5: From the Dark Halls of Hell
Weird Tales, Jan 1932
"IT'S no use, Erzebet! Why don't you I give up this game you're playing? Hugh is not the man for you, you know— you must know he could never make you happy."
"And you could!" replied Erzebet Machik, with a short laugh. Her hands, those marvelous hands of hers, were folded in her lap as she sat like a Buddha— detached and apparently serene.
"I am. Yes, I am! I am your man, and you are my woman. I know you as no one else ever could. Since your childhood, year in, year out, in every mood I have known you—and loved you, Erzebet."
The long, smoldering black eyes of the girl softened.
"You've been a good friend, Rafe," she admitted. "But more than a friend ... no. Hugh is the man I want. I must, I will have him!"
"Heaven help both of yo
