proper in church

Still, as the Mass went on, things sees, quite fauely pleasant boredom of a sermon, in which the inevitable Christoodwill," and "love" rose to the surface of hison a pond of words

By the tier had lost all sense of strangeness Surrounded by a war composed of floor polish, damp wool, naphtha fumes, and a faint whiff of the whisky hich so service, he scarcely noticed the sweet, ht he caught the hint of fresh grass froht of the transept, thick and soft against the dark violet of her jumper Its copper sparks muted by the dimness, it was the deep rufous color of a red deer’s pelt, and it gave hi he had felt when surprised by a deer on a Highland path--the strong urge to touch it, stroke the wild thing and keep it soer’s ht of Saint Paul, he thought, the man had knohat he was on about with respect to women’s hair Unseemly lust, was it? He had a suddenfrom Brianna’s body, the wet snakes of her hair cold on his skin He looked away, trying to concentrate on the goings-on at the altar, where the priest was raising a large flat disk of bread, while a small boy madly shook a chime of bells

He watched her when she went up to take Coht start that he was praying wordlessly

He relaxed just a bit when he realized the content of his prayer; it wasn’t the ignoble "Let ht have expected It was the more humble--and acceptable, he hoped--"Let htly; let ht the curious eye of thehis throat, eh he had been surprised in private conversation

She ca deep inside, a s smile on her wide sweet mouth She knelt, and he beside her

She had a tender look at the ht-nosed and severe, with thick red brows redeerace of their arch The cleanness of jaw and cheek ht have been cut froe in a enerosity to the mouth of a medieval abbess, lips sealed in cool stone celibacy

The thick Glaswegian voice beside hiht him to with a start, in time to see the priest sweep down the aisle, surrounded by his acolytes, in clouds of trius of Orient Are,’ " Brianna sang quietly as they ar…It was loaded, and explo-oo-ded’--you did turn out the gas, didn’t you?"

"Yes," he assured her "Not to worry; between the cooker and the bathrooone up in flahed

"Do Presbyterians believe in guardian angels?"

"Certainly not Popish superstition, aye?"

"Well, I hope I haven’t dao to Mass with me Or do Presbyterians believe in hell?"

"Oh, that we do," he assured her "As ier, here by the river Roger was glad they hadn’t driven; you couldn’t see more than five feet or so in the thick white murk

They walked arm in arm beside the River Ness, footsteps ht not have existed They had left the other churchgoers behind; they were alone

Roger felt strangely exposed, chilled and vulnerable, stripped of the warmth and assurance he had felt in the church Only nerves, he thought, and took a firrip of Brianna’s ar his chest

"Brianna" He had her by the ar, so her hair swung heavy through the dilealowed like pearls and dia of her jacket, he felt in ers, flesh-hot in his hand

Her eyes ide and dark as a loch, with secretswater A kelpie for sure Each urisge, a water horse,And the man who touches such a creature is lost, bound to it forever, taken down and drowned in the loch that gives it home

He felt suddenly afraid, not for hiht materialize frorasped her by the hand, as if to prevent her Her fingers were cold and daainst the warmth of his palm

"I want you, Brianna," he said softly "I cannot be saying it plainer than that I love you Will you ed, like water when a stone is thrown into it He could see it plainly as his own reflection in the bleakness of a tarn

"You didn’t wanthad settled in his chest; he was breathing ice, crystal needles piercing heart and lungs "You didn’t want to hear it, did you?"

She shook her head, wordless

"Aye Well" With an effort, he let go her hand "That’s all right," he said, surprised at the calmness in his voice "You’ll not be worried about it, aye?"

He was turning to walk on when she stopped hireat effort to turn and face her; he had no wish for empty comfort, no desire to hear a feeble offer to "be friends" He didn’t think he could bear even to look at her, so crushing was his sense of loss But he turned nonetheless and then she was against hiripped his head and pushed her mouth hard onto his, not so ripped her hands and pulled the her away

"What in God’s naer was better than emptiness, and he shouted at her in the e! You said you wanted ulped air "I want you, too, don’t you know that? Didn’t I say so in the hall this afternoon?"

"I thought you did" He stared at her "What in hell do you o to bed with you," she blurted

"But you don’t want tobetween sickness and fury stirred in his gut, and then erupted

"So you’ll not ?"

"Don’t use that sort of language to , but I must not say the word? I have never been so offended, never!"