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She ain But she had never been actually afraid She was just confirh precisely what is really open to question, if you think of it

Silently she prayed

"I can do that too," I said I did it "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost A it in Latin

She regarded entle laugh

I smiled This bed and chair¡ªwhere we sat so close to each other¡ªwere in the corner There was aover her shoulder, and one behind me Windos, it was a palazzo of s

The dark wood of the ceiling must have been fifteen feet above us I adored the scale of it It was European, to say the least, and felt normal It had not been sacrificed to modern dimensions

"You know," I said, "the first time I walked into Notre Dame, after I'd been made into this, a vampire, that is, and it wasn't er than you are now, the whole thing was forced, completely, I don't re, but I fought, that I vividly re, the first tiht, well, why doesn't God strike me dead?"

"You s "

"You think? You really believe that?"

"Yes I never expected to co like you face to face, but it never see all these years for a sign, for some confirmation I would have lived outthat it was going to con "

Her voice was small and typically feminine, that is, the pitch ithout mistake feminine, but she spoke with terrific self-confidence now, and so her words seemed to have authority, rather like those of a man

"And now you co the news that you've killed my father And you say that he spoke to you No, I's out of hand There's an allure to what you say, there is an ornate quality Do you knohen I was a young girl, the very first reason I believed in the Holy Bible was because it had an ornate quality! I have perceived other patterns in life I'll tell you a secret One time I wished my mother dead, and do you know on that very day, within the very hour, she disappeared out of my life forever?

I could tell you other things What you must understand is I want to learn from you You walked into Notre Dame Cathedral and God didn't strike you dead "

"I'll tell you so," I said "This o hundred years ago Paris before the Revolution There were va ceone, but they lived there in the catacoo into Notre Daht God would strike me dead "

She was looking at me rather placidly