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“It wasn’t a direct accusation They si had passed between us that was unpleasant That we had argued minutes before the fall

“The servants had heard us,me what had happened and whyThen my sister joined in, and of course I refused to say I was so bitterly shocked and ue determination they would not know about his ‘visions’ They would not know that he had become, finally, not a saint, but only a… fanatic My sister went to bed rather than face the funeral, andhorrible had happened in my room which I would not reveal, and even the police questioned me, on the word of my own mother Finally the priest caone on I told no one It was only a discussion, I said I was not on the gallery when he fell, I protested, and they all stared at me as if I’d killed him And I felt that I’d killed hi, I have killed him I stared at his face until spots appeared before my eyes and I nearly fainted The back of his skull had been shattered on the pave shape on the pillow I forced myself to stare at it, to study it simply because I could hardly endure the pain and the smell of decay, and I was tempted over and over to try to open his eyes All these were ht was this: I had laughed at him; I had not believed him; I had not been kind to him He had fallen because of me”

“This really happened, didn’t it?” the boy whispered “You’re telling … that’s true”

“Yes,” said the vao on telling you” But as his eyes passed over the boy and returned to the , he showed only faint interest in the boy, who seele

“But you said you didn’t know about the visions, that you, a vampire… didn’t know for certain whether…”

r />“I want to take things in order,” said the vas as they happened

“No, I don’t know about the visions To this day” And again he waited until the boy said

“Yes, please, please go on”

“Well, I wanted to sell the plantations I never wanted to see the house or the oratory again I leased thee things so I need never go there, and I moved my mother and sister to one of the town houses in New Orleans Of course, I did not escapebut his body rotting in the ground He was buried in the St Louis ce those gates; but still I thought of hi in the coffin, and I couldn’t bear it Over and over I drea his ar hiently that I did believe him, that he must pray for me to have faith Meantime, the slaves on Pointe du Lac (that was allery, and the overseer couldn’t keep order People in society asked my sister offensive questions about the whole incident, and she became an hysteric She wasn’t really an hysteric She siht to react that way, so she did I drank all the time and was at home as little as possible I lived like a e to do it himself I walked black streets and alleys alone; I passed out in cabarets I backed out of two duels more from apathy than cowardice and truly wished to be ht have been anyone — and my invitation was open to sailors, thieves, ht ht and left ht”

“You mean… he sucked your blood?” the boy asked

“Yes,” the vahed “He sucked my blood That is the way it’s done”

“But you lived,” said the young man “You said he left you for dead”

“Well, he drained me almost to the point of death, which was for him sufficient I was put to bed as soon as I was found, confused and really unaware of what had happened to ht that drink had finally caused a stroke I expected to die now and had no interest in eating of drinking or talking to the doctor My mother sent for the priest I was feverish by then and I told the priest everything, all aboutto his ar him swear over and over he would tell no one ‘I know I didn’t kill him,’ I said to the priest finally ‘It’s that I cannot live now that he’s dead Not after the way I treated him’ ”

“ ‘That’s ridiculous,’ he answeredwith you but self-indulgence Your mother needs you, not to mention your sister And as for this brother of yours, he was possessed of the devil’ I was so stunned when he said this I couldn’t protest The devil made the visions, he went on to explain The devil was rampant The entire country of France was under the influence of the devil, and the Revolution had been his greatest triu would have saved , ed in his body and tried to throw him about ‘The devil threw him down the steps; it’s perfectly obvious,’ he declared ‘You weren’t talking to your brother in that rooed me I believed before that I had been pushed toabout the devil, about voodoo ast the slaves and cases of possession in other parts of the world And I ild I wrecked the roo him”

“But your strength… the vampire…?” asked the boy