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“There was a tragedy…” the vaer brother… He died” And then he stopped, so that the boy cleared his throat and wiped at his face again before stuffing the handkerchief almost impatiently into his pocket

“It’s not painful, is it?” he asked timidly

“Does it seem so?” asked the vampire “No” He shook his head “It’s simply that I’ve only told this story to one other person And that was so long ago No, it’s not pa’

“We were living in Louisiana then We’d received a land grant and settled two indigo plantations on the Mississippi very near New Orleans…”

“Ah, that’s the accent…” the boy said softly

For a an to laugh

And the boy, flustered, answered quickly “I noticed it in the bar when I asked you what you did for a living It’s just a slight sharpness to the consonants, that’s all I never guessed it was French”

“It’s all right,” the vampire assured him “I’et it froo on…”

“Please…” said the boy

“I was talking about the plantations They had a great deal to do with it, really,a vampire But I’ll come to that Our life there was both luxurious and primitive And we ourselves found it extremely attractive You see, we lived far better there than we could have ever lived in France Perhaps the sheer wilderness of Louisiana onlyso, it was I remember the imported furniture that cluttered the house” The vampire smiled “And the harpsichord; that was lovely My sister used to play it On sus, she would sit at the keys with her back to the open French s And I can still reme beyond her, the ainst the sky And there were the sounds of the swamp, a chorus of creatures, the cry of the birds I think we loved it It made the rosewood furniture all the more precious, the music more delicate and desirable Even when the wisteria tore the shutters oft the attic s and worked its tendrils right into the ashed brick in less than a year… Yes, we loved it All except my brother I don’t think I ever heard hi, but I kne he felt My father was dead then, and I was head of the family and I had to defend him constantly fro, and to New Orleans for parties, but he hated these things I think he stopped going altogether before he elve Prayer hat mattered to him, prayer and his leather-bound lives of the saints

“Finally I built hian to spendIt was ironic, really He was so different froular! There was nothing extraordinary about me whatsoever” The vampire smiled

“Soo out to hi absolutely composed on a stone bench there, and I’d tell him my troubles,

the difficulties I had with the slaves, how I distrusted the overseer or the weather or th and breadth ofonly a few comments, always sympathetic, so that when I left hi for , and I vowed that no matter hoould break my heart to lose him, he could enter the priesthood when the ti” The vampire stopped

For a azed at hiht, and he floundered, as if he could not find the right words “Ah… he didn’t want to be a priest?” the boy asked The va of his expression Then he said:

“Ihi” His eyes moved over the far wall and fixed on the panes of the“He began to see visions”