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ing uneasiness. He turned his no longer haunted eyes toward the woman. ''I must ask," he inquired uncertainly, "since it has been a very long time. Is there much to fear in the world I venture back into?" |
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Jubell Caron intensified her radiance. "Would I give you less than you have given me?" |
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"I am afraid I do not understand, Madam." |
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"Charles Frazier was a shallow man, my trusted friend, a shallow man with an intense but short-lived hatred. He was not strong, nor brave, nor particularly clever. He was a user. And now, we will use him. He had neither the capacity for true love nor the capacity for sustaining his hatred. Even in his desire for revenge, he was without commitment. You, my friend, must use what he did hot use." |
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The old man walked stiffly over to the table and picked up the tray. He nodded his gratitude to the woman and left the room. |
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Jubell Caron smiled, took a sip of the burgundy and fixed her languid pale green eyes on the softly pirouetting flames in her fireplace. |
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"Please answer the door," she called out softly. "I believe we have a visitor." |
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A gaunt man with the vacant and hollowed |
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