Chapter 36
“Astolpho, let me in.”
He sat up in a panic, certain that somehow she had heard his murmured prayer.
She knocked again.
“I’m ill,” he called.
“I am, too,” she whispered insistently. “Open the door.”
He undid the latch and stepped back.
She entered, her face pale, her body drenched in sweat. Brown tendrils clung to her damp face. Her tunic hung heavy with perspiration. She looked as though she really had been under water. Her hands shook as she closed the door behind her.
She looked him straight in the eye. “How did you do that?”
Astolpho could feel the sweat beading above his lip. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t lie to me. I felt you. You were there with me—I know it.”
Astolpho stalled. He stepped behind her and reached for the door. “We have to leave it open. Me
