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She was a vision, there was no doubt of it, her face waraunt solips were neatly brightened with rose lipstick, and her eyes, in spite of the fine wrinkles around them, were still vividly blue The dia, and she wore several rich dia hands

The jewels as always seeiven her strong advantage, and a sweet femininity seemed to characterize her as well

"Over here, Little Boy," she said to me

I went to her side and bent down to receive her kiss on rown to the staggering height of six foot four, and she often took hold of o This ti creature standing before her table, with his cordial smile

"And look at your coat," she said to Lestat, "how marvelous Why, it's a wide-skirted frock coat Wherever did you get it, and the cameo buttons, how perfect Will you come here this very minute and let me see them? You can see that I've a positive one by, I think of little else "

Lestat cahtened suddenly, very frightened, that she would sense soripped me than I realized he had the situation entirely under his command

Hadn't another Blood Drinker, my Maker, charmed Aunt Queen in the same manner? Why the hell should I be so afraid?

As she exa that each was a differentdown on her as if he were genuinely smitten, and I loved him for it Because Aunt Queen was the person I loved ether was a little more than I could bear

"Yes, a real true frock coat," she said

"Well, I'm a musician, Madae a rock e ular beast when it coerated and the eccentric I like to clear all obstacles when I enter a roos "

"Yes, you're so right to have it," she said, exulting in him obviously, as he stepped back and joined me where I stood before the table "My two handsome boys," she reh what kind of a singer I'm not quite prepared to say "

Lestat didn't know, and he gavesmile

"Country ot a powerful voice "

"Very ue tone of disapproval "I think she calls it country pop, and that can account for a lot She has a good voice, however, and she writes occasional lyrics that aren't too bad She's good at a sort of h she doesn't know it -- but you know, a little rass sound is what she really likes to do, and if she did what she likes to do rather than what she thinks she ought to do she hed

I marveled, not only at the wisdom of what she'd said, but at the curious disloyalty, because Aunt Queen was never one to criticize her own flesh and blood But soaze Perhaps he had worked a vague charhts