I should have been what I amhad the maidenliest starin the firmament twinkled on my bastardizing.King Lear, I, ii John was striding ahead, and she had to run to keep up. But before she could get out of breath, he stopped in a particularly well-kept mews lane and pulled out his keys. He unlocked a wooden gate and held up his hand for her to wait while he checked the dark garden. "You can come in now."They walked down a path, flagstone, to judge by the chill under her thin sandals. It was lined by a profligate array of rose bushes. The night garden was sweet, heady, intoxicating, banishing the scent of death that had lingered on the edges of her memory. The path opened up to a terrace, and beyond were the blank windows of a set of French doors.John led her past those, though, to an undistinguished wooden door by the kitchen garden. "Where are we?" she asked as he used another key to open it."Devlyn House."Oh. She didn't comment, however, except to whisper as they entered, "Are you certain no one's here?"It was too dark in this back hall to see his smile, but she heard it in his voice.
