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She turned back and smiled

Her mouth was overwide He had noticed that beforeand felt and tasted every luscious atom of it

He could not re her sotten, for it was a long, sweet curve that coiled about him like an enchantment

He did not kno to resist its warht her and himself simultaneously He did not kno to drive her away, as he must, when she made him want so desperately to hold her

It see

The docuiven hinore He’d co to scare her off for her own safety—and his peace ofhardened whores tremble, could not stir the smallest anxiety in her, any more than he could rouse his feeble conscience

Once capable

Past tense

Before the headaches Before the disease had begun its insidious work

The answer ca him: the tenuous link betill and action,down already He was healthy and strong, she’d claihis will

He turned away, lest she read his despair in his countenance He would ht him unawares, that was all

“Rawnsley”

He felt her hand upon his sleeve

He wanted to shake it off, but he couldn’t, any more than he could shake off his awareness of her The taste of her lingered in hisscent wafted about him He recalled the soft look in her beautiful eyes and the smilewarm promises And he was cold, chilled to his soul

And too selfish, too weak, he thought with bitter resignation, to let her go

He brought his hand up and covered hers “I do not want to go back into that curst library and listen to their solemn speeches and read their bloody docuet your hospital That is enough I want to be wed Now”

She squeezed his arm “I’m ready,” she said “I’ve been ready for hours”

He looked down at her She smiled up at him

Warm promises

He drew her arh his and led her back to the house It wanted all his will not to run The sun was setting, evening closing in with its blessed darkness Soon, this night, they’d be wed Soon, they would go up to his room, to the bed And thenGod help them both

He took her through the door and hurried her down the hall He saw the library door standing open, the light strealoomy corridor

He turned to speak to her—then he caught it, faint but unmistakable, at the periphery of his vision

Tiny zigzags of light

He blinked, but they would not wash away They hovered, sparkling evilly, at the edges of his vision

He shut his eyes, but he saw the

He opened his eyes and they were there, inescapable, inexorable

No, not yet Not so soon He tried to brush theh he kneas futile

They only signaled back, glittering, remorseless: soon, very soon

Chapter 4