Chapter 34

She was regally and mysteriously beautiful. And I was merely a mortal. And the outcome of everything about me, at the moment, seemed as uncertain and phantasmal as life on the eve of a great battle. “I would die for you,” I cried, with a quaver of abandonment. But still again I saw the wintry smile on her face. “No, David, not that,” she demurred. “I’d rather you lived for me. Couldn’t you—couldn’t you learn to love me a little?” “I do love you,” I whispered, feeling the warmth of her body drooping toward me. And a…