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"No, that I can't share with you," I said. "You have to win this battle on your own. "
"But surely you can guide us. . . " said the man.
"You don't need me," I said. "What have you already learned from my example? What did you learn from the things I said last night?"
"We learned more from what you said to him afterwards," said the dark-eyed woman. "We heard you speak to him of a new evil, an evil for these times destined to move through the world in handsome human guise. "
"So take on the guise," I said. "Take the garments of your victims, and take the money from their pockets. And you can then move among mortals as I do. In time you can gain enough wealth to acquire your own little fortress, your secret sanctuary. Then you will no longer be beggars or ghosts. "
I could see the desperation in their faces. Yet they listened attentively.
"But our skin, the timbre of our voices. . . " said the darkeyed woman.
"You can fool mortals. It's very easy. It just takes a little skill. "
"But how do we start?" said th
e boy dully, as if he were only reluctantly being brought into it. "What sort of mortals do we pretend to be?"
"Choose for yourself!" I said. "Look around you. Masquerade as gypsies if you will -- that oughtn't to be too difficult -- or better yet mummers," I glanced towards the light of the boulevard.
"Mummers!" said the dark-eyed woman with a little spark of excitement.
"Yes, actors. Street performers. Acrobats. Make yourselves acrobats. Surely you've seen them out there. You can cover your white faces with greasepaint, and your extravagant gestures and facial expressions won't even be noticed. You couldn't choose a more nearly perfect disguise than that. On the boulevard you'll see every manner of mortal that dwells in this city. You'll learn all you need to know. "
She laughed and glanced at the others. The man was deep in thought, the other woman musing, the boy unsure.
"With your powers, you can become jugglers and tumblers easily," I said. "It would be nothing for you. You could be seen by thousands who'd never guess what you are. "
"That isn't what happened with you on the stage of this little theater," said the boy coldly. "You put terror into their hearts. "
"Because I chose to do it," I said. Tremor of pain. "That's my tragedy. But I can fool anyone when I want to and so can you. "
I reached into my pockets and drew out a handful of gold crowns. I gave them to the dark-eyed woman. She took them in both hands and stared at them as if they were burning her. She looked up and in her eyes I saw the image of myself on Renaud's stage performing those ghastly feats that had driven the crowd into the streets.
But she had another thought in her mind. She knew the theater was abandoned, that I'd sent the troupe off.
And for one second, I considered it, letting the pain double itself and pass through me, wondering if the others could feel it. What did it really matter, after all?
"Yes, please," said the pretty one. She reached up and touched my hand with her cool white fingers. "Let us inside the theater! Please. " She turned and looked at the back doors of Renaud's.
Let them inside. Let them dance on my grave.
But there might be old costumes there still, the discarded trappings of a troupe that had had all the money in the world to buy itself new finery. Old pots of white paint. Water still in the barrels. A thousand treasures left behind in the haste of departure.
I was numb, unable to consider all of it, unwilling to reach back to embrace all that had happened there.
"Very well," I said, looking away as if some little thing had distracted me. "You can go into the theater if you wish. You can use whatever is there. "
She drew closer and pressed her lips suddenly to the back of my hand.
"We won't forget this," she said. "My name is Eleni, this boy is Laurent, the man here is Felix, and the woman with him, Eugenie. If Armand moves against you, he moves against us. "
"I hope you prosper," I said, and strangely enough, I meant it. I wondered if any of them, with all their Dark Ways and Dark Rituals, had ever really wanted this nightmare that we all shared. They'd been drawn into it as I had, really. And we were all Children of Darkness now, for better or worse.
"But be wise in what you do here," I warned. "Never bring victims here or kill near here. Be clever and keep your hiding place safe. "
It was three o'clock before I rode over the bridge on to the Ile St. Louis. I had wasted enough time. And now I had to find the violin.
