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“So the Avenue Napoleon, I heard the step behindother than slowti I dared not look at hi of him all the while, and hoere ht have fallen helpless in his ar, so consu The dam threatened to break now; and yet it did not break I was numbed and I walked as one numbed

“ ‘You knohat I’ve done,’ I said finally We had turned off the avenue and I could see ahead ofrow of double columns on the facade of the Royal Museum ‘You removed your coffin as I warned you’

“ ‘Yes,’ he answered There was a sudden, unmistakable comfort in the sound of his voice It weakened me But I was simply too remote from pain, too tired

“ ‘And yet you are here with e them?’

“ ‘No,’ he said

“ ‘They were your fellows, you were their leader,’ I said ‘Yet you didn’t warn them I was out for them, as I warned you?’

“ ‘No,’ he said

“ ‘But surely you despise iance to your own kind’

“ ‘No,’ he said softly

“It was ah I couldn’t explain it or understand it

“And soions of uards; there were those ushers who slept in the theater Why weren’t they there when I entered? Why weren’t they there to protect the sleeping vampires?’

“ ‘Because they were in ed them I sent them away,’ Armand said

“I stopped He showed no concern athim, and as soon as our eyes met I wished the world were not one black empty ruin of ashes and death I wished it were fresh and beautiful, and that ere both living and had love to give each other ‘You did this, knohat I planned to do?

“ ‘Yes,’ he said

“ ‘But you were their leader! They trusted you They believed in you They lived with you!’ I said ‘I don’t understand you… why…?’