Page 63 of Library of Forbidden Books

And where none appeared.

O, guiding night;

O, night more lovely than the dawn;

O, night that hast united

The lover with His beloved,

And changed her into her love.

On my flowery bosom,

Kept whole for Him alone,

There He reposed and slept;

And I cherished Him, and the waving

Of the cedars fanned Him.

As His hair floated in the breeze

That from the turret blew,

He struck me on the neck

With His gentle hand,

And all sensation left me.

I continued in oblivion lost,

My head was resting on my love;

Lost to all things and myself,

And, amid the lilies forgotten,

Threw all my cares away.

Those beautiful words recited by her friend awoke something in Helene and started to draw her out of the pit of despair. She was able to eat a little that day.

The fourth day after fainting at Lena’s door, while Helene sipped on coffee with Lena and cradled Mark in one arm, Gabor walked in holding two things in his hand.

“Kaiser!” Helene cried and reached for him with her free hand.

“I went and got him from the Grunewald house. The poor guy was really hungry. The books are all fine,” Gabor said, exchanging the cat for the baby. He took Mark back to the bedroom to change his diaper.

“There’s one thing that worries me about the Grunewald house,” Lena said. Now that Helene was starting to be herself again, Lena ventured to share something that had been bothering her.

“What’s that?” Helene asked, nuzzling Kaiser.

“You heard that the Prussian State Library was hit really hard in one of the bomb raids. I’m worried that’ll happen to our Secret Library.”

“In the middle of the forest?” Helene asked. In her lap, Kaiser was purring like he was in heaven.

“Well, not far from the woods, there’s an airport. If the British bomb it and aren’t totally on target, the blast could reach the house.”