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"The expression on her face was dreadful I think I had taken all the bubbles out of the chane and all the alcohol out of it also Sober and miserable, she stared at h it were the only thing keeping her alive

" 'Oh, ?¡¯

" 'How could I not listen?' said Jasray, we'll have Quinn's portrait on the wall, and I'll be shuffling in front of the tourists talking about how he disappeared into the swamp and never came back -- ¡¯

" 'Jas up I'll kiss you good-bye before I take off to see Mona I won't go till tomorrow afternoon I know I can't drive in this condition Besides, I have work to do ¡¯

"Goblin and I ran upstairs together

"I turned on the co Ramona sound asleep in the bed, and fortunately, as I clicked away, she never woke up

"Goblin took his chair beside me His face was blank, and he didn't try to touch the keyboard He watched the screen as I worked

"I didn't speak to him He knew that I loved hi to the blandish world

"Yes, I feared the stranger, but now the very devil had potently excitedmad

"I wrote up a total renovation proposal for the Her was to be done and spelling out the fine points as best I could, depending oneverything, bringing in outside contractors only when they had to, so I went into greater detail possibly than they would need

"I chose Roreen for the trim on theand doors, and the finest veined white rout for the interior floors and for the front stairs descending to a broad terrace of white -and indeed, they should build a proper landing-and ordered a new bronze stairway to go between the stories and up to the cupola as well This would be a gorgeous and costly retreat when I finished But it would be old tomb

"As for the furnishings, I would order thes we used for Blackwood Manor, and of course I'd go over to Hurwitz Mintz in New Orleans to check their fine stock for choice pieces I wanted torch¨¨re laalore, as I had drea partner had directed

"When I thought this over, when I caughthim a partner, I paused and reflected, and I reht, and I knehat I had seen There was noit And then there came back to me the memory of his earlier attack on me, and of the letter he had written And how he had just held o He had told me that he would kill me if I didn't follow his instructions Did I believe him?

"Of course I hated hih

"I should have been far more cautious I should have backed away from the venture I should have loathed him But what I had told Aunt Queen was true I wanted these renovations I wanted this rebirth of the Herreatest problems had been solved, and that was how to deal with the er I didn't have to battle the man for the place We now had a partnership And so I proceeded Was I half in love with this monster? Was that the secret truth?